Beating Against All Odds: How Pediatric Cardiac Surgery is Saving India’s Youngest Hearts

A baby born too soon, weighing just 1.3 kilos, lies in the NICU gasping for breath. Another, only two hours old, turns blue before her mother can even cradle her properly. A third collapses at home, his tiny heart failing him before he has learned to crawl.

For many families, these are stories that could have ended in grief. But in the hands of Apollo Hospitals Chennai’s specialized pediatric cardiac team, they became stories of survival, resilience, and hope.

Silent Burden of Congenital Heart Disease in India

Every year, 2.5 to 3 lakh children in India are born with congenital heart disease (CHD) — a structural problem with the heart that is present from birth. This could mean a hole in the heart, blood vessels connected in the wrong way, or valves that don’t form properly. Without timely diagnosis and treatment, many infants with critical CHD may not survive infancy. The challenge is even greater in rural India, where specialized pediatric cardiology services are scarce.

But detection is improving. With better antenatal (before birth) scans, more cases are detected during pregnancy. Programs like the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), a Government of India initiative, have enabled widespread screening of newborns and school-going children. This means conditions that would have gone unnoticed until it was too late are now being picked up early. 

Cardiologists across India also run peripheral outreach clinics, bringing diagnosis and follow-up care closer to small towns and villages. This steady, system-wide effort is making a difference. Fifteen years ago, a single screening camp would identify nearly 500 children with untreated CHD. Today, the number has dropped to around 10 per camp — a sign that the hidden backlog of undiagnosed cases is finally being addressed.

Stories That Prove What’s Possible

One newborn with coarctation of the aorta — a dangerously narrow aorta (major artery) that limits blood flow to the body was rushed to the operating room within hours of birth. Without timely intervention, the child’s organs would have been starved of blood supply. 

Another baby, just two hours after delivery, underwent complex open-heart surgery to correct obstructive total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC). In this condition, the pulmonary veins that should carry oxygen-rich blood to the left side of the heart connect to the right side instead, creating a blockage and leading to severe breathing distress. A complex surgery within hours gave that child a chance at life.

A premature baby weighing just 1.6 kg had transposition of the great arteries (TGA), where the major vessels carrying blood from the heart were switched. This causes blood to circulate the wrong way — oxygen-poor blood to the body, and oxygen-rich blood back to the lungs. A high-risk arterial switch operation was performed successfully, against all odds — and the baby survived.

Perhaps the most gripping of the medical miracles was a two-month-old with Anomalous Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery (ALCAPA), where the heart’s main pumping muscle was receiving blood from the wrong blood vessel. The baby collapsed at home with a heart attack. He not only needed emergency surgery but also 42 days of intensive support, including ECMO — a machine that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs. A year later, he returned to the hospital for a follow-up, smiling and thriving, his heart completely recovered.

These outcomes reflect a multidisciplinary team at Apollo Children’s Hospital, Chennai, led by Dr. Neville Solomon, Head – Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, alongside skilled pediatric cardiologists including Dr. CS Muthukumaran, anesthetists, intensivists, perfusionists, and specialized nurses. With over 6,000 successful open-heart surgeries performed at Apollo Chennai alone and 20,000 performed across Apollo nationwide, we have redefined what is possible for India’s sickest babies.

Healing Without Scars

Not every child today needs open-heart surgery. Catheter-based interventions — done through a thin tube inserted in a blood vessel are transforming care. For a 7-year-old boy with a single lung and a single functioning heart chamber, the traditional path would have been a risky second surgery. 

Instead, Dr. Muthukumaran’s team attempted something extraordinary — a percutaneous Fontan procedure, done through a catheter without opening the chest. The Fontan procedure is usually a surgical operation designed for children born with only one working pumping chamber. It redirects blood from the veins directly to the lungs, bypassing the missing chamber, so that oxygen levels in the blood can improve. In this child’s case, the team recreated the effect of that surgery through a catheter, without cutting open the chest.

The results were immediate. His oxygen levels leapt from 70% to 90%. The bluish tinge on his lips disappeared. For the first time in his life, he could run, play, and laugh without gasping for air. He went home a different child, one with a bright future.

Medical Advances That Change Lives

In the last two decades, pediatric cardiac care in India has transformed:

• Catheter-based interventions now replace many traditional surgeries, allowing babies to go home within 24 hours.

• Surgeons now focus on the most complex cases, once thought inoperable, with excellent outcomes.

• In adults with congenital heart disease, robotic and minimally invasive techniques are increasingly being used where appropriate.

• While pediatric transplants remain rare, they are available when all else fails.

And through it all, affordability has been central. Nearly 65% of children treated at Apollo come from poor families, supported by government schemes, NGOs, charitable organizations (including Apollo Foundation’s SACHi initiative), and crowdfunding platforms. 

A Future Full of Hope

The message for parents is clear: congenital heart disease is not a death sentence. With modern technology, expertise, and robust government and private healthcare systems working together, even the tiniest babies weighing less than 2 kg can survive complex heart surgeries with excellent long-term outcomes.

On this World Heart Day, Apollo Hospitals leaves you with one message: Parents, do not be afraid. Whether it’s a newborn a few hours old or a child with a rare and complex condition, we can give them a chance at life. 

Behind every statistic is a story: a child’s second chance, and a family’s heartbeat restored.

📞 For appointments, call Apollo Hospitals Chennai at 044 4040 1066