Danny ’s journey to a biventricular heart

The first hint that something wasn’t quite right with Danny Sanchez-Garcia’s heart came at his mom’s six-month prenatal visit. “There was a little blip on the ultrasound, but then it was gone on the next one, so they didn’t think it was anything and I didn’t worry any more about it,” says Danny’s mom, Cynthia. Cynthia was overjoyed when Danny was born at her local hospital seeming perfectly healthy. But as the hospital staff monitored Danny overnight, they noticed his oxygen level was lower than normal and decided to run more tests. His doctors believed the tests pointed to a congenital heart defect called tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia. “They transported him overnight to Boston Children’s Hospital,” says Cynthia. “I felt like I was on a roller coaster, especially as a first-time mom.” More tests and a new diagnosis Once Danny arrived at Boston Children’s, his story took another unexpected twist. Dr. Roger Breitbart, chief of Inpatient Cardiology, explained to Cynthia that Danny’s initial diagnosis was not correct. Upon more in-depth testing, Breitbart and his colleagues found that Danny had heterotaxy syndrome with double outlet right ventricle, pulmonary atresia and viscero-atrial situs inversus (abnormal connections of the large veins that return high-oxygen and low-oxygen blood to the heart). Heterotaxy is a rare, complex condition where the heart or other organs are not formed correctly or are in the wrong position in the body. M...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Biventricular Repair Complex Biventricular Repair Program congenital heart valve program double outlet right ventricle Dr. Christopher Baird Dr. Roger Breitbart ECMO Pulmonary atresia tetra Source Type: news