In a remarkable medical breakthrough, doctors at BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital, successfully performed a novel, minimally invasive procedure on a 6-year-old boy born with a rare and life-threatening heart defect, from a remote village in Haryana. Since birth, he lived with a single functional heart chamber—a condition so rare that it affects less than 1% of children born with congenital heart defects. In a normal heart, four chambers manage the circulation of pure and impure blood across the body and lungs.
Unlike most children his age who run around with boundless energy, Ayansh would tire quickly. His lips and fingers often turned blue due to dangerously low oxygen levels in his blood, a result of a missing right side of the heart—responsible for pumping impure blood to the lungs. His condition, called single ventricle physiology, meant that pure and impure blood mixed in his body, depriving him of the oxygen he desperately needed.
A team of doctors led by Dr. Gaurav Garg, Associate Director - Paediatric Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Institute at BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital performed a rare Transcatheter Fontan procedure—a first-of-its-kind minimally invasive intervention, carried out entirely through a small incision in the groin. Instead of opening the child’s chest for a complex and risky open-heart surgery, doctors used catheters and wires to reach the heart and place a covered stent inside.
“When Ayansh came to us, his oxygen levels were dangerously low—hovering around 70–75%,” said Dr. Garg, who has been treating the child since infancy. “He had already undergone the first stage of treatment, known as the Glenn procedure, at just six months old, in which blood flow from the upper body was redirected to the lungs, bypassing the malformed right heart. The final stage—the Fontan—is usually a high-risk surgery done around this age. Traditionally, this is a high-risk, open-heart surgery involving re-operation on the chest, with significant risks of bleeding, infection, pain, and prolonged hospitalisation. Considering the child's age and the complexity of the case, we opted for a Transcatheter Fontan—a safer, minimally invasive alternative”.
The decision changed everything for Ayansh and his family. Just days after the procedure, his oxygen levels began to rise, and the bluish tint on his skin started fading.
Dr. Garg explained, “These kinds of congenital heart defects often go undetected in rural areas. In Ayansh’s case, early diagnosis and timely intervention were key. While the exact cause of such defects is still unclear, some may be linked to genetic factors.”
Heart defects affect 1 in 100 new-borns globally. But children like Ayansh are among the rarest and most challenging to treat. BLK-Max Hospital’s use of cutting-edge, minimally invasive techniques marks a significant leap forward in paediatric cardiac care in India.
For Ayansh, life has finally taken a turn. He now dreams of going back to school, playing with his friends and siblings, and doing everything a 6-year-old should—with a stronger heart and a brighter future.