Viyaan’s story: A heart full of gratitude after undergoing life-saving surgery

Neelima and Pavan Muram, already parents to two-year-old, Ira, were thrilled when they found out they were expecting again. This time, they would welcome a baby boy into their family.

“We were happy to have another baby and excited for our daughter to become a big sister,” said Neelima. “Unlike my first pregnancy where I felt nauseous all the time, this pregnancy was smooth sailing. I felt normal and I was active. I was not feeling sick, and I was going out and doing stuff.”

During this pregnancy, Neelima wanted to make sure their son, Viyaan, was gaining enough weight since the couple’s first baby had low birth weight. Neelima had regular ultrasound appointments with her OB/GYN in Lafayette, LA. With each ultrasound, everything appeared normal. Her son was growing and developing at a normal pace, and his heart was beating strong.

On June 6, 2022, when Neelima was 39 weeks pregnant, she and her husband welcomed their seven-pound baby boy at their birthing hospital in Lafayette. After he was born, Viyaan’s high bilirubin levels contributed to jaundice, in which his liver could not efficiently process red blood cells as they break down.

Bilirubin, a yellowish pigment, is made during the normal breakdown of red blood cells and passes through the liver. The liver filters the bilirubin and releases it into the intestinal tract where it is excreted out of the body. High levels can cause yellowing of the skin and eyes. For some babies, their immature liver cannot remove bilirubin fast enough, causing it to build up in their system.

Viyaan received phototherapy to treat his jaundice which helped his liver break down and remove bilirubin from his blood. Viyaan spent five days in the hospital until his bilirubin levels were normal.

“Our baby was perfectly fine while at home,” said Neelima. “He was just like any newborn baby – he loved to eat, sleep, and be cuddled all the time. When we took him to the pediatrician for his one-month appointment, he had gained two more pounds, but his breathing wasn’t very good. His pediatrician took his vitals, and he noticed his breathing was high and his oxygen levels were low.”

The pediatrician referred Viyaan to Dr. Durga Naidu, a pediatric cardiologist in Lafayette. After running heart tests including an echocardiogram, a test that uses sound waves to create images of the heart to detect heart abnormalities, the tests showed there was a problem with Viyaan’s heart.

“When my husband and I learned our son had a heart problem, we were heartbroken and shocked because we never had a history of heart disease in our family,” said Neelima. “We both cried and tried to console each other. All this time, we thought our baby was healthy. Viyaan never showed signs of a heart issue during my pregnancy, and he was perfectly fine when we took him home.”

Viyaan was born with Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (TAPVR), a congenital heart defect where the four veins that take oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the heart do not attach normally to the left atrium (left upper chamber of the heart). Instead, they attach to the wrong side of the heart, leading to blood flow problems. As a result, blood circles to and from the lungs and never gets out to the rest of the body. Due to this abnormal connection, the pulmonary veins connect to other vessels that drain blood into the right atrium which causes the right side of the heart to overwork itself from pumping the extra blood it receives. Besides TAPVR, Viyaan had an atrial septal defect, a hole in the wall (septum) that divides the upper chambers (atria) of the heart.

“Viyaan’s pediatric cardiologist in Lafayette explained our son’s heart condition and told us he didn’t have anybody to perform that surgery on our son,” said Neelima. “Instead, he referred us to Children’s Hospital New Orleans, and said Dr. Frank Pigula would be the best doctor to perform this procedure. From Viyaan’s diagnosis to his heart surgery, everything happened in three days. When we met Dr. Pigula, he explained everything to us on how he would repair Viyaan’s heart. He answered our questions and concerns and made sure we understood everything before surgery.”

The Heart Center at Children’s Hospital New Orleans is a nationally recognized leader in the diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart conditions. The cardiothoracic surgery program is one of the most successful in the country, and one of the reasons why children like Viyaan, who need surgical intervention to treat rare to complex cases, are referred to the Heart Center.

On July 4, 2022, Dr. Pigula performed a successful TAPVR operation on one-month old Viyaan.

“There are four types of TAPVR depending on where the pulmonary veins are attached to,” said Dr. Pigula, chief of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery and co-director of the Heart Center at Children’s Hospital. “Viyaan had an unobstructed supracardiac TAPVR where the pulmonary veins drained into his right atrium (instead of his left atrium) through the superior vena cava, a large vein that carries only deoxygenated or “blue” blood into the right atrium from the upper half of the body. To fix this blood flow problem, we tied off the abnormal connections between the pulmonary veins and the superior vena cava, so blood flows only into the left atrium. After creating one path of blood flow from the pulmonary veins to the left atrium, we closed the atrial septal defect with a small patch.”

After his open-heart surgery, Viyaan was heavily sedated and transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). His parents, who were updated on his condition the whole time he was in surgery, got a chance to see their brave little warrior as he recovered for the next several days in the PICU.

“It was heartbreaking to see our son hooked up to so many tubes at the hospital,” said Neelima. “It was an unbelievable moment in our lives. It was scary for us to see him in this condition, but I knew his body was healing from his surgery and it would take time for him to fully recover. Viyaan was sedated for two days, and then he began to wake up slowly from his sedation, which was a wonderful moment for us to see our son open his eyes for the first time after undergoing life-saving surgery. Our experience working with the nurses, doctors and the entire care team at Children’s Hospital was amazing. The nurses were wonderful and helpful. Dr. Pigula was our hero. I thanked him a million times for saving our baby’s life. Five days after his surgery, we were able to bring Viyaan home. Our daughter was so excited to see her little brother for the very first time.”

As part of his follow up care, three-month-old Viyaan sees his pediatric cardiologist Dr. Naidu in Lafayette every two months. His cardiac care team there remains in contact with Dr. Pigula.

Neelima and Pavan describe their son as a happy baby who adores his big sister. Viyaan has brought abundant joy into their lives, and the family says they will always remember Children’s Hospital as the place that saved their son’s life.

“Despite how difficult this journey was for us, we never gave up hope and all of the doctors and nurses who cared for our son never gave up on him,” said Neelima. “While Viyaan will continue to have regular evaluations to ensure his heart is in good shape, we have much to be grateful for.”

The Heart Center at Children's Hospital New Orleans provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment of patients with congenital cardiovascular disorders. We are the only facility in the state offering a full array of services to care for your child from heart to toe. Click here to learn more.