Chennai, Mar 1 (UNI) Hailing from a poor family, 16-year-old Devi was born with a rare disorder -- Dextro-Cardia, with her heart on the right side.

She had complaints of breathlessness and exertion for the last four years, which had become severe during the last six months.

She also has a history of rheumatic fever right from the age of six.

Besides, she had problems in her lungs, regular cough, and was also suffering from bilateral bronchitis and an infection in the sinus.

In medical parlance, this is called ''Citus Inversus Totalis'', which means that her heart will be the mirror image of a normal person.

When she was referred to the Government General Hospital (GGH), a team of doctors took it up as a challenge and gave a fresh lease of life by performing a rare mitral valve replacement surgery, which the team of doctors claim was perhaps done for the first time in India with an innovative method.

The team led by Prof Viswakumar of Cardio-Thoracic department of the Hospital, performed the open heart surgery that lasted nearly two hours on February 14, hospital Dean Dr Kalavathi Poniraivan and Prof Viswakumar said yesterday.

''We have to adopt an innovative method as she cannot be given a general anaesthesia considering the complexity of the disease'', Prof Viswakumar said.

The girl is now hale and hearty and is under constant medication. She would be discharged soon.

UNI