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New procedure may save babies with holes in their hearts
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Premature babies are the most likely to be in danger of dying due to holes in the heart.
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Magalie L'Abbé via Flickr Creative Commons
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Everyone is born with a hole in their heart.
That sounds like something from an old country blues song, but it’s close to the truth. Nearly all babies come out of the womb with a small hole in the main muscle of their circulatory system that closes on its own.
But when it doesn’t close, the result can be deadly. Premature babies are particular at risk — they’re already weak, and in some cases they can’t survive the treatment necessary to close the hole.
That’s changing now. Medical researchers at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles are using a new technique for treating holes in the heart that’s much less dangerous and could prove more effective. According to Dr. Evan Zahn, who helped pioneer the new procedure, holes in the heart can be plugged easily and quickly this way.
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“We can now close these at the bedside, using ultrasound guidance with a teeny-tiny device that we snake up through the heart,” Zahn said.
The procedure still needs to be reviewed and studied, Zahn said. So far only 12 babies have had holes in their heart treated this way. And the procedure isn’t designed for all kinds of holes in the heart, only PDA (patent ductus arteriosus) holes, meaning those between the pulmonary artery and the aorta.
That said, Zahn describes the condition of all 12 babies to receive the treatment as “perfect.” The first child ever treated with the new, less invasive procedure will soon turn 2 years old.
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