Health
Kohinoor Hospital’s Pediatrician, Dr Kalpesh Date And His Team Successfully Treat Baby Swara Who Was Born With Single Lung, Rt Sided Heart, Single Kidney And Many Other Anomalies
had severe breathing difficulty at the time of admission. She came in with
bronchopneumonia and Respiratory failure and was unable to breathe on her
own. She also had multiple birth defects – Right lung agenesis (absent right
lung), dextrocardia with dextroposition of heart, means her heart was
shifted to the right side due to empty space in the thorax and the heart had
a right sided apex as opposed to the normal left sided one, which means that
her heart was a mirror image of a normal heart. Also she had one absent
kidney and the other at an abnormal location (ectopic kidney), but that’s
not all, she had only one hemivertebra (vertebra half formed) and an extra
rib in her neck (Cervical rib)”
She was put on a ventilator just after admission as she was struggling to
breathe. Ventilatory management is really difficult in such a condition as doctors have to do a tight rope walk between avoiding damage to the only lung due to pressures of artificial ventilation and maintain adequate oxygenation and carbon dioxide removal. But Pediatric Intensivist Dr Rohit Narvekar from Kohinoor Hospital did a very good job managing the child on ventilator. Dr Narvekar said “we employed lung protective strategies and early extubation was our plan.”
After the third day Swara showed signs of improvement in her parameters,
said Dr Date, hence she was taken off the ventilator and put on oxygen
supply. She had 5 episodes of pneumonia in the past which were causing
damage to her only lung, hence we involved the Pediatric Cardiologist at
Kohinoor Hospital, Dr Manglesh Nimbalkar who did a 2D ECHO and Cardiac
catheterization on Swara, to find that in spite of so many repeated episodes
her pulmonary pressures were normal and fortunately there was not much
damage to her lung.”
By the 10th day Swara’s infection came under control. Fortunately her Kidney
functions were normal and she was also intellectually normal. Swara hails
from a small village called Taas near Sangamner and is from an economically
challenged family. She is malnourished and weighs just 6 kg at 15 months
added Dr Date. We have started her on nutrition management, and have advised
her parents on how they can holistically monitor her health. We have put her
on long term inhaler medications and vaccinations for Pneumonia and
Influenza to protect her lungs from repeated infections. Speaking about
Swara’s case study, The Vice President of Kohinoor Hospital – Mr Atul Modak
said, “Baby Swara came to us in a very critical condition. We deputed our
best doctors to her rescue and as a result Swara is now hale and hearty. I
would like to congratulate the team of doctors that gave Swara a new life.
Also, the child’s parents have shown immense grit in providing for her. I
wish Swara and her parents all the very best.”
At the time of her first follow up, Swara’s condition had shown remarkable
stability. She had put on weight and her lung function was also normal.
Doctors are monitoring Swara’s health very closely and have recommended that
she come for follow -up sessions every 3 months. Swara has a long way to go
in dealing with multiple health issues but the smile she gave before going
home was the most memorable one and the best reward any doctor can get for
his work.