Hyderabad doctors save 10-day old infant from cardiac arrest

Hyderabad: Heart attacks and cardiac arrests are usually said to occur only among the elderly. But after suffering from a severe illness and multi-organ failure, a preterm 10-day-old infant went into cardiac arrest. Fortunately, the infant survived.

“Jayamma, from the Kalyandurg area, recently gave birth in a private hospital. Jayamma had a c-section in the seventh month because she had high hypertension. The infant weighed barely 1.5 kg at birth. An infection had harmed the functioning of the infant’s heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. The platelet count had fallen to 9000, and blood flow to the heart was insufficient. Pulmonary oedema also developed,” said Dr Mahesh, a senior paediatrician at KIMS Saveera Hospital.

The infant was sent to KIMS Saveera Hospital 10 days after birth to treat the condition. At the time of admission, the baby’s blood pressure was too low. The doctors decided to keep her on artificial ventilation for the next six days.

“At the time, she went into cardiac arrest. So, we performed CPR and resurrected her heart. CPR may normally resuscitate the heart but only when the other organs are functioning normally. However, even though the baby had a multi-organ failure and is only 10 days old, we were able to revive her immediately,” Dr Mahesh said.

The physicians chose to keep the baby on mechanical ventilation and began administering Ionotropic medications, blood components, immunoglobulin injections, and antibiotics. After six days, the infant was removed from the ventilator while therapy continued. After 20 days of rigorous work, the infant was ready to be discharged.

“She must be handled with care until she is two years old. Growth trends must be documented. If parents see any health problems, they should visit a doctor. Because the kid was delivered preterm, they should implement an early intervention program,” Dr Mahesh said.

Dr Sriram, a well-known paediatrician, also assisted with the therapy.