Father of ECMO Inspires Next Generation of Doctors and Researchers

His “outrageous” idea that saved thousands of babies shows the importance of big thinking. By Beata Mostafavi Robert Bartlett inspires the next generation of doctors and researchers. Hannah Cheriyan was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. Just hours old and in respiratory distress, she was airlifted to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit

Congenital Heart Defects: What Parents Want You to Know

9 Things Parents of Kids With Congenital Heart Defects Want You to Know Here are nine things parents of children with a congenital heart defect (CHD) want you to know, but may be too scared to say: 1. My child’s diagnosis is most likely worse than you think it is. One of the wonderful but

Aussie connection to Norwood “Sano Modification”

Cardiovascular surgeon Professor Shunji Sano is Deputy Director of Okayama University Hospital and internationally renowned for his contributions to the surgical treatment of congenital heart disease including the ‘Sano Procedure’ for the hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS)—”A Benchmark for the Surgical Treatment of Congenital Heart Disease”. “Breaking my arm when I fell out a tree

Using newborns’ own umbilical cords as shunts for heart surgery – Vector

A new approach to single ventricle heart surgery in infants replaces plastic shunts with the patient’s own umbilical vein to prevent blood clots. Source: Using newborns’ own umbilical cords as shunts for heart surgery – Vector

Message of Hope as Heart Boy Still Fights for Life

The Weekend Australian   As three-week-old Nathan Garcia continued to struggle for life yesterday in intensive care at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, Joanne Crisp sent him and his parents a message of hope from Perth. Two years ago, Joanne’s son James had the same critical heart surgery in Melbourne to correct his heart defect, hypoplastic

Little Nathan Clings to Life

The Australian   NATHAN Garcia, 13 days old, clings to life in the intensive care unit at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital by 18 lines, ventilators, tubes and monitors. He was born in Perth on Sunday last week with a heart defect, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and if he had not been flown to Melbourne and

Heart of the Syndrome

The Hobart Mercury   Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) means the left side of the newborn’s heart did not develop normally, preventing blood being pumped properly around the body. Until now, there were four options for parents with babies suffering from HLHS: termination of the pregnancy, compassionate care, transplantation or the three-stage Norwood procedure. The

‘Unknown’ Operation a Lifesaver

The Hobart Mercury   FIVE months ago Ben and Veronica Sneesby were told their unborn baby had no chance of survival. But today the couple are proud parents of three-week-old Phelicity after using their life savings to get to the other side of the world for a ground-breaking operation they were told didn’t exist. When

Full Credit Must Go to Hospital

Northern Territory News   I AM writing with regards to the article “Our Babies Beat Odds” in the Sunday Territorian on April 21. I am Casey’s mother and I would like to say in this letter what was totally missed in our story. The main reason we decided to do this story was to give

Our Babies Beat Odds

Sunday Territorian   When Casey Court and Sam Jewell were in their mothers’ wombs, doctors gave them little chance of survival. The two young Territorians had been diagnosed with a deadly, rare disease – Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. The left side of their hearts were poorly formed and could not support the main circulation. Only