Teen girl dies at AIIMS Delhi amid claims of 13-year wait for heart surgery

New Delhi: A 15-year-old girl from Kota, who had been receiving treatment at AIIMS Delhi since the age of two for a complex congenital heart defect, died at the hospital early Tuesday, around 14 days after reports highlighted her family’s long wait for corrective heart surgery.

The girl had been admitted to AIIMS on August 24 for evaluation for a possible heart-lung transplant. According to Dr V Devagourou, professor and head of the Department of CTVS at AIIMS, she was diagnosed with ventricular septal defect (VSD) with pulmonary atresia in 2012 and evaluated for surgery in 2013. He said surgery was ruled out in 2018 and she was subsequently managed medically.

“She was admitted on August 24 for evaluation for a possible heart-lung transplant,” he said.

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She underwent an endoscopy Monday as part of the transplant work-up. “At 2.50 am, Tuesday, she complained of fatigue and weakness and became cyanotic, with her oxygen saturation falling to 48%. She was started on oxygen at 3.30 am and subsequently suffered a hypoxic spell resulting in cardiac arrest. Despite efforts to revive her, she could not be saved and was declared dead at 5.06 am,” reports TOI.

The girl had first been brought to AIIMS in 2012. An AIIMS document dated January 31, 2014, recorded her diagnosis as “VSD + pulmonary atresia” and recommended unifocalization and conduit placement. The estimated cost of the proposed surgery at the time was Rs 1.2 lakh.

Her family has alleged that surgery dates fixed in 2015 did not ultimately materialise. The girl's father said the family had been visiting AIIMS for more than a decade and that surgery dates had been fixed and subsequently changed, but the corrective procedure was never performed.

A 2018 assessment recorded that major blood vessels supplying her lungs were absent and described her cardiac anatomy as complex. An AIIMS doctor subsequently stated that she was no longer considered a candidate for corrective surgery because her pulmonary arteries were essentially absent and an attempt at surgery could prove fatal if her anatomy was unsuitable.

Speaking to TOI, days before her death, on August 28, an AIIMS doctor stated that the child was “presently admitted for work-up for possible heart and lung transplant.” The doctor said an earlier estimate of around Rs 1.5 lakh was probably for surgery, when the child was considered operable. However, because the pulmonary artery was now absent, corrective surgery was no longer possible and a heart-lung transplant was being considered.

Her father, however, said he was not given a satisfactory explanation for his daughter's death. He alleged that hospital staff repeatedly sought documents from him and, at various points, pressured him to take discharge. He also alleged that there could have been a conspiracy and demanded an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.

The father said he had not yet taken his daughter's body from the hospital as he wanted answers about what happened before her death.

The allegations made by the family could not be independently established.

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