Bullet removed from 12-year-old's heart at NICVD

KARACHI. Doctors at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi, saved the life of a 12-year-old boy from Khuzdar, Balochistan, by successfully removing a bullet lodged in his heart during a complex, life-saving cardiac surgery.

According to an NICVD spokesperson, the boy was initially taken to a local hospital after being accidentally shot in his hometown. However, due to the severity of his condition and the nature of his injury, he was brought to Karachi for further treatment.

The child was subsequently admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Department at NICVD Karachi, where doctors immediately began his medical assessment. An emergency echocardiogram confirmed the presence of a bullet lodged in the boy's heart. He was shifted to the operating theatre within minutes for emergency surgery.

Led by paediatric cardiac surgeon Professor Sohail Khan Bangash, the surgical team successfully removed the bullet during a complex procedure that lasted approximately two hours. The team included paediatric cardiac surgeon Dr Saad Badr, paediatric interventionalist Dr Abdul Sattar Sheikh, anaesthesiologist Professor Ameen Khawaja, as well as other doctors, nurses and medical staff.