BHU docs operate on teen with complex congenital heart defect

Varanasi: An 18-year-old boy with a complex congenital cardiac abnormality was operated on successfully in the cardio-thoracic and vascular surgery department of Sir Sunderlal Hospital at the Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), Banaras Hindu University (BHU).
The boy experienced dyspnea on exertion, palpitations, and chest pain since his childhood. After investigation, he was found to have a ventricular septal defect or VSD (hole in the heart) along with severe aortic regurgitation due to the prolapse of the aortic leaflet (caused by the ventricular septal defect). The aortic valve was replaced with an artificial aortic valve, and the ventricular septal defect was closed with a synthetic patch.
The surgery was performed by a team of doctors led by senior surgeon professor Siddharth Lakhotia. He said that the boy is now stable and was discharged from the hospital. Due to the artificial valve, he will be dependent on medication lifelong and also be in regular follow-up under the doctors. Prof. Lakhotia said VSD is a congenital abnormality in the heart which patients have since birth. If they are not treated timely, many of the patients become inoperable with time due to the development of severe pulmonary hypertension leading to the reversal of the shunt, which is called Eisenmenger syndrome. But in this patient, due to a delay in treatment, the aortic valve cusp prolapse prevented the development of severe pulmonary hypertension by obliterating the VSD almost completely, but this resulted in the destruction of the aortic valve. Only VSD closure could have cured the patient if diagnosed earlier rather than having an aortic valve replacement along with VSD closure.
Other operating team members were Dr Narendra Nath Das, Dr Arvind Pandey, Dr Sanjeev Kumar, Mr Dinesh Maiti, Baijnath, Omprakash, Vikash, Rahul, Umesh, Arvind, and Ashutosh Pandey. According to the doctors, the most common congenital abnormality in the heart is VSD. If this abnormality is not treated timely, it can be life-threatening due to the development of pulmonary hypertension, infective endocarditis, or aortic regurgitation. So all children with VSD should seek medical advice as soon as possible and be in regular follow-up under a cardiologist. Nowadays, many congenital cardiac abnormalities are curable by surgery or catheter-based procedures. VSD is one of them. So people should not delay in the treatment of this abnormality.
Dr Narendra emphasised that all babies who have recurrent respiratory tract infections, pneumonia, palpitations, difficulty in breathing, or failure to thrive should seek early medical advice from a paediatrician or paediatric cardiologist.