A premature baby weighing 1 Kg underwent a procedure in Nasik to remove a blockage in the large artery known as ‘coarctation of aorta.’

The pediatric cardiologist claimed that, ‘nobody in the world has done a heart surgery on a child weighing just 1.04 Kg.” The boy has been discharged from the hospital and is doing well, weighing 1.7 Kg.

Neonatologist Dr Sanjay Aher of the Neocare Hospital, and pediatric cardiologist Dr Lalit Lawankar, of Gunwant Child Heart Care Centre, while briefing the media told that the baby was born premature at just 30 weeks and weighed just 1 Kg 40 gm. During the course of treatment, Dr Aher was having trouble finding the baby’s pulse. It was then suspected that the baby may be suffering from a heart ailment. When Dr Lawankar checked the baby, the blockage in the baby’s large artery was noticed.

The low weight of the baby did not allow an open heart surgery and hence a balloon angioplasty was carried out, and the procedure had to be carried out in only 30 minutes. This kind of surgery has been performed for the first time on a baby weighing only 1Kg and 40 gm. Only one such surgery had been performed previously in Turkey on a baby weighing 1 Kg and 50 gm.