GMCH docs save 7-yr-old with rare pacemaker op
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Cardiologists say this condition occurs in one among 22,000 live births. According to the doctors, this disease is very rare, especially in children as young as seven years old.
Dr Pranab Jyoti Bhattacharya, professor of cardiology at GMCH who led the team of doctors, said, "Congenital complete heart block has an incidence rate of only 0.006%. That is almost one in 22,000 live births. So it is that rare."
He added that when the complete heart block in the girl, identified as Arjina Begum, was detected and she was admitted to GMCH about a week ago, the doctors had no other option but to conduct the procedure as soon as possible, considering the high possibility of mortality in such cases.
"The treatment for her ailment was the implantation of a permanent pacemaker. Today, we performed the pacemaker implantation under general anaesthesia successfully," he said, adding, the girl is recovering well.
Doctors said it is very difficult to pinpoint the cause of the disease. However, certain autoimmune diseases in the mother, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), have some association with complete heart block in up to 3% of patients.
In this case, the mother of the child did not have any history of SLE during her pregnancy, doctors said.
"The most important thing is that if a permanent pacemaker is implanted, she will have a near-normal life with it," he added. Dr Bhattacharya was assisted by his DM cardiology students and junior faculty members, while the cardiac anaesthesia team was headed by Dr Madhurjya Bujarbaruah.
The child is from Sontoli in Kamrup district.
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The procedure was done free of cost under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram. In a govt facility, such a procedure normally costs about Rs 1 lakh. In private hospitals, it costs about Rs 3 lakh.
Arjina's father Abul Kalam Azad, a farmer, said the problem was detected at a govt hospital in Boko town of Kamrup district over a year ago after she fainted at home one day. He added that the medicines prescribed by the doctors in Boko did not work and she again fainted in school one day.
"Of late, she was telling us that she felt as if a fish is hitting her in the chest. It was severe pain. Then we decided to bring her to GMCH where doctors told us to get ready for the procedure. All credit to GMCH doctors for giving a new life to our child," said Abul.
According to doctors, normally, in children with congenital complete heart block, some may have associated structural heart disease, while others may have a normal heart.
"This complete heart block is basically an electrical problem of the heart. If it is associated with other structural heart diseases, then the outcome is very poor. In our patient, echocardiography was done, and the rest of her heart was normal.
There was no structural heart disease. However, her heart rate was very low, almost 35/40 per minute, which is abnormal. She was in the high-risk category, and mortality is very high if such a condition is not treated by implanting a permanent pacemaker," Bhattacharya said.
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