Complex Novel Treatment Gives New Life To Teenager In Delhi's Army Hospital

A 15-year-old boy, who was born with a complex congenital heart defect, has received a new lease of life after undergoing a novel procedure at an Army hospital in Delhi.

The patient underwent the procedure called transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation on October 8 at the Army Hospital (Research & Referral), sources said on Wednesday.

This is the "first time" in the government sector, including in the armed forces that this procedure has been carried out, they said.

The operating team led by Col Harmeet Singh Arora, pediatric interventional cardiologist, achieved this feat under the mentorship of Director General, Armed Forces Medical Services, Surgeon Vice Admiral Rajat Datta, who is also the senior-most serving cardiologist in the armed forces, the sources said. The patient was born with a "complex congenital heart defect (CHD) for which he underwent two open heart surgeries in early childhood, wherein an artificial 'conduit' was placed to supply blood from heart to lungs. Over time this conduit degenerated leading to progressive heart failure," a source said.

To avoid a very high-risk third open heart surgery, the novel procedure was undertaken in which an artificial valve was inserted through a small incision in the groin, the sources said.

This achievement by the pediatric cardiology team is a "quantum leap" towards providing advanced comprehensive cardiac care in children with complex CHDs and ushers a new era in non-surgical interventions," Col Sandeep Dhingra, pediatric intensivist and head of the pediatric department was quoted as saying by the sources.

Lt Gen Ashok Jindal, commandant of the hospital, complimented the operating team on achieving this "historic milestone" and encouraged them to be always at the forefront in provision of advanced pediatric cardiac care, they said.

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