New Delhi: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi has set up a committee to examine the death of a 15-year-old Rajasthan girl who had been under treatment at the premier hospital for a complex congenital heart condition since she was two years old.
Tanvi, a Kota resident, passed away at around 5.05 am on September 1, hours after developing severe cyanosis and subsequently suffering cardiac arrest.
AIIMS has been under pressure after media reports raised concerns over Tanvi’s prolonged wait for corrective heart surgery, with her parents alleging that the surgery kept getting postponed for years.
Their video message on Tanvi’s delayed surgery went viral on social media amid concerns about increasing surgery loads, delays in treatment of serious patients and long waits for life-saving procedures at the leading government hospital.
It was on October 10, 2012 that Tanvi was first taken to AIIMS. The two-year-old child was diagnosed with ventricular septal defect (VSD) with pulmonary atresia, a serious heart condition in which normal flow of blood from the heart to lungs is severely obstructed or absent.
What the family narrated about how treatment progressed over the years differed significantly from the hospital’s version.
An AIIMS estimate certificate dated January 31, 2014, recorded the diagnosis as ‘VSD + pulmonary atresia’ and listed ‘unifocalisation & conduit’ as the required surgery, with an estimated cost of Rs 1.25 lakh. The document mentioned four blood donors would be needed.
According to Tanvi’s father Mukesh Pariyani, AIIMS gave surgery dates — September 2, 2015 and then November 16 — but the procedure did not materialise.
He claimed the family kept approaching AIIMS over the years. A grievance was filed in 2016, which was referred to the treating department for further evaluation and management of surgery.
In June 2025, the family again raised the issue, saying Tanvi was awaiting surgery and that they could not afford treatment anywhere else.
They also claimed to have approached the Prime Minister’s Office in February this year, alleging that her condition was deteriorating.
Hospital version
As per AIIMS assessment, however, Tanvi’s condition changed as the complexity of her cardiac anatomy became clearer.
The hospital said she underwent detailed investigations in 2013, including CT angiography, conventional angiography and cardiac catheterisation. The treating team concluded in 2017 that corrective surgery was not feasible because of her underlying cardiac anatomy.
Another assessment in 2018 found that major blood vessels supplying Tanvi’s lungs were absent and described her cardiac anatomy as complex. One of the treating doctors said she was not a candidate for corrective surgery because the pulmonary arteries were essentially absent and surgery could be fatal if the anatomy was unsuitable.
The family was accordingly advised medical management and regular follow-up, AIIMS said. The family continued to seek opinions on surgery, including from then Head of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery last year and another senior cardiothoracic surgeon. Both advised continued medical management, the hospital said.
AIIMS’s statement does not, however, explain why surgery advised in 2014 did not take place.
With Tanvi’s condition deteriorating last month, she was brought back to AIIMS, and admitted on August 24 for evaluation for a possible heart-lung transplant, according to the hospital.
The transplant preparation included several investigations. According to her father, an endoscopy was conducted around 7 pm on August 31 and that her condition deteriorated later that night.
AIIMS, on the other hand, said Tanvi developed sudden fatigue and weakness at around 2.50 am on September 1, followed by severe cyanosis, with her oxygen saturation falling to about 48 per cent.
She was provided oxygen support at around 3.30 am, but then she suffered a hypoxic spell leading to cardiac arrest. She could not be revived despite resuscitation efforts, and was declared dead at 5.06 am, the hospital said.
The family has also not yet taken Tanvi’s body from the hospital, demanding answers about the circumstances of her death.
AIIMS said an autopsy is being conducted, and that its findings will be considered alongside clinical records and other evidence.
The inquiry panel constituted by the AIIMS Director will examine the sequence of events, including Tanvi’s investigations, treatment, expert opinions and circumstances surrounding her death.
Appropriate action will be taken, based on the committee’s findings.
