Archive for heart center
Whether she’s embracing school, sports, or music, Lindsey shows how Williams syndrome can be managed
One of the first things Lindsey Franco will tell you is, “I like being me. I like being happy.” The 19-year-old has a lot to be happy about. She attends a post-high school transition program that helps young adults expand their social and life skills. There, she does all the things she enjoys, including playing ... Read More about Whether she’s embracing school, sports, or music, Lindsey shows how Williams syndrome can be managed
Mending injured hearts: Lessons from newborns?
When the heart is injured, as in a myocardial infarction, the damaged heart muscle cannot regenerate — instead, scar tissue forms. Cardiomyocytes, the heart muscle cells that generate contractile force, are lost for good. Yet, in mouse models, the hearts of newborns regenerate readily after injury. How are newborn hearts able to recover? What are ... Read More about Mending injured hearts: Lessons from newborns?
A surgeon’s last-minute trip to Sri Lanka reduces children’s wait for needed heart repair
Last year, Dr. Christopher Baird got an offer he couldn’t refuse — something that happens often as he travels the world to demonstrate the heart surgery techniques he has learned and developed at Boston Children’s Hospital. At a heart surgery symposium in India, Dr. Baird had just performed a complex type of aortic valve reconstruction ... Read More about A surgeon’s last-minute trip to Sri Lanka reduces children’s wait for needed heart repair
The people and advancements behind 75 years of Boston Children’s Cardiology
Boston Children’s Department of Cardiology has more than 100 pediatric and adult cardiologists, over 40 clinical fellows learning the routines of heart care in a major hospital, 12 echocardiogram rooms dedicated to testing the function of a child’s heart, and five labs equipped to perform advanced catheterization procedures. Many other numbers could highlight the dedication that the ... Read More about The people and advancements behind 75 years of Boston Children’s Cardiology
In the genetics of congenital heart disease, noncoding DNA fills in some blanks
Researchers have been chipping away at the genetic causes of congenital heart disease (CHD) for a couple of decades. About 45 percent of cases of CHD have an identifiable cause, including chromosomal abnormalities, genetic variants affecting protein-coding genes, and environmental factors. What about the rest of the cases of CHD? Noncoding DNA elements have long ... Read More about In the genetics of congenital heart disease, noncoding DNA fills in some blanks
After surgery for heart condition tetralogy of Fallot, James is all joy
Warriors come in all shapes and sizes. Some even smile. In the Irvine family, the lead warrior is a happy one: 6-month-old James, whose cheeriness hides the difficult medical journey he had in the first few months of life. “I have been told by many people that James is an inspiration,” says his mom, Heidi. ... Read More about After surgery for heart condition tetralogy of Fallot, James is all joy
Finding ways to reduce the financial and social costs of pacemakers
As the number of complex heart operations has increased over the years, so have cases of postoperative heart block, a form of arrhythmia that often requires a pacemaker and more surgery. Heart block occurs when unseen conduction tissue — the cells and electrical signals that control the beating of a heart — is injured. It is a ... Read More about Finding ways to reduce the financial and social costs of pacemakers
Twenty years after a groundbreaking biventricular repair, Faith gives back by helping children with CHD
Faith Brackett doesn’t remember every detail of the time she was among the first children to have a new life-saving heart surgery. She was 7, after all, when she had a biventricular repair — a procedure that creates two functioning ventricles in a heart relying on just one. But she does remember how the surgery finally gave ... Read More about Twenty years after a groundbreaking biventricular repair, Faith gives back by helping children with CHD
A lifetime of treatment inspires Ruth to advocate care for others
Ruth Ngwaro offers guidance to children who have heart disease. Perhaps her most useful bit of advice is telling them to not look too far ahead in their lifelong journeys and instead focus on what they can do each day. She would know: Throughout childhood and well into adulthood, Ruth was in and out of ... Read More about A lifetime of treatment inspires Ruth to advocate care for others
Un verdadero corazón de oro: El viaje de Jeremiahs hacia un trasplante de corazón
Con las sirenas sonando, Angelie y su esposo atravesaron el tráfico a toda velocidad, ansiosos por llegar a tiempo a la ciudad. La escolta policial que tenían delante les despejó el camino, lo que les permitió trasladarse rápidamente al Boston Children’s Hospital, donde los esperaba su hijo de 6 años, Jeremiahs, apodado JJ. Si Angelie ... Read More about Un verdadero corazón de oro: El viaje de Jeremiahs hacia un trasplante de corazón