Doctors at Rainbow Children’s Hospital have treated a child with a rare genetic condition, who had a bone marrow transplant, and later survived on an ECMO machine. The child is doing well.
When six-week-old Lowchan was brought to the hospital, he was down for diarrhea and severe dehydration. While the parents suspected a simple infection, more than four months of hospitalization led to investigations and Lowchen was diagnosed with monogenic inflammatory bowel disease caused by a genetic mutation. Doctors said that it was caused by the lack of IL-10R.
“The only available treatment was an initial bone marrow transplant,” said R Karthik Narayanan, senior consultant at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, who treated the child.
Since the hospital did not have a license for the transplant, the child was shifted to another hospital for treatment.
At five months, Lowchan underwent a bone marrow transplant with CMCHIS support, but suffered serious complications due to the infection. Almost all of his organs were damaged because BMT wiped out immunity.
Fourteen days after the transplant, his kidneys, liver, heart and lungs failed. The only option was to provide ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) which would treat only the heart.
Lochan was on ECMO for 20 days after which he was put on dialysis. Ventilator support was removed after tracheostomy.
A team of doctors including Karthik Narayanan, Geetha and Nataraja Palaniappan looked after the child round the clock. The child’s weight was 5 kg instead of 7 kg for normal growth.
ECMO increases the risk of bleeding and bleeding in the right side of the baby’s brain. Consultant Neurosurgeon Santosh Mohan Rao performed a craniotomy to remove the blood clot. Consultant Pediatrician Dharani Jayaraman helped with post BMT care.
Born in March 2020, Lochan underwent treatment from December 2020 to February 2021.
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