Six-year-old boy undergoes a rare heart surgery in India

A six-year-old boy suffering from a rare congenital heart disorder has undergone a complicated operation recently in Aurangabad, India.

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Sanket More suffered from the transposition of great arteries-- a congenital birth defect that reversed his right and left ventricles' functions. Apart from that, Sanket's heart was located on the right side and had a hole in it, Indian Express reported.

The child underwent the rare surgery on Friday, May 19. The doctors thought Sanket couldn't live for more than 15 years. 

"We didn't know so many complications could ever be treated. The day after his surgery he said he wants to eat khichdi. He looks stable," his mother Dwarka More said, as quoted by Indian Express.

The initial symptoms of the boy's condition comprised of his face turning bluish.

"He got tired carrying his bag to school. He would complain of chest pain and suffered from sustained weight loss," Dwarka said.

He was then taken to MGM Hospital in Pune following which he was referred to a private hospital in Mumbai. The echocardiography test revealed a huge hole in his heart and poor blood supply to the lungs.

"Because he has so many complications, the case becomes rare and high-risk. During the surgery, plugging the hole in heart could have hampered the electrical impulses," said Dr Shreepal Jain, paediatric cardiologist, Indian Express reported.

The team of cardiac experts referred international journals to devise a treatment.

"We decided to rectify the interchanged heart chambers. Usually, left ventricle pumps out pure blood. In his case right one pumped out pure blood," said Dr Shivaprakash Krishnanaik, head of the pediatric cardiac unit.

The boy underwent six hours long procedure and was put on a heart-lung machine on the night of May 19. The doctors had first plugged the hole in his heart. The impure blood flow was rectified and diverted from the right ventricle to lungs, whereas, the pure blood flow was also corrected from the left ventricle to all the organs.

Also, an artificial artery was created between the heart and the lung to increase the blood supply to the lungs.

"The child was treated through donations," said Dr Gustad Daver, medical director at Sir H N Reliance Hospital.

The six-year-old is on oral feeds presently and will be discharged in a week's time. The doctors revealed that the ventilator support was taken off 12 hours post the surgery.

"Instances of double switches is common where left and right chambers of heart function opposite. But this case presented other challenges. The heart was located towards right side. There was a hole in it. It made the surgery a high-risk case," Jain said.

"I hope he'll be able to play now like other boys do," his mother stated.