CHENNAI: Doctors at a private hospital in the city gave a new lease of life to a 7-year-old Iraqi girl, Nourl Al Zahara, who suffered from a heart problem, dilated cardiomyopathy. The team of surgeons treated her condition through stem cell transplant.

Zahara, the only child of Salem, a botany teacher and Raza, a lawyer at Baghdad, began to experience tiredness and problems with breathing when she was merely 6-months-old. Despite taking her to several doctors in Baghdad, her parents could not find a cure for the girl who was later brought to Frontier Lifeline Hospital in Chennai.

Doctors who ran tests on her found that the child has been suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy, where the heart muscle becomes enlarged and gets damaged. Considering her age, the surgical team decided to treat her condition with a stem cell transplant. In this treatment, stem cells are separated and multiplied from the patient's bone marrow and is then injected into the patient's heart.

Speaking about the treatment, DDr K M Cherian of Frontier Lifeline Hospital said, "Stem cell therapy gives the heart a chance to regenerate. As the heart does not have the capacity to heal by itself, this therapy helps in the process."

The main intention of the stem cell treatment is to ensure quality life for heart patients from the first stage of medication until the final stage of treatment, the doctor added. Following the transplant, the child's condition began to stabilize and she showed signs of recovery. "She is healthy now and is even looking forward to go to school," said Dr Cherian.

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Chennai doctors give new lease of life to Iraq girl