Surgeons and paramedics from the United Kingdom along with city-based cardio-thoracic surgeons operated free of cost on 19 children with heart and vascular abnormalities at the Heart and Brain Institute of Andhra group of hospitals from August 27 to September 9. Healing Little Hearts UK team is not new to the city. They have been performing heart surgeries free of cost.
Andhra group of hospitals managing director P V Ramana Murthy addressing the media here on Friday said the group in association with the UK team of Healing Little Hearts had performed 188 heart surgeries on children. He said UK teams sponsored by Healing Little Hearts have visited the city eight times in the last one year and seven months.
Dr Murthy said the UK team including Paediatric cardiac interventionalists, surgeons, anaesthetists, perfusionists and intensive care nurses led by UK based cardiologist Vikram Kudumula performed the complex procedures on children suffering from Atrial Septal Defects, Ventrical Septal Defects, Patent Ductus Arteriosus, total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous drainage, Fallot’s tetralogy and ALCAPA (Anomalous Left Coronary Artery) . The team also implanted a Cardiac Pacemaker on a neonate, Dr Murthy said.
He said Andhra Hospitals planned to do more surgeries in the near future. He said the number of free operations could be increased with a little bit of support from the Andhra Pradesh government.
Chief of Child Services P.V.Rama Rao said the success rate of the operations performed in association with the UK teams was on par with international standards.