Boy, 12, Spends 65 Days On Life Support, Recovers Without Lung Transplant

In a first for India and Asia, a 12-year-old child has recovered after 65 days on what is a life support system called ECMO, without a lung transplant.

The 12-year-old boy from Uttar Pradesh, who was airlifted to Hyderabad from Lucknow, after he developed severe lung complications after contracting COVID-19, has fully recovered after battling for his life for over four months, in what is said to be the first such case in Asia.

Shaurya's recovery has come as a pleasant Christmas gift to his parents, who went through the ordeal since August when their child got infected with Covid but was not diagnosed with covid at that stage. It was labelled as undiagnosed viral pneumonia. 

The miraculous recovery has been attributed to respiratory physicians at Hyderabad's Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences using state-of-the-art technology, and the dedicated paramedical staff who refused to turn pessimistic even when the chances of the boy's recovery seemed remotely slim.

Ndtv met Shaurya at the gym at Hyderabad's KIMS, where he was doing physiotherapy with his trainers which has been a very important component of the recovery process.

"I am so grateful to the doctors and paramedical staff who have not just given me back my little boy but my entire life," an emotional Renu Shrivastava, mother of Shaurya, told NDTV.

Her husband, Rajeev Saran, an advocate in Lucknow said he wanted the world and people in India to know that thanks to state-of-the-art medical science, and the efforts of doctors and paramedics, the impossible could be made possible.

"We don't have ECMO in Lucknow. I, like most others, in fact did not know anything about ECMO, and it has saved my son's life. Am so proud this kind of a setup of doctors and staff exists in India. They went beyond the call of duty to take care of our son when he was inside the ICU, all by himself," Mr Saran said.

"I must add that I think this was still very affordable for the kind of effort they put in and the outcome," Mr Saran added

Shaurya was airlifted to Hyderabad after his health worsened after he got infected with Covid in August. He was put on a ventilator and then on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) - a technology where blood is sent to a heart-lung machine outside the body to oxygenate blood and remove carbon dioxide -  as his condition worsened. The boy has now fully recovered after 65 days recovered without having to undergo a lung transplant.

Now fully recovered and ready to move back to his home, the boy - who showed resilience, courage and strength - has one wish: he hopes to meet his icon MS Dhoni, who he hugely admires.

In August, a 56-year-old Chennai man had recovered after 109 days on ECMO and ventilator support without having to undergo a lung transplant.

The doctors had then said that the man, Mudijja, was a "living miracle", as none in the country has ever recovered without a lung transplant after spending over 9 weeks with ECMO support.

Shaurya is the longest time any paediatric patient was put on ECMO support for survival in the whole of Asia. The patient suffered from multi-organs infection due to Covid-19

This young child had been on life support utilizing the efficiencies of a veno-venous ECMO for over 65 days. The care involved close monitoring of other organ functions, enhanced nutrition, physical rehabilitation, and advanced lung recovery manoeuvres while on the ECMO.

"The challenge with small children is their delicate bodies. This critical COVID illness leads to multiple comorbidities, muscle weakness caused by medications used to treat the primary condition, repeated infections in the bloodstream, and secondary infections in their airways over and above dense non-resolving pneumonia. This is by far the longest reported ECMO bridge to recovery in a child for severe COVID pneumonia," said Dr Sandeep Attawar, who has performed the maximum number of lung transplants in the country.

Treating children with severe COVID exemplifies the all-around ability of high-quality intensive care, respiratory, and transplant team. This by far is probably the only reported case in the country of a child who was sustained on this mode of life support for over two months and has fully recovered from his infection.

"Dr. Sandeep Attawar and the transplant team at the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Hospitals are first among equals. The high-quality outcomes that they aspire to and achieve, time and time again, and their accomplishments demonstrate their commitment and the facilities at KIMS. added Dr.Abhinay Bollineni, Chief Executive Officer, KIMS Hospitals.

Dr Vijil Chief of Transplant Pulmonology, KIMS Heart & Lung Institute commented " When the patient came to us his lungs were fully affected and stiff and was unable to supply oxygen to his body. With ECMO support his lung was rested and gradually healed itself and regained enough function to be able to support him. We have one of the largest and most experienced ECMO teams in the country  with dedicated doctors and support staff  without which such a remarkable recovery would not have been possible"

Dr B P Singh, Senior Pulmonologist & Primary Physician Midland Healthcare & Research centre, Commented " The child with advanced covid pneumonia was shifted from our Midland Healthcare and research center Lucknow, UP, to KIMS Hospital Hyderabad by the KIMS team.  It is very heartening to know that the child has recovered fully and is being discharged from the hospital. It was a very satisfying effort of the combined medical team at Midland Hospital Lucknow and KIMS Hospital Hyderabad to achieve a successful outcome"

Dr Prabhat Dutta, Chief Intensivist, KIMS Heart & Lung Transplant Institute Commented " This boy had critical illness syndrome on arrival. This also included a myopathy caused by steroids and immunomodulating therapy for severe covid. It required a herculean effort for over 2 months till he recovered well enough for ECMO discontinuation. It is really a satisfying moment for us.I thank the nursing and physiotherapy team for their untiring efforts"

Dr. Sandeep Attawar, is among the most experienced heart and lung transplant surgeons in the country. A veteran in the field of transplant surgeries with over 25-years' experience, Dr. Attawar has to date performed over 12,000 heart surgeries and has over 350 transplant surgeries for lungs, heart, and artificial heart to his credit. In treating this patient, Dr. Attawar was supported by a team of experts and support staff members, who monitored the child round the clock for more than two months.