5-year-old Baby Lavanya is a Braveheart, who fought all odds to see the light of the day and is now home post a paediatric heart transplant which was performed by Dr. Anvay Mulay, Director, Advanced Cardiac Surgery and Heart Transplant and his team. Baby Lavanya was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy due to a leak in mitral valve from birth, being born in family with very limited means fighting for survival was getting increasingly difficult for her. She walked into the Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital’s outpatient clinic in November 2021. “The entire team at hospital was pleasantly surprised by the grit she possessed and her zest for life despite her radiograph indicating a heart twice the size of a kid her age” said Dr Anvay Mulay.
The hospital’s clinical team decided to do a high-risk mitral valve repair, given the paucity of suitable size paediatric organ and her blood group, however, her heart did not improve to the desired level and weaning off ventilator seemed bleak. Listing her for a heart transplant was the only chance she had and eventually the call came that a donor heart was available in Indore. The team at decided to go ahead with the transplant post risk stratification and taking into consideration the long ischemia time.
“Baby Lavanya did well after the transplant and is on a few blood pressure medications but now can lead a healthy life just like any other child. The ICU nurses have pampered her all the while and have taken extreme good care to get her to this stage, our nutritionists ensured that she gets proper diet to get the desired nutrition. The physiotherapists have worked round-the-clock to get her back on feet” says Dr Talha Meeran, Transplant Cardiologist and Heart Failure Consultant at Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital.
“We have done paediatric transplants before but in Baby Lavanya case, it was high risk and a little tricky. The Donor size, blood group and longer ischemia time was making it a difficult decision. Hence, we had to bank on our instinct and previous experiences to make a decision regarding Heart Transplant. Somewhere we knew that, going ahead for this transplant was the only way out to save her life.” said Dr. Anvay Mulay, Director, Advanced Cardiac Surgery & Heart Transplant at Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital.
“Our teams have once again demonstrated the importance of an experienced multi-disciplinary team approach coupled with determination to ensure patient centric care. Seeing Baby Lavanya’s bravery towards the turmoil at her tender age has re-induced a sense of purpose in all of us. Its success stories like these that aid us to keep the faith as we continue to deliver excellence in quaternary care as part of the Reliance Foundation Initiative” said Dr. Tarang Gianchandani, CEO, Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital & Research Centre.
