Malayali specialist among doctors who saved life of infant by whole lung lavage

Uduma: A team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Jodhpur has successfully brought back a sixteen-month-old girl to life by performing a whole lung lavage (washing of the lungs). Among the team was a young Malayali doctor from Kasaragod, Dr C A Firnaz of Chembarikku Seaview House.

The baby was admitted to the AIIMS after contracting rare pneumonia and was kept on a ventilator. Dr Firnaz identified her condition as pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, a complex disease caused by the accumulation of lipoprotein (surfactant) in the lungs. The team used five litres of a glucose solution over two days to wash both lung surfaces for eight hours each day. 

Dr Firnaz, a postgraduate student in the Paediatrics Department, graduated in medicine from AIIMS Delhi. His wife, Sherin, is also a postgraduate student there, and he has two siblings, Ajzal and Shahin.