Earlier this month, Bollywood and Hindi television actor Karan Singh Grover expressed how tough it was when his newborn daughter Devi had to undergo open heart surgery. Married to Bollywood actor Bipasha Basu, Grover shared that his daughter was diagnosed with two holes in her heart.
While promoting his latest film ‘Fighter,’ Grover shared in an interview that it was a very difficult time for him and his wife, stating, “Well, we didn’t know till the third day of her birth. I would just say that to be a parent kind of requires some other strength and respect for all parents.”
Talking to the OnlyMyHealth team, Dr Anuj Yadav, Consultant Neonatologist And Pediatrician, Matrutva Mother and Child Clinic, Jaipur, shared that this condition is called Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD).
What Is Ventricular Septal Defect?
Last year, Basu had opened up about the challenging times of discovering her daughter’s heart condition. Talking to fellow actor Neha Dhupia in an Instagram live chat, she said “Our journey has been a lot tougher than the smile that I have on my face right now. I would not wish this to happen to any mother. I thought I would not share this, but I'm sharing this because I feel that there are a lot of mothers, who helped me in this journey, and it was very difficult to find those mothers.”
Explaining the condition that Basu’s daughter faced, Dr Yadav said, “VSD is a congenital heart defect present in 1-4% of the babies born at birth. It's usually an abnormal connection between the lower chambers of the heart, that is the ventricles.”
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), VSD develops during pregnancy when the wall between the ventricles remains underdeveloped. This causes extra blood to be pumped into the lungs.
Dr Yadav continued, “If a baby has VSD, they won’t present any symptoms in the first few weeks, ideally speaking. However, later on, parents may notice breathing difficulties, repeated cough, poor feeding, and lack of weight gain. In this case, the parents must consult a doctor immediately.”
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Ventricular Septal Defect Treatment
VSD does pose a significant burden on public health, despite being a rare occurrence. According to a Lancet study, VSD accounted for 2,61,247 deaths globally as of 2017. This is because if VSD is not treated on time, it can increase the risk of the following diseases, informed CDC:
- Heart failure
- High blood pressure in the lungs
- Irregular heart rhythms
- Stroke
Talking about ways to diagnose VSD, Dr Yadav said, “It is characterised by a loud murmur that is an abnormal sound over the heartbeat.”
Discussing ways to treat or manage VSD, Dr Yadav said, “If the hole is small, it will close on its own in few weeks. The doctor would need to regularly monitor this condition to make sure the defect is closing up by itself. To ensure regular monitoring, the doctor performs an echocardiogram every few weeks.”
Open Heart Surgery To Treat VSD
However, if the hole is large, that’s where the trouble begins. Listing the symptoms of a large VSD that may not close up on its own, Dr Yadav shared:
- Breathing difficulties
- Feeding difficulties.
- Babies won't be growing or gaining weight
- They will have repeated colds and coughs.
Dr Yadav said “If the baby has more than one VSD, or the VSD is present in an unusual location, then a temporary operation is done to relieve the symptoms. This operation is called a pulmonary banding, which also helps reduce the pressure in the lungs.”
“Once the child grows up, the band is removed and then an open heart surgery is done to close it. Till this temporary surgery is performed, medications are given to control the symptoms.”
However, if the VSD is large, then open heart surgery is performed during infancy or childhood. Dr Yadav reassured that babies are absolutely normal post-surgery, don't require any special precautions and can resume their normal physical activity.
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Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover’s courageous act of talking about their daughter’s heart condition is commendable as Basu rightly pointed out that not a lot of parents talk about this important topic. If more and more parents spoke freely and openly about their baby’s congenital diseases, it could help feel others less hopeless and be aware of their child’s health in a much better way. This would reduce the burden of congenital diseases by alerting parents to seek the right treatment before its too late.