The surgery was the fifth such surgery
successfully performed across the world. The surgery was performed by applying
Deep Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest (DHCA), a surgical technique that involves
reduction of body temperature to 15°C.
·
The boy was in a very critical stage as 95
per cent of the blood circulation was blocked by the tumor, which had affected
the right two chambers of heart.
Kochi: In a rare surgery, heart
surgeons at VPS Lakeshore successfully removed primary intracardiac yolk sac
germ cell tumor developed in the heart of a two-year-old boy, Aadhi Thoppil
Fabeer, who lives with his parents in Dubai. It was the fifth such surgery
successfully performed across the world, claimed the hospital management.
The surgery
was performed by a 30-member medical team under Dr. M. K. Moosa Kunhi, Chief
Surgeon and HoD, Cardiac Surgery and Heart Transplantation, VPS Lakeshore. “It’s
a rarest of rare case. The yolk sac tissue, which develops on the third day of
pregnancy, is usually dissolved within one month. But in this case, the tissue
developed into a cancerous tumor. However, it was detected only when the
parents took the boy to a hospital in Dubai recently after he was infected with
fever. They brought him to VPS Lakeshore as the hospital in Dubai didn’t facility
and experts to perform such a complicated surgery,” said Dr. M. K. Moosa Kunhi.
He added
that the boy was in a very critical stage as 95 per cent of the blood
circulation was blocked by the tumor, which had affected the right two chambers
of heart. “The tumor had to be removed at the earliest. The tumor, which had
developed both inside and outside the heart, was removed after a nine-hour-long
surgery. The surgery was performed by applying Deep Hypothermic Circulatory
Arrest (DHCA), a surgical technique that involves reduction of body temperature
to 15°C. It was a narrow escape from death for the boy as the surgery had only
a 50:50 success rate”, said Dr. M. K. Moosa Kunhi. He further said that the
boy’s health condition improved very well and he will be discharged within a
few days.
The boy’s
parents said that they were in an extreme shock after doctors at a hospital in
Dubai detected cancerous tumor in his heart. “Though the doctors at that hospital
denied us permission to travel, we took the risk and came here as we were not
confident of the experts and facilities there. On the next day itself we
travelled to Kochi and Aadhi was taken in an ambulance from Nedumbassery
airport to the hospital. We are extremely thankful to the hospital authorities,
especially Dr. Moosa Kunhi, as he readily agreed to perform the surgery on the
Eid day without a second thought,” said a highly relieved Jeny Merin Fabeer,
mother of the kid. She added that the boy is in a very good condition now.
The hospital
authorities said that the boy have to undergo chemotherapy in the future to
check any growth of the tumor. Dr Moosa Kunhi was assisted in the surgery by Dr.
Sachin and Dr. Jagadeesh.
Photo caption: Dr.
Sanagar Sachin Pralhad, Dr.Jagadeesh N. and Dr.Moosa Kunhi M. K. along with the
2-year-old Aadhi Thoppil Fabeer and his mother Merin Fabeer
