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Kerala Doctors Perform First Heart Surgery On a 29-Week-Old Fetus

by Reshma Anand on Dec 11 2015 6:29 PM

Kerala Doctors Perform First Heart Surgery On a 29-Week-Old Fetus
A team of doctors in Kerala for the very first time performed a surgery on a 29-week fetus to relieve narrowing of the exit of the unborn baby's heart chamber.
The heart of the unborn baby was accessed through the mother's abdomen under ultrasound guidance and a widening of its heart valve was performed.

The procedure called 'aortic valvuloplasty' was performed by the doctors of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center. The 29-week fetus suffered from aortic stenosis -- which causes restricted blood flow through the heart valve -- and ran the risk of heart failure.

After the surgery, the baby is expected to be born with normal circulation of blood. The mother and the fetus remain stable after the procedure performed by the team of doctors led by Balu Vaidyanathan.

"It is expected that over the ensuing weeks till the pregnancy reaches term, the ventricular function will recover and baby will be born with a stable circulation at birth," said Vaidyanathan.

Source-IANS


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