Sishu Sathi: Two-month-old gets fresh lease of life after critical surgery

KOLKATA: 'Sishu Sathi' scheme, a brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee once again comes to the rescue of the parents of a two-month-old baby boy, who was brought to the NRS Medical College and Hospital with congenital heart defects. The doctors at the hospital have given a fresh lease of life to the baby by carrying out a critical surgery.

A senior official of the health department said that the infant was born at Jangipur Hospital in Murshidabad on February 14. The doctors at the hospital found that he had a number of congenital heart defects. There was a hole between left ventricle and right ventricle and his aorta did not develop properly and it was narrow compared to a normal heart.

Sayan Mondal was initially referred to Berhampore Medical College and Hospital from Jangipur hospital. After a check-up the child was shifted to the NRS Medical College where he was admitted at SNCU. There was a high risk in conducting the critical surgery on a two-month old baby who was weighing around 3.5 kgs at the time of operation. Cardiothoracic surgeon of NRS Medical College Dr Paresh Banerjee was ready to take the challenge. Teams of doctors were formed, who decided to perform the critical surgery to save the life of the patient. There were also cardiologists, anesthesiologists in the teams. Head of the department of anesthesiologist Dr Shampa Dasgupta was ready to take the risk only for the sake of saving the life of the infant. She led a team of anesthesiologists while Dr Bijoy Agarwal led another team of doctors. The operation was successfully performed on the child on April 13 and defects were repaired.

Director of Health Services Dr Ajay Chakraborty said this was for the first time a government hospital had performed this surgery on a two-month old baby. The patient is recovering well.