KARACHI, Jan 22: The three-and-a-half-year-old baby with an 'exposed' heart, Alina Farooq, was operated upon on Thursday at the National Institute of Cardio-Vascular Diseases (NICVD) by a team of three surgeons.

The operation - aimed at giving the needed protection to her heart, which was originally covered only by a thin layer of skin - lasted three hours. During the surgical operation a bone was inserted into the baby's chest from which a major bone was missing.

"The operation was quite involved," said NICVD Director Prof Azhar Masood Farooqui. "Some muscles, bones and skin patches had to be reconstructed and reshaped."

The professor said Alina was in an intensive care unit. "As we fear that an infection may rear its head, we are not taking any chances. We are not even allowing the baby's parents to go into the ICU for the time being."

He said by Monday the baby was expected to be shifted from the ICU. "On Monday the baby will be shown to the journalists, provided every thing goes to plan."

Prof Farooqui said the team of surgeons who undertook the operation was led by Prof Iftikhar Hussein. The surgeons who assisted him were Dr Akhtar Hussain and Dr Arif Rehman, both of whom work for the NICVD.

In response to a question put by Dawn, Prof Farooqui said during the operation every thing went according to plan. "There were no surprises. But the next few days will be critical for Alina."

The baby's heart, because it was covered by only a thin layer of skin and because a major bone was missing from her chest, was vulnerable to injuries. "But now adequate protection has been provided which we hope will make her heart safe and secure."

In response to a question, he said there were fewer than 20 similar operations had been reported worldwide. "And in South Asia, no similar case has ever been reported."

Since there was very little in the scientific literature about similar cases, Alina's operation was unique for the Pakistani surgeons, the professor added.