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Healing Hearts from Africa
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October, 2003
- Amma's visit to Kenya to present the Ghandi-King
Award to Mwai Kibaki, President of Kenya, reflects
the special relationship the AIMS's Paediatric
Cardiac Services department has with children
in Africa. These are some of the young African patients
who have been seen by Paediatric Cardiology.
Luke -
Luke from Uganda was the first Paediatric Cardiology
patient from Africa. He underwent replacement of his
mitral valve.
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Shiela
- Shiela Namwano is a 4 year old from Uganda
who had a hole in the upper part of her heart (an Atrial
Septal Defect). She was referred to AIMS and her treatment
was sponsored by Gift of Life international. Shiela's
heart defect was closed in the cardiac catheterization
laboratory at AIMS. The procedure was relatively straightforward
and took about 1/2 an hour. This way it has been possible
to avoid open heart surgery and she does not have a
scar on her chest. She was able to fly back to Uganda
2 days later. |
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Anna
- Anna Nafula had a abnormal electrical circuit
within her heart together with a large hole (Atrial Septal
Defect or ASD) . Dr. Prakash Kamath administered a radiofrequency
current to selectively break the circuit. After this was
successfully accomplished, Dr. Krishna Kumar closed her
heart defect with an Amplatzer ASD device. The device
closure was technically challenging because of the size
of the defect and thin margins. Anna returned after 3
days. This picture is taken on her arrival in Nairobi
where she is seen standing with her mother. |
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Mathewos
- Mathewos is a 16 year old from Ethiopia with advanced
heart valve disease who underwent replacement of two
of his valves (mitral and aortic) together with repair
of the tricuspid valve. This was a high risk procedure
successfully accomplished at AIMS. Here Mathewos is
seen with his surgeon, Dr. Satyaprasad.
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Telemedicine Helps Save a Pilgrim
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January 13, 2003
- Every year from mid-November to mid-January, millions
of people from all castes, creed and religions chanting
"Swamy Sharanam Ayyappa", make their way to
a remote area of eastern Kerala to pay homage to the shrine
of Lord Ayyappa. The final 6 km to the Sabarimala temple
winds steeply through the jungle in the Sahyadri Mountains
and must be traversed on foot as one of many gestures
of renunciation by those making the spiritual journey.
For many, the trek is part of a series of austerities
meant to purify the soul. As one might imagine, such a
difficult passage results in a variety of physical ailments
for those who are not used to such an arduous undertaking. |
| Because of
the large numbers who make the pilgrimage, a facility
for medical care is crucial during the festival period.
To that end, at the request of the government of Kerala,
AIMS has responded to a critical public health care need
by opening a basic emergency care centre at Pampa River
near the famed Sabarimala shrine to Lord Ayyappa during
the season of pilgrimage, about two and a half months.
The clinic is freely available to the vast numbers of
pilgrims who come during this period. It is housed in
a building newly constructed specifically for this purpose
by Travancore Devaswaran Board.
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During the morning of Friday,
10th January, 2003, Dr. Anil S.R. was one of three doctors
on duty at AIMS Free Clinic at Sabarimala when a 35-year-old
man, Mr. Ashok Shetty, from Belghum in Karnataka, came
in with breathing problems. He had a history of asthma
so Dr. Anil admitted him and gave him asthma medication.
When Mr Shetty was still breathless by early afternoon,
Dr. Anil became concerned. Dr. Anil tapped Mr. Shetty's
chest and felt that there was air trapped inside the chest
cavity outside the lung. After consulting with Dr. Ganapathy
Rao, also doing a rotation at the Clinic, Dr. Anil confirmed
this by putting a small needle into the thoracic area,
which released some of the trapped air. One lung had completely
collapsed, creating a life-threatening condition, and
needed immediate surgical intervention to insert a chest
tube. |
Dr. Anil,
a Paediatric Cardiologist at AIMS, had never performed
this surgery before. He and the Anaesthetist on duty,
Dr. Binu, transferred Mr. Shetty to the Telemedicine room
at the Clinic and contacted AIMS. At AIMS,
Dr.
Mahadevan, a Cardiovascular Thoracic surgeon
in the CVTS Department, was called to the Telemedicine
room in the hospital where he guided Dr. Anil step-by-step
through the surgery via satellite video connection. The
procedure was performed with local anaesthesia and lasted
about 20 minutes. Mr. Shetty was then brought to AIMS
by ambulance for stabilization and is recovering well.
The chest tube was removed the following Monday, the 13th.
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Before this incident, Mr.
Shetty had been journeying to the shrine with friends
after observing the traditional 40 days of strict austerities.
He reached as far as the AIMS clinic at Pampa River, the
base of the Sabarimala hills before he was seized by severe
pain and breathing difficulties. He still needed to climb
the hill to reach the shrine to complete this year's pilgrimage.
Instead, he will return back to his native place to continue
his treatment and rehabilitation at home. This would have
been his 5th consecutive year of completing the pilgrimage.
He intends to complete the pilgrimage 18 times.
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| AIMS began in Kerala with its first
transport ventilation of a sick preterm baby weighing
1.2 kilos with suspected pulmonary hemorrhage on 3rd November
2003, through a historic distance of 220 kilometers.Cross
vent 4 has been used successfully along with the fully
equipped Ford Ambulance. |
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