14-month-old Pak child undergoes operation for 'giant heart' at Delhi hospital

A Pakistani infant, who was diagnosed with a condition of a "giant heart", received a new lease of life after undergoing an operation at a city hospital, doctors said Wednesday.

The 14-month old baby, having a "complex and unusual heart disease", was recently operated at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) in Delhi.

The baby, a native of Pakistan, was brought to the hospital with an inability to feed properly and was having recurrent chest infections and every crawling movement was interrupted due to breathlessness, the hospital authorities said.

"He was not able to grow, weighing only 6.5 kg at the time of admission," the SGRH said in a statement.

According to Neeraj Aggarwal, Paediatric Cardiologist at the hopsital, "Detailed work revealed that left-sided blood receiving chamber of the heart (left atrium) was hugely dilated, four times the expected size (called 'Giant Left Atrium'), which was pressing on the nearby airway structures in the chest."
According to Mridul Aggarwal, Paediatric Cardiologist at the SGRH, "Giant Left Atrium (GLA) is a rare entity in paediatric population but carries a significant mortality risk."