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~45-day old baby survives giant tumour in heart~
~This is a one in a million case across the world, Says Dr. Biswa Panda~
Mumbai, 10thJuly, 2017: When 45 day old baby, Priyom was struggling to breathe in the ambulance that got him from Bhayander to Wadia hospital at Parel; his father who had received corporate CPR training performed life-saving CPR on his baby. This helped the baby to reach hospital in a stable condition. As a part of the emergency Team, led by Dr Biswa Panda, HOD, Peadiatric Cardiac Surgery, Wadia Children’s Hospital, a complex paediatric Heart Surgery was performed on the baby with a giant tumour in the heart.
Priyom is a resident of Bhayander, and was suffering repeated episodes of fever. Although he was taken to the local doctors for treatment, the multiple tests, medications and treatments did not resolve the fever. His condition kept worsening and as he needed ICU care, he was then shifted to another nearby local hospital. For 15 days, the baby was struggling with continuous fever, breathing difficulty and chest infection. As the baby’s condition kept on deteriorating, the parents decided to shift the baby to B J Wadia Hospital in Parel.
“Priyom was finding it difficult to breathe, on arrival at Wadia he was immediately rushed to the Pediatric ICU. He was then ventilated, stabilized and evaluated; as he was in a borderline condition multiple investigations had to be conducted. Initially, we suspected it to be a chest infection and antibiotics with treatment was administered accordingly. It was only after echocardiography test that the mass tumour was diagnosed on the left side of the heart,” said Dr Biswa Panda, HOD, Peadiatric Cardiac Surgery, Wadia Children’s Hospital.
Dr Panda added, “Immediately after detecting the tumour, the cardiology and surgical team were alerted. After interdisciplinary discussion and explaining the baby’s condition with the family members, they decided to go for an open heart surgery to remove the tumour mass. This tumour was initially considered to be a ball of blood clot or infection. This could be very dangerous as it could blend with the blood stream and enter the brain leading to complete paralysis.”
“During the surgery, we found that there was a large tumour in the left heart occupying half of the upper chamber, the left atrium. As the blood flow inside the heart was almost blocked, the baby’s condition kept deteriorating. The surgery took place for almost 6 hours, after removing the mass it was given for a pathological test for further investigation. The baby took nearly two weeks’ time to recover from the organ dysfunction caused by the tumour,” said Dr Panda.
“All credit goes to his father who bravely took the right decision and administered CPR to his baby who was struggling to breath. It helped the baby to reach the hospital in a stable condition. After which, the medical team took over the challenging case. The tumour was diagnosed to be a giant left atrial myxoma, it is very uncommon among adults. Giant myxoma in newborn babies is a rare entity and early intervention helps in saving the child” Said Dr Panda.
“Despite visiting so many doctors there was hardly any resolve, we are grateful towards Wadia and its efficient staff for their amazing contribution to bring our child back into good health,” said Rakhi, Priyom’s mother.
Dr.Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO, Wadia Children’s hospital, said, “ CPR is a life-saving technique that helps to maintain blood flow to the brain and heart, and increase time limit for patient till he reaches the hospital. Interdisciplinary team (our PICU, Medical team worked hard – went through meticulous investigations and clinical discussions) and its a great team work and coordination that we could come to diagnosis we are able to help little hearts like Priyom”.
