New Delhi: Suffering from a complex congenital heart disease, six-year-old Kanishka was born a “blue baby” — a term used for children with low oxygen levels that give their skin a bluish tint. Her condition required multiple surgeries, and she underwent her first major procedure in 2020 before turning one.The condition involved multiple abnormalities in the structure of her heart, described by the doctors as “single ventricle physiology”, which means her heart was functioning with only one effective pumping chamber instead of two. This makes it difficult for the body to receive properly oxygenated blood. She also had “congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries”, meaning the main blood vessels coming out of her heart were connected in an unusual way. Another issue was a non-routable VSD (ventricular septal defect) — a hole between the lower chambers of the heart. She also had pulmonary atresia, in which the valve that allows blood to flow from the heart to the lungs is either missing or blocked, preventing proper oxygenation of blood.Nearly five years after the first surgery, she began turning blue again, struggling to breathe, and her oxygen levels dropped to 70%. Coming from a humble background, the family kept hopping hospitals for a viable solution. Finally, with the joint support of Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, Vidyajagat Cancer Foundation and Studds Accessories Ltd, which stepped in to pay for the treatment, Kanishka was given a fighting chance.“When the baby was brought to us, it was a highly complex situation. She had turned severely bluish again. We planned a Fontan procedure, also known as an open-heart surgery, as the best course of action,” said Dr Yatin Arora, associate director of CTVS at Asian Hospital, who led the seven-hour surgery with a well-coordinated team.The procedure restructured her blood circulation, allowing her body to receive adequate oxygen for the first time in years. “This blue baby has truly fought her way back to the pink of health. She showed remarkable recovery and was taken off ventilator support within a day and discharged within a week, with oxygen levels rising to 95%,” added Dr Arora.
