The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc all over the world with many people losing their lives to this deadly disease. But the spirit to survive and efforts put in by health care professionals have given us many tales of human victory over this virus. Recently the city witnessed a rare case which is world’s first documented case of “COVID-19 during Pregnancy with Guillian Barre Syndrome-AIDP and Pneumonia”.
This is the story of a 32-year-old, 8 and half months pregnant lady living in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. During month of September, she started having headache, tingling in limbs, lower legs paralysis and generalised weakness and was admitted in a nearby hospital in her city. When she was found to be COVID-19 Positive and in labour pains, she was immediately referred to a higher centre. Her family rushed her to Nagpur in early morning and hospitalized her at KRIMS Hospitals, Ramdaspeth, Nagpur. She was immediately attended by Obstetrician &GynecologistDr.DiptiShende. A decision to perform emergency caesarean section(LSCS) was taken and then she delivered a premature new-born who was admitted in NICU at for 5 days. After delivery, she started having complications of COVID-19 showing difficulty in breathing, speaking and severe generalised weakness. She was immediately shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where she received Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation(CPR) because of bradycardia and sudden respiratory arrest. Because of complete respiratory failure she was put on ventilator support. She was examined by Neurologist, Dr.AnandSomkuwar who clinically suspected Guillian Barre Syndrome as the cause of her weakness and respiratory failure. She underwent emergency tracheostomy as she was not maintaining Oxygen saturation along with Ventilatory Support. Simultaneously she was also found to have left sided pneumonia. She was treated with Intravenous Immunoglobulins(IV Ig) for 5 days. She was treated for respiratory failure by Dr. Sameer Arbat who is leading the COVID-19 Team at KRIMS Hospitals. She was gradually weaned off from the ventilator after 28 days under due care of neurologist. Gradually her weakness started improving. After 7 days she was discharged from the hospital when she was able to stand with support and move the upper limbs completely. It is noteworthy that KRIMS Hospitals, Ramdaspeth is a dedicated COVID-19 hospital and in circumstances of this pandemic with due risk of getting self-infection, novel work done by Dr.DiptiShende, Dr. Sameer Arbat, Dr.AnandSomkuwarand team of KRIMS Hospitals gave a new life to this COVID-19 pregnant female and her baby. Such scenario is rarely encountered in clinical practice and this is work is truly appreciable and awardable.
“Patients of COVID-19 requiring ventilator support fall into severe category. Any complications related to COVID-19 in pregnancy is a big challenge for all the doctors. This case was attended by our team during the peak of September when there was scarcity of beds available for COVID-19 patients in the city. I believe that Dr Anand and Dr Dipti played a very crucial role by attending to this COVID-19 case at a time when it was difficult to find a specialist. I used to personally sit next to the patient and encourage her to stay positive so that she can finally get to meet her new born whom she had not seen since her delivery. The team of doctors was overburdened with the total number of COVID-19 cases admitted in the hospital with a high risk of getting infected by this deadly disease. It was 30 days of rigorous efforts put in by three specialities of Pulmonology, Obstetrics and Neurology that this patient could come out healthy from such a complicated clinical situation”, commented Dr Sameer Arbat, Interventional Pulmonologist, who is leading the COVID-19 team at KRIMS Hospitals, Ramdaspeth, Nagpur, India.
“During pregnancy body’s immune system is altered andresponse to viral infection can cause more severesymptoms. There is possibility of transmitting disease to baby also. Early identification and assessment of hersymptoms played key role in her treatment “,
commented DrDiptiShende who was the primary doctor to attend to this case.
KRIMS Hospitals, Ramdaspeth is a dedicated COVID-19 Centre and has treated more than 300 COVID-19 cases over the past few months.The victory of a COVID-19 pregnant female over Guillian Barre Syndrome-AIDP and Pneumonia is an example of courage and determination by the doctors and strong will power of the mother and her love for her new born. This story is a ray of hope for humanity when we are constantly surrounded by heartbreaking stories of people losing their near and dear ones.
The Team of Doctors who crafted this miracle-
1. Dr Sameer Arbat, Interventional Pulmonologist leading the COVID-19 Team
2. Dr DiptiShende, Obstretician
3. Dr Swapnil Bakamwar, Pulmonologist
4. Dr Parimal Deshpande, Pulmonologist
5. Dr AnandSomkuwar, Neurologist
6. Dr PrajaktaBorkar, Physiotherapist
7. Dr SiddharthSaoji, ENT Surgeon
8. Dr RohiniDharmadhikari
9. Dr Renu Gulati
10. Dr Shabnam Khan
11. Nursing & Assisting Staff
