A Mumbai hospital has successfully performed a rare and intricate heart surgery on an 18-month-old child diagnosed with a large ventricular septal defect (VSD) along with an exceptionally uncommon coronary artery anomaly.

The child was brought to Dr Supratim Sen, senior consultant paediatric cardiologist at Narayana Health SRCC Children's Hospital, Mumbai - OPD, with symptoms including poor weight gain, frequent respiratory infections, and delayed developmental milestones. A detailed cardiac evaluation revealed not only a significant VSD—an abnormal opening in the heart’s ventricular septum—but also raised suspicions of a rare condition involving the coronary arteries.

Normally, the coronary arteries originate from the aorta and supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart. In this case, however, one of the coronary arteries – the left anterior descending (LAD) artery – was suspected to be originating from the pulmonary artery on the patient’s echocardiogram. This rare anomaly, known as Anomalous Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery Arising from Pulmonary Artery (ALADAPA), was confirmed through a CT coronary angiogram.