AN eleven-month-old baby died after complications during a surgery that was meant to extend his life, an inquest heard.

Mahir Chowdhury from Blandford died after doctors stitched an artery to stop him bleeding to death during surgery, only for the stitch to tighten his coronary artery leading to heart failure hours later.

He was born with a congenital defect that left his heart with one pumping valve rather than two.

It meant he required two operations at Southampton General Hospital during his first few months of life to ensure blood pumped around his body properly.

After more scans doctors found blood was adequately reaching his left lung and decided to operate again last July to insert a tube and restore the connection, only for the bleeding to develop midway through the procedure.

Doctors said he would have died had they not stopped the bleeding but his parents Tofazzul and Fatima argue they were not fully informed of the operation's risks when they gave their consent.

Consultant cardiac surgeon Nicola Viola, who performed the surgery, said it was impossible to see exactly where the bleeding was coming from but without the stitch Mahir would have quickly died.

He said: “We had a very, very limited view of an area that is 3mm wide. There was a spot bleeding through filling this area with blood like a well. I had to put the stitch in there to stop the bleeding.”

He added: “The surgery was necessary for Mahir's long term chances of survival and the stitch was made to prevent immediate death.”

Mr Viola added the team could not risk another operation to remove the stitch in case they damaged the area further, causing more bleeding which could prove fatal, while they could not use machinery to artificially pump his heart unless it was clear it would eventually recover.

Consultant cardiologist Trevor Richens added Mahir could not survive with a weakened heart and one working lung but could not put a timescale on how long he would have lived without the operation.

They tried to support his heart with drugs but he died early on August 1.

His parents declined to comment until after the inquest concludes in Southampton on Thursday.