Doctors of Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, Coimbatore, removed a rare tumour from the heart of a two-month-old baby recently.
The infant weighing about four kg was admitted to the hospital due to difficulty in breathing. An echocardiogram done on the baby showed a mass lesion in the right atrium along with excess pericardial effusion - accumulation of fluid in the sac surrounding the heart, said a release.
In an emergency procedure, Consultant Interventional Paediatric Cardiologist S. Devaprasath removed the fluid around the heart through the needle aspiration technique.
A further echocardiogram and CT scan confirmed that the tumour in the right atrium occupied almost the entire space of the chamber, making the blood flow difficult and posing threat to the infant’s life.
The tumour that rarely forms in the heart was removed by a team headed by Consultant Paediatric Cardiothoracic Surgeon S. Vijay Sadasivam and Cardiac Anaesthesiologist Narendran Menon. It was found that the tumour, identified as Capillary Hemangioma in pathological analysis post-operatively, was occupying three-fourth of the right atrium.
The hospital claimed that the operation was successful and the baby was ready to be discharged after the post-operative care. The open heart procedure was performed with financial assistance from Aishwarya Trust, Chennai, and Rotary Club of Coimbatore Saicity.
