The Hindu : National : Saving Khaled

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 06, 2005

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National

Saving Khaled

By Sandhya Soman

Khaled Majedrabah with his mother on Tuesday. — Photo: Vino John

CHENNAI, APRIL 5. Khaled Majedrabah was 27 days old and had high lung pressure when he was brought to Chennai from Palestine. His heart needed to be fixed.

Today, 10 days later, Khaled, swathed in white, sleeps easy in his mother Rola's arms after doctors at the Frontier Lifeline (Dr. K.M. Cherian Heart Foundation) here prevented oxygenated blood from getting mixed up with de-oxygenated blood. For this, they used an indigenously created "bovine jugular conduit."

Dr. Cherian, a pioneer in cardio-thoracic surgery, says: "Truncus arteriosus is a rare and congenital condition where there is no clear demarcation of the walls of the pulmonary veins and the aorta. We created a separation through surgery and connected the right ventricle and the arteries using the vein of an animal."

In Khaled's case it was a buffalo, for the vein can withstand the pressure.

"It was not easy," says Dr. Cherian, "the only other manufacturer in the world of such a conduit is a German company."

According to the doctor, the product is a result of complex tissue engineering processes. Bovine cells had to be knocked off and sterilised before creating the conduit, which costs Rs. 25,000. The price of the German counterpart comes to nearly Rs. 78,000, says the doctor.

Khaled will eventually outgrow the 14 mm vein, which will then have to be replaced with a normal 21 mm vein.

When? "Depends on how his heart works. Probably by the age of 6 or 7," says Dr. Cherian.

Majedrabah and Rola say they will come back to India to strengthen the heart of their only son. It has already cost them more than Rs. 3 lakhs for the surgery.

"I am an Arab. Sons are important," says Mr. Majedrabah after showing his one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Dima's picture on his cellphone.

Dr. Cherian and his team are busy trying to manufacture these conduits commercially. "We will be there soon. After conducting some more tests," he said.

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