Against All Odds: AIIMS Raipur Saves 10-Month-Old in Rare Surgery

In a remarkable medical achievement, doctors at AIIMS Raipur successfully performed a rare and highly complex heart surgery on a 10-month-old baby suffering from an extremely uncommon congenital heart defect, giving the infant a new lease on life.

The child was diagnosed with ALCAPA , Anomalous Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery , a life threatening condition seen in nearly one out of every 3 lakh live births . The defect affects the blood supply to the heart and, if left untreated, can lead to severe heart failure or even death during infancy.

According to hospital officials, the baby, a resident of Raipur district, had reportedly been turned away by multiple healthcare centres because of the exceptionally high surgical risk involved. The infant was eventually referred to AIIMS Raipur , where specialists decided to take up the challenging case despite the critical condition of the child.

Doctors revealed that the infant was admitted with severely weakened heart function . The child’s left ventricular ejection fraction had dropped to just 20 per cent , indicating the heart was pumping dangerously low amounts of blood. The baby was also suffering from severe mitral regurgitation , making both the surgery and recovery phase extremely risky.

A multidisciplinary team comprising experts from Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Cardiology, Cardiac Anaesthesia, Radiology and Paediatrics worked together to carry out the intricate corrective surgery. The complex perioperative and anaesthetic management was led by Dr Subrata Singha and his team, who ensured continuous monitoring and advanced life support during the most critical hours after the operation.

Hospital authorities said the first 24 hours after surgery were crucial, with doctors closely monitoring the infant’s condition round the clock. The efforts paid off as the child began responding positively, was successfully extubated on the second postoperative day and gradually recovered.

In a heartening outcome, the baby was discharged in stable condition on the ninth postoperative day , marking a major milestone for AIIMS Raipur in advanced paediatric cardiac care.

Congratulating the medical team, Executive Director of AIIMS Raipur, Lt Gen Ashok Jindal (Retd) described the successful surgery as a landmark achievement for the institute. He said the feat reflects AIIMS Raipur’s growing expertise in handling high risk paediatric cardiac cases and places the institution alongside leading national and international centres in advanced heart care.