15-year-old girl dies at AIIMS after 13-year heart treatment wait; father seeks answers

Dubai: A 15-year-old girl who had been visiting India’s premier AIIMS hospital since she was two for a complex congenital heart defect has died — leaving her father demanding answers over why corrective surgery recommended years earlier was never performed.

Tanvi, from Kota in Rajasthan, died at AIIMS Delhi early Tuesday, while undergoing evaluation for a possible heart-lung transplant, the Times of India reported.

Her death came just two weeks after the newspaper highlighted her family’s claim that she had spent more than 13 years making repeated trips to the hospital, with surgery dates allegedly being fixed and later changed without the procedure taking place.

The case has now focused attention on a crucial period in her treatment: AIIMS says Tanvi was evaluated for surgery in 2013 but the procedure was eventually ruled out in 2018.

The hospital did not respond to TOI’s specific questions about why surgery was not performed following the earlier evaluation and what subsequently led doctors to conclude that it could not be done.

Surgery recommended

Tanvi was diagnosed with ventricular septal defect (VSD) with pulmonary atresia, a serious congenital heart condition.

An AIIMS document dated January 31, 2014, recommended “unifocalisation & conduit” surgery and estimated its cost at Rs120,000.

Her father, Mukesh Pariyani, alleges surgery dates were fixed in 2015 but the operation never took place.

A 13-year journey

• 2012: Tanvi first taken to AIIMS; diagnosed with VSD and pulmonary atresia

• 2013: Evaluated for corrective surgery

• 2014: AIIMS document recommends surgery estimated at Rs120,000

• 2015: Father says surgery dates were fixed but operation did not happen

• 2018: AIIMS says corrective surgery was ruled out; complex anatomy documented

• August 24, 2026: Admitted for possible heart-lung transplant evaluation

• September 1: Suffers cardiac arrest and dies at age 15

Dr V Devagourou, professor and head of the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at AIIMS’ CT Centre, said Tanvi had been evaluated for surgery in 2013 but surgery was ruled out in 2018. She was subsequently managed medically.

Records cited by TOI show that a 2018 assessment found major blood vessels supplying her lungs were absent and described her cardiac anatomy as complex.

A doctor earlier told the newspaper that the absence of pulmonary arteries meant Tanvi was no longer a candidate for corrective surgery because an operation could prove fatal if her anatomy was unsuitable.

Final hours

Tanvi was admitted on August 24 for evaluation for a possible heart-lung transplant.

As part of that work-up, she underwent an endoscopy on Monday.

According to Dr Devagourou, she complained of fatigue and weakness at 2.50am Tuesday before becoming cyanotic, with her oxygen saturation dropping to 48 per cent.

She was given oxygen but subsequently suffered a hypoxic spell followed by cardiac arrest. Despite attempts to revive her, she was declared dead at 5.06am, he said.

Pariyani has questioned the circumstances surrounding his daughter’s death and called for an investigation. He also made allegations about her treatment during the latest admission that could not be independently established.

He has refused to take his daughter’s body from the hospital until he receives answers, according to the report.