The Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery (CVTS) at the Super Speciality Hospital, Government Medical College (SSH-GMC), Jammu, has been performing open-heart surgeries on children, born with heart defects like hole in the chambers of the heart and other associated complicated anomalies, under Ayushman Bharat Scheme.
Head of the Department Dr Shyam Singh informs that the spectrum of diseases operated include abnormal connection between large arteries arising from the heart (PDA); narrowing of the large artery arising from the heart (coarctation of aorta); hole between the upper chambers of the heart (atrial septal defect ASD); ASD with abnormal drainage of blood from lungs to heart; hole between the lower chambers of the heart (Ventricular Septal Defect VSD) and complicated heart defects like tetralogy of fallot.
“The age of the patients ranged from 1 year to 18 years coming from the length and breadth of Jammu and Kashmir. Many of the patients are brought late because the parents cannot afford surgeries for these kids because of financial constraints. But now with the advent of the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, wherein they do not have to pay anything out of pocket for the procedures, parents are getting their kids for early surgeries. These kids need meticulous preoperative evaluation as they can have other genetic anomalies,” Dr Singh stated.
The Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, according to him, is also performing these operations through small cuts in the right side of the chest.
“The heart tissues of these kids are delicate and need meticulous suturing for repair of defects and the blood volume being less need attention to detail when putting on heart lung machine,” Dr Shyam Singh said.
“Anaesthetising a child for open-heart surgery is among the most demanding tasks in our specialty — managing a small, physiologically delicate patient through bypass and the critical hours afterward. A smooth recovery reflects close coordination between the anaesthesia, surgical, and perfusion teams,” Dr Puja Vimesh, Head of the Department, Cardiothoracic Anaesthesiology, shared the complexities during the procedures.
They point out that the procedures are made possible through the support and active involvement of Dr Rehana Khurshid Medical Superintendent, Super Speciality Hospital and the combined efforts of the departments of CVTS, Cardiac Anaesthesia, Perfusion, and Critical Care Nursing.
Referring to one of such complex yet successful cases, they informed that a 7-year-old child, hailing from Poonch, presented with breathlessness and recurrent chest infections, was diagnosed to have a large hole between the high-pressure lower chambers.
“It increased flow into the lungs, flooding them and causing difficulty to breathe and resulting in heart failure. He underwent open repair of the hole with a patch on May 18, 2026 after preoperative stabilisation. The surgery was carried out under a heart lung machine by the CVTS team, with the child making an uneventful postoperative recovery and was discharged,” they shared.
This case, according to them, demonstrates the dedication to bring advanced congenital cardiac surgical care closer to the families of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Children with such conditions have traditionally required referral to centres outside the region, often at considerable cost and difficulty to families. The availability of these services at a government facility means eligible patients can now receive this care locally under Ayushman Bharat Scheme. The child and family have expressed their gratitude to the treating team,” the doctors stated, with a sense of satisfaction.
