Doctors at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar have carried out the first successful child heart valve replacement surgery in the state.

A spokesman of the super specialty tertiary care hospital said the cardiovascular and thoracic surgery (CVTS) department of the medical institute has conducted the successful heart valve replacement of a nine-year-old girl who had been diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease with mitral regurgitation.

"The patient was operated on January 7 this year by a team of CVTS surgeons led by Professor G.N. Lone. "The native heart valve of the patient was diseased and under-developed, rendering it impossible for repairs.  "During a smooth procedure lasting 90 minutes, the diseased heart valve was replaced by a prosthetic valve.

"The patient was shifted to ICCU within six days and she was discharged from the hospital after full recovery on February 2," the spokesman said. According to him, acquired heart disease requiring valve replacement like rheumatic heart disease is very rare in children and every attempt is made to repair the native, diseased heart valve irrespective of whether it is congenital or acquired disease as the artificial device of the appropriate size is not available for children and the complications are many. "However, at centres where cardiac transplantation facilities are readily available such replacements are well reported," he added.