Archive for cardiac surgery
Someday, this prosthetic heart valve might be the only one a child needs
More than 330,000 children worldwide are born with a heart valve defect, and millions of others develop rheumatic heart disease requiring early valve replacement. Current prosthetic heart valves are fixed in size, so typically need to be replaced every few years as a child grows. For children receiving their first replacement before age 2, that ... Read More about Someday, this prosthetic heart valve might be the only one a child needs
Staff Spotlight: Meet Sue-mei Portugues
Sue-mei Portugues is the global patient access manager for the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. What’s your role at the hospital? I assist some of the families that come from all over the world for cardiac surgeries throughout the second opinion process. I’m often the first person they connect with when they reach ... Read More about Staff Spotlight: Meet Sue-mei Portugues
Tagged: cardiac surgery, culture
PICU Up! Program aims to increase mobility in ICUs
For decades, clinicians believed the most appropriate care for critically ill pediatric patients was sedation and rest. But in recent years, the tides have changed. Studies in adults have shown that sedation and immobility lead to increased mortality and morbidity, longer stays in the intensive care unit (ICU), increased risk of ICU delirium, and a ... Read More about PICU Up! Program aims to increase mobility in ICUs
Tagged: cardiac research, cardiac surgery, heart, heart center, icu
Noah the brave: A cross-country quest for a biventricular repair
If you walked down Binney Street next to Boston Children’s hospital this fall, you might’ve noticed something a bit out of the ordinary. Parked on the sidewalk, just out of the way of passers-by, sat a large RV. On the back of the camper, a large photo of a smiling 5-year-old Noah Alderson told part ... Read More about Noah the brave: A cross-country quest for a biventricular repair
Healing hearts under a watchful eye
Cardiac surgery is performed using visual landmarks inside the heart. There are specialized conduction tissues that run underneath the surface, which are important for the heart’s rhythmic beating. Cardiac surgeons operate with these landmarks in mind to avoid injury to conduction tissue, but locating these tissues can be challenging. Fiberoptic confocal microscopy technology inside the ... Read More about Healing hearts under a watchful eye
Tagged: cardiac research, cardiac surgery, research
Regina’s journey with HLHS: Four years later
Regina was just 25 days old the first time she made the trip from her home in Mexico to Boston. Regina was born with a serious congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), resulting in the underdevelopment of the left side of her heart. Her doctors in Mexico told her parents it was ... Read More about Regina’s journey with HLHS: Four years later
Zaire’s superpowered heart: ‘I am Iron Man’
What do a 4-year-old from Brockton, Massachusetts and Marvel’s superhero Iron Man have in common? A lot more than you might think. Iron Man faces a heart injury that nearly kills him, but creates a suit of armor that protects his heart and gives him superpowers. Zaire was born with scimitar syndrome, a rare condition ... Read More about Zaire’s superpowered heart: ‘I am Iron Man’
Tagged: cardiac surgery, heart, heart center, heart patient
Using newborns’ own umbilical cords as shunts for heart surgery
Cardiac surgery is reducing the use of plastic — starting with an operation for newborns who have life-threatening heart disease generally called single ventricle. Single ventricle is so dangerous because it means only one of the heart’s two ventricles can adequately pump blood. Typically, affected infants undergo open-heart surgery to receive a Blalock shunt, which ... Read More about Using newborns’ own umbilical cords as shunts for heart surgery
Tagged: cardiac research, cardiac surgery, newborn medicine