New Delhi : Doctors at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute performed the first scar-less surgery in India on an 18-year-old boy from Uzbekistan who developed a congenital heart defect.

In a scar-less surgery, the incision given on the patient's chest is almost invisible as it is in the fold of the areole, just beneath the nipple.

Toshikinov Doniyor suffered from pain in the left chest for over two years, and was diagnosed with atrial septal defect a birth defect of the heart in which there is a hole in the wall (septum) that divides the upper chambers of the heart (atria).

The condition results in blood shunted also into the right atrium besides going into the left ventricle.

A hole can vary in size and may close on its own or may require surgery. In due course, and without timely intervention, the condition could accelerate to pulmonary hypertension leading to failure of the right side of the heart, doctors at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute said.

As a result of this, Doniyor showed breathlessness while walking or climbing stairs, pain in the chest, and inability to walk for a long time or long distances, skipped heartbeats and swelling of legs, feet, or stomach area.

As the doctors in Doniyor's country could not offer him a scar-less or a minimal invasive surgery with a minimal scar, he flew to India for the treatment.

"The challenges in using minimal invasive instruments were putting heart ports, visibility into the area of treatment, and adopting peripheral bypass to conduct the surgery," said Yugal Mishra, Director (Cardiovascular Surgery) at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute.

The youth has been discharged from the hospital and is doing fine, Mishra said.