In a rare surgery, a 10-year-old boy with a swollen heart valve was cured with a complex Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) repair surgery at a hospital here, doctors said on Thursday.

The procedure the boy underwent is considered to be complicated as it involves surgical removal of a section of the aorta and replacement with an artificial graft.Problems started after the boy, only identified as Om, started getting constant headaches making him miss school often. A CT scan diagnosed a swollen heart aorta. He was accordingly referred to H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre in Mumbai."This was a complex and challenging case, as abdominal aortic aneurysms is rare in children," said Bipeenchandra Bhamre, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon at the hospital.

"In this case, the infection had weakened the wall of aorta and caused it to dilate. Aorta was bigger in size and could rupture anytime and patient could bleed to death."Bhamre also found that placing a stent graft in a dilated aorta was not possible as it is secondary to infection and at one site it was narrowed so much that they could not dilate it for it could rupture during the procedure and the patient could die on the table.Therefore, the doctors decided to perform repair of the TAAA despite the process being complex.Explaining the complications of the surgery, Bhamre said that the procedure involves opening of the chest and stomach for complete repair of the Aortic Aneurysm using specialised graft made of polyester tube.

Om was operated upon on August 11 and was discharged on Thursday after a successful recovery.According to doctors, the TAAA open surgery is associated with a 25 per cent mortality rate making it a difficult procedure.