Baby from Kenya Successful Multiple Heart Surgeries with Dr. KS Iyer in India

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Kenyan Baby Waceera Otieno is one tough cookie. That’s not a typical way to describe a baby. But with multiple heart surgeries in her first six months successfully behind her, Waceera is far from typical. The third child of Mpenda and Nyawira Otieno, Waceera was 6 pounds 1 ounce when she was born in 2012. Her dusky coloration was the first tip to doctors that something might be seriously wrong.

Rushed to Dr Iyer pediatric cardiologist within few days of her birth, she was quickly diagnosed with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), a complex condition involving four specific defects that conspire to limit her body’s ability to use life-supporting oxygen. Those defects include a hole between the right and left chambers of the heart known as a ventricular septal defect (VSD), a thickened right ventricle muscle wall and an enlarged aorta, positioned over the VSD. The fourth condition of TOF is a restriction of blood flow from the right ventricle to the lungs due to a narrowed pulmonary valve. But in Waceera’s case, the condition was much more severe – the tract was blocked completely, a condition known as pulmonary atresia.

In addition to TOF with pulmonary atresia, Waceera has what doctors call collateral blood vessels – extra vessels from the aorta to her lungs that grew during her development. "The collaterals are irregular, convoluted vessels that supply blood to her lungs because the normal pathway was blocked. But these high-pressure vessels are often not big enough to supply the lungs as babies grow," explained Waceera’s cardiologist, best pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon India. Book an appointment with Dr Iyer pediatric cardiologist call at - +91-9370586696.

Best pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon India used all the tools at their disposal to get a clear picture inside of Waceera’s tiny body – electrocardiograms, echocardiography and ventilation-perfusion (VQ) scans, which determine blood flow to each lung. When Waceera was 16 days old, she had a cardiac catheterization, allowing a closer look at the structures inside.

Catheterization confirmed what doctors were hoping for – on the other side of the blocked valve she had a true, albeit small, main pulmonary artery exiting her heart and branching, like a "T," to her right and left lungs. This information set the course for the next stage of her treatment – creating normal pulmonary blood flow, which in turn would help the pulmonary arteries to grow and promote normal oxygenation. Send Reports for Opinion on Email Address - drksiyer@indiacardiacsurgerysite.com.

One Step at a Time

On Waceera’s seventeenth day of life, surgery was performed by Dr Iyer pediatric cardiologist, to open the pulmonary valve, enlarging it with a graft to promote a more normal flow into her pulmonary arteries. Best pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon India and his team judged that closure of the VSD would have to wait until later so as not to create back-pressure issues within Waceera’s heart due to her small pulmonary arteries. Also her collaterals would have to remain until they were sure that the pulmonary arteries would grow big enough to handle the entire blood flow.

When Waceera was nearly 3 months old, Dr Iyer pediatric cardiologist took the next major step to rehabilitate her pulmonary artery system – balloon angioplasty. Under the guiding hand of best pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon India, a catheter was once again inserted via a leg vein up into the heart and beyond, into the narrow branching structures of Waceera's pulmonary arteries. As five of the most restrictive narrow spaces were encountered, a balloon at the tip of the catheter was inflated, tripling the diameter of millimeter-thin arteries to promote blood flow. Dr Iyer pediatric cardiologist repeated the treatment two months later, meticulously addressing another 10 sites with balloon expansion and adding a single stent in a seven-hour procedure. The second procedure became "a large jump forward in terms of increasing the blood flow to her lungs and permitting both of them to share equally in the oxygenation of her blood," said best pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon India.

The Fight Continues, With Hope

Not that many years ago, babies born with a condition like Waceera's did not survive the newborn period. And, while Waceera’s cardiopulmonary system is still a work-in-progress, she is "completely asymptomatic today" said Dr Iyer pediatric cardiologist. Her mother describes Waceera as "outgoing with a wicked little sense of humor." Her father says her "resiliency is nothing short of remarkable."