Apollo Children’s Hospital introduces procedure to treat congenital heart disease

Apollo Children’s Hospital introduces Fontan procedure, reducing need for open heart surgery, cost, and hospital stay for children.

Apollo Children’s Hospital has started offering the Fontan procedure. The procedure cuts the need for an open heart surgery thus reducing the cost and hospital stay for children, doctors explained. Some children are born with three heart chambers instead of four resulting in poor oxygenation of blood. Such children must undergo three surgeries.

At Apollo, doctors have cut the need for the third surgery by introducing the Fontan procedure. Since the heart has only one ventricle it must pump all the blood. The inferior vena cava (IVC) that brings deoxygenated blood from the body pushes blood into the lungs putting pressure on it. The Fontan procedure involves disconnecting the IVC and bypassing the heart to enable blood flow into the pulmonary arteries. This increases oxygen saturation levels and improves heart function. Paediatric cardiologist C. S. Muthukumaran said the procedure offered a lifeline for children with just one ventricle instead of two.

“Patients can now be discharged within two-three days, dramatically reducing recovery time. So far, we have completed 12 non-surgical Fontan procedure with 100% success and the longest follow up is two years,” he said. 

Paediatric cardiac surgeon Neville AG Soloman said, “This non-surgical Fontan procedure exemplifies our commitment to innovative, patient-centred care.”  

Apollo Hospital’s managing director Suneeta Reddy congratulated the doctors on their skills and said the non-invasive procedure reduced the cost of surgery and reduced the hospital stay and the chances of infection. One in every 10,000 children could be born with cardiac problems and “doctors have taken it up as their mission to help the children”, she said. The doctors said a scan as early as the 20th week can identify the issue which could be rectified within three years of age.