Seventeen-year-old girl from the Philippines, Darylene Serrano, was diagnosed with a hole in her heart recently and was advised surgery. The surgery could change her life, but she was reluctant.

Fortunately, she used the gift of life programme by the Rotary Club and came to Coimbatore to undergo the surgery at Sri Ramakrishna Hospital. She was evaluated by Dr. S. Manoharan, MD, DM (Cardiology) Interventional Cardiologist (Adult and Pediatric) at the hospital. He decided that surgery wouldn’t be required; the hole cold be closed by a device.

Darylene underwent the device closure treatment at the hospital. Dr. Manoharan has performed close to 300 device closures for congenital heart defects. The Sai City Rotary Club of Coimbatore had funded Darylene’s entire treatment, with liberal concessions from Sri Ramakrishna Hospital.

“The procedure takes just half an hour. We usually charge about Rs.1 lakh for the procedure. But Darylene did not pay anything. Congenital defects are found among six out of 1,000 children. Heart problems are common among people with congenital defects,” Dr Manoharan said.

The disease is called Atrial Septal Defect, the medical term for a hole or defect in the wall (atrial septum) separating left and right upper chambers of the heart. The hole is closed by an artificial mesh-like cloth containing device made up of nitinol called septal occluder device, which is placed through a hole made in the femoral vein in the thigh.

“There is no need for open heart surgery. There is no scar. Hence the procedure is better cosmetically. There is minimal post procedure pain. Patient is discharged within a day. So their hospital stay is dramatically reduced. They can return to work and other regular activities quickly,” said Dr. Manoharan, via a text message to Covaipost.com