A visiting pediatric cardiologist from Sanjeevani Hospital Mumbai in India is currently at the Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Screening Centre to conduct free echocardiograms and help diagnose congenital heart disease in children.
Dr. Sai Sujana Chitturi is working alongside the local Sanjeevani team in conducting free echocardiograms for children aged uptil 16.
The Screening Centre says congenital heart disease is a heart abnormality which is present at birth, and it is the most common type of birth defect.
If detected, surgery or interventional procedures are usually required if defect is significant and causing problems.
They say with the school holidays going on, some parents are using this as an opportunity to take their children down to Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Screening Centre to get their heart screening done.
Dr Sai Sujana is urging parents to get their children screened if they notice symptoms in their children.
She says the common symptoms of congenital heart disease seen in children are rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing, swelling of the legs, stomach or around the eyes, extreme redness, a blue tinge to the skin or lip and rapid breathing when a baby is feeding.
Dr. Sujana says if your child is experiencing any of these symptoms, please get them screened as soon as possible and take advantage of the free heart screening services at Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Screening Centre.
Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Screening Centre has been open since April 2019, and over 12,000 free heart screenings have been done on-site and off-site as part of the outreach screening camps.
Through Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Screening Centre, 214 life-saving surgeries have been conducted free of cost for the children of Fiji and the Pacific.
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