Coimbatore city-based Sri Ramakrishna Hospital has successfully performed seven Arterial Switch operations consecutively according to a hospital release on July 2.

Arterial Switch Operation is one of the most complex Pediatric open heart surgeries, usually performed in neonates. This surgery is performed for the condition-Transposition of  the great arteries, where the Aorta arises from the Right Ventricle and the main Pulmonary artery arises from the left ventricle.

In normal children, the aorta arises from the left ventricle and the main pulmonary artery arises from the right ventricle. Children with such birth defects need an urgent open heart surgery namely Arterial Switch Operation to survive. Without surgical correction the child will not survive, the release said. Very few hospitals perform such a complex cardiac operation. Sri Ramakrishna Hospital was the first hospital to perform such an operation in this part of South India.

Recently 7 Neonates ( Most babies were less than 20 days old and around 3 kg weight) consecutively underwent this complex surgery successfully. For the very first time in the city the operation is being done with such a high success rate. The team consists of Pediatric Cardiac Surgeons Dr. Vijay Sadasivam, Dr. Thiagarajamuthy, Dr. Sujith. Dr. Reenus, Anesthesiologists Dr. Narendra Menon, Dr. Ashok Hariharan, Dr. Kirubanandhan. Peadiatric cardiologists Dr. Deva Parasath and Dr.S. Manoharan.

Post operatively, the patients were effectively managed by neonatologists Dr. Suja Mariam and Dr. Siddharth leading to an early discharge of children. An efficient team of Operation theatre nurses, ICU and NICU nurses played a very important role in the care of such babies, the release added.