New Delhi, June 17 (IANS) A four-month-old girl whose intestine and liver were outside her body got a new lease of life after doctors here operated upon her and put her vital organs back in place.
Chahun was a special case for the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute. Normally, babies born with such deformities, called Pentalogy of Cantrell, hardly survive.
In a million, only five to eight children survive such disorder.
The Arunachal Pradesh girl’s intestine and liver were outside her body in a thin membrane like structure. Her heart had two holes and was away from its original location.
Doctors said the girl survived without any medication for three months before she was brought to the hospital last month.
‘One, her heart was out of place and, two, it had two holes. The flow of blood from heart to the lungs was so high that it was creating high pressure on lungs. She was unable to breath properly,’ said K.S. Iyer, head of the team that operated upon the baby mid-May.
It was for the first time that Fortis received such a case.
‘Although her intestine and liver were outside her body, they were working properly, being covered in a sac, there was no space inside her body for the organs. But we managed to adjust them inside and covered it with the skin,’ Meera Luthra, pediatric surgeon, told IANS.
Asked if the baby would live a normal life, Iyer said: ‘I am very sure about its success (surgery), only that she might require re-constructive surgery for the scars left.’
Chahun has left for home in Arunachal Pradesh with her parents and will come for regular check-ups to the hospital.
