Newborn Battles Rare Heart Defect, Survives After Landmark ECMO Procedure at AICTS Pune
Newborn Battles Rare Heart Defect, Survives After Landmark ECMO Procedure at AICTS Pune
What began as a fragile and uncertain start to life turned into a remarkable medical success story, as doctors at the Army Institute of Cardio-Thoracic Sciences (AICTS), Pune, achieved a historic breakthrough by performing their first-ever neonatal Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO). The highly complex procedure saved the life of a newborn diagnosed with an extremely rare and critical congenital heart condition.
The infant, named Baby Arpit, was delivered at Command Hospital, Kolkata, to a serving Army personnel. The pregnancy itself was high-risk, marked by a history of multiple miscarriages. Soon after birth, Arpit developed severe complications. His heart was unable to circulate blood effectively due to multiple complex structural defects, placing him in immediate danger.
Doctors at Command Hospital acted swiftly, performing an emergency intervention that stabilised the newborn during the crucial initial hours. However, given the complexity of the heart anomalies and the need for specialised corrective surgery, the baby was transferred by air to AICTS Pune, one of the Armed Forces’ most advanced cardiac care centres.
Upon arrival, the medical team at AICTS encountered further challenges. The newborn’s condition deteriorated as he developed a serious lung infection along with acute kidney dysfunction. These complications made immediate open-heart surgery impossible. A dedicated multidisciplinary team comprising paediatric intensivists, cardiothoracic surgeons, anaesthesiologists, perfusionists, paediatric cardiologists and highly trained nursing staff initiated advanced neonatal intensive care.
To stabilise the infant, doctors placed him on high-frequency ventilation to support breathing and began peritoneal dialysis to manage kidney failure. Over time, these measures led to gradual improvement in his lung and kidney function, allowing the team to move forward with corrective open-heart surgery.
Despite a technically successful operation, the post-operative phase proved critical. Arpit’s heart and lungs were too weak to meet the body’s demands, and he could not be taken off ventilatory support. Faced with a life-threatening situation, the medical team made the decisive call to initiate ECMO — an advanced life-support system that temporarily performs the function of both the heart and lungs, giving them time to recover.
Administering ECMO in a newborn weighing less than three kilograms is considered exceptionally demanding. It requires extreme precision, continuous monitoring and seamless coordination among multiple specialties. Senior doctors at AICTS described the procedure as far more challenging than adult ECMO, emphasising the level of expertise and teamwork involved.
For nearly 90 hours, the infant remained on ECMO support. Gradually, signs of recovery began to appear. His heart and lung functions improved steadily, enabling doctors to carefully withdraw life support. Eventually, Arpit began breathing on his own, marking a decisive moment in his recovery journey.
Officials from the Southern Command hailed the successful neonatal ECMO as a landmark achievement for AICTS and the Armed Forces Medical Services. The case highlights the growing capability of military medical institutions to deliver cutting-edge, high-risk care even in the most delicate and complex situations.
