Looking back and ahead: The heart that made history

In the early morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Jennifer Miller was preparing to make history. She lay in pre-op, ready for the Boston Children’s Hospital Fetal Cardiology team to perform the world’s first fetal cardiac intervention on her unborn son. Two weeks earlier, at her 18-week screening ultrasound, Jennifer and her husband Henry were told their son would be born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a life-threatening heart defect where the left ventricle is small and underdeveloped. If born with HLHS, their son would immediately undergo multiple open-heart surgeries to repair his heart and, later, may need a heart transplant. In this video, learn what to ask at your 18- to 22-week screening ultrasound to make sure your baby’s heart is healthy. You can also download the questions and share them with your ultrasound technician.   Dr. Wayne Tworetzky, director of Boston Children’s Fetal Cardiology program, offered the Millers another option. Because their son’s heart condition was detected early, doctors could expand his underdeveloped valve in utero, potentially allowing his heart to grow normally for the remainder of Jennifer’s pregnancy. The Millers agreed to the experimental procedure. Tworetzky’s explanation “made perfect sense to us and helped us make our decision,” says Jennifer. “We understood that if they could open up our son’s valve to allow more blood through, we would have a baby with four fully functional chambers of the heart...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Dr. Audrey Marshall Dr. James Lock Dr. Wayne Tworetsky Fetal Cardiac Imaging Fetal Cardiology Program fetal surgery Heart Center hypoplastic left heart syndrome Source Type: news