A paediatric surgery team of a private hospital in Jamshedpur gave a new lease of life to an infant detected with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), a rare birth defect.

“Usually CDH is detected immediately after birth but here the child had history of multiple hospital admissions since birth and has been treated for repeated pneumonia episodes. The disease is very rare to for a seven-month-old,” said Dr Soumyo Ghosh, the paediatric and neo-natal surgeon, who led the surgery at Dr Abhishek Child Care and Maternity Hospital.

“The occurrence of the disease is around 3 per 10,000 live births,” Dr Ghosh said.

CDH is a defect in an unborn baby’s diaphragm, the muscle that divides the chest cavity and abdominal cavity. CDH occurs when the diaphragm does not close the right way during the baby’s development and abdominal organs push through the defect into the chest cavity.

This can occur on the left or right side, but left is more common. The organs that come up into the chest can press on the lungs and can result in a condition in which the lungs remain small and underdeveloped, also called pulmonary hypoplasia. Some babies with CDH also develop conditions affecting their heart, liver, intestines and nervous system development.

CDH is not usually inherited, and its cause is not known. It is seen during a routine prenatal ultrasound in the first or second trimester. In Jharkhand, the case rate of CDH is around two cases in one year.

“Father Neel Mohan Pradhan from Gamharia in Seraikela-Kharsawan district was not from an affluent background. The baby was admitted on June 8 with complaints of vomiting and not tolerating feed. After proper examination and investigation, the baby was detected to have CHD, which is a life threatening condition needing surgical treatment,” said Dr Ghosh.

The paediatric team led by Dr Ghosh along with general surgeon Dr Abhijit Kundu, paediatric critical care expert Dr P.L. Rath, paediatrician Dr Abhishek Kumar and paediatric cardiologist Dr Pankaj Gupta did the surgery on June 10.

Following the surgery, the baby was placed to paediatric ICU for 72 hours. “After the surgery the baby recovered well and was discharged on June 17 and is under regular follow-up,” said Dr Ghosh.

According to sources, the cost of similar surgeries in private hospitals in Metro cities would have cost anywhere between Rs 3 to Rs 4 lakh. But it was done at the hospital for around Rs 1 lakh out of which nearly Rs 30,000 was waived off due to financial condition of the parents.