Surgery saves newborn

CHENNAI: A complicated surgery was performed on a 25-day-old newborn girl by renowned surgeons in the city to remove a rare tumour in the right atrium of her heart.Baby Asiffa was born on May 25 to Hayath Basha and Habibunisa in Andhra hospital here. Following frequent complaints of blue discolouration during crying fits, her parents rushed the then five-day-old Asiffa to Fortis Malar Hospital where the doctors  conducted a detailed examination for two weeks, which included an echocardiography that revealed a large mass in her right atrium. Further, a CT Angiography ascertained the presence of a tumour in the newborn’s heart that was blocking the right side of the heart leading to very low oxygen levels. Following this, an urgent open heart surgery was recommended for Baby Asiffa.On June 18, cardiologist Dr KR Balakrishnan, Director-Cardiac Sciences, Dr Nandikishore Kapadia, Senior Cardio Thoracic surgeon, and Dr Suresh Rao, HOD-Cardiac Anesthesia and Cardiac Critical Care, performed the surgery to remove the tumour. The critical three-and-a-half hour procedure involved administering anesthesia to the newborn, cooling her body temperature to 15 degree Celsius to stop the circulation with the aid of a heart-lung machine, and removal of the tumour under suspended animation. After surgery, the body temperature of the new born was brought back to room temperature of 37 degree Celsius. Further investigation of the nature of the tumour revealed that it was benign. Baby Asiffa, who was discharged on June 28, can now lead a normal life, said doctors.Calling the operation a ‘surgical - challenge’, Dr Suresh Rao, who addressed a press conference here, said that initially the surgical team suspected that the tumour, which occupied almost half of the newborn’s heart, could be malignant, but the histopathology results revealed later that it was benign.This was the first time a rare tumour called Leiomyoma had been identified in a newborn. This type of tumour is usually spotted only in the uterus of women and its occurrence in newborns has not been reported in any scientific literature, said Dr Balakrishnan. Only three adult cases of Leiomyoma have been reported in the world so far, he added.The operation that cost `3-4 lakh was aided by the Kalaignar Insurance Scheme and funds was provided by the Malar Hospital trust, said Asiffa’s father, Hayath Basha.