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Congenital Heart Surgery is a field in constant evolution. Milestones have been achieved in various aspects of treating a baby with congenital heart defects over the last eight decades since it all began in Boston in 1938 with Robert Gross ligating a patent ductus arteriosus for the first time. The specialty has grown from a new born to a teenager in the Western World, while in the Eastern Hemisphere we are still toddlers. In India, the specialty has progressed forward at its own pace though there is a huge gap between the need and availability.
Indian Scenario
Nearly 300,000 babies are born in India with congenital heart defects each year and as a case in point, there would be at least 15,000 babies born with transposition of the great arteries. Without surgical correction the mortality is 100% due to this defect. However, surgery in an advanced centre has a survival benefit of up to 98%.
Being a relatively small specialty with approximately 50 heart surgeons dedicated solely to congenital heart surgery in India, we still have a long way to reach international norms. Moreover, outcomes in congenital heart surgery is mutifactorial with multiple specialties contributing to the well being of the baby. Apart from the professionals involved, the outcome also depends indirectly on the infrastructure and an active hospital administration in running a congenital heart programme.
Fig 1: Open Heart Surgery performed on a week old baby
Our Children’s Heart Centre
- Kokilaben Hospital is aiming to usher in a new pattern of medical care—that of a full time institute of excellence to treat congenital heart diseases
- The Children’s Heart Centre at Kokilaben Hospital is a world-class facility specialising in providing comprehensive care for neonates, infants and children with different kinds of heart ailments, as well as adults with simple and complex congenital heart defects
- The centre is manned by a very experienced and accomplished team of professionals drawn from the best available talent in the country
- The centre also aims to be a nodal tertiary referral centre for heart-related problems in children, along with strong academic and research programmes
Overcoming Challenges
Rightly said by Dr. Christiaan Neethling Barnard, the world’s first successful human to human heart transplant surgeon, “Congenital heart surgery separates the men from the boys.” Clearly, one of the major challenges that surgeons practicing congenital heart surgery face on a daily basis in the operating room is ensuring that the baby not only survives complex neonatal open-heart surgery but also grows up to be a functional citizen. Though there are many ‘ifs and buts’ in the whole journey from diagnosis to treatment of a baby with CHD, the brighter side is that if each step taken is appropriate, in most circumstances the baby not only survives but has a very high quality of life and normal life span, which is the most gratifying factor in this profession. More so, the impetus to perform better lies on each key player as the joy of building a future productive citizen is surely infinite.