Heart Center

In honor of the New Year, we’re taking a look back at some of our most popular and memorable blog posts from 2014. Below is a list of our top 10 posts. Here’s to another great year of health news to come. Happy New Year!

Lung Liquid Similar to One Used in Movie “The Abyss” Saves Infant’s Life, Doctors Encourage FDA Approval of Clinical Trials

Two doctors at Seattle Children’s went the extra mile to save Tatiana, one of the sickest babies they’ve ever seen. They got ‪FDA‬ approval to use a long-forgotten drug and are now inspired to help make this drug available to save more lives.

Visit with Macklemore Helps 6-Year-Old Heart Patient Recover

AJ Hwangbo was a happy-go-lucky 6-year-old without a worry in the world until mid-November when he developed a life-threatening heart condition. While specialists at Seattle Children’s Hospital helped AJ heal physically, the young boy struggled to bounce back emotionally. But, AJ’s joyful spirit returned after hospital staff arranged for him to meet his hero – local artist Macklemore. Read full post »

Dr. Katie Williams, a pediatrician and urgent care specialist at Seattle Children’s Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center, lived every parent’s worst nightmare when her 1-month-old son turned gravely ill one Saturday evening in January. Here, Williams shares how her infant escaped the grip of death — and how she gained a new level of gratitude — thanks to her colleagues’ expertise in pediatric life support.

Dr. Katie Williams with her son, Grayson

The Saturday that is forever burned in my memory started out typically. My husband David DeTerra and I took our three kids — 4-year-old Evan and 1-month-old twins Elisabeth and Grayson — to an afternoon birthday party for a friend. On the way home, we stopped for takeout and looked forward to a relaxing evening at home. I remember sitting in the car thinking how glad I was that the twins had reached the 30-day mark, because that’s the point where infants are less likely to get serious infections.

What happened next came totally out of the blue.

Grayson started breathing funny and he had this strange rhythmic cry. I figured he was hungry and wanted out of his car seat to nurse. When we got home, David noticed he felt cool and clammy and his face looked pale. We both tried to feed him, but he wouldn’t eat. His eyes, normally so alert, couldn’t connect with us at all. When his tiny body went limp, we frantically called 9-1-1. Read full post »

The following is part 2 of our two-part series on ECPR, a combination of CPR and ECMO offered at Seattle Children’s Hospital to save the most fragile patients’ lives. Part 1 covered Hannah Mae Campbell’s incredible story where ECPR and a heart transplant saved her life and allowed her to be the thriving toddler she is today. Here, we discuss how Seattle Children’s has spearheaded a first-of-its-kind ECPR simulation program to improve the process that allows the hospital to save patients in a time of crisis.

In an ECPR simulation in Seattle Children’s neonatal intensive care unit, the surgeon works to get the mannequin on the ECMO pump.

ECPR takes place when a patient goes into cardiac arrest, does not respond to CPR and is then put on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), a machine that functions for the heart and lungs when the organs fail or need to rest. Hannah Mae Campbell’s experience demonstrates the importance of technology like ECMO and why it’s important to continually improve complex, life-saving processes like ECPR.

Since January of this year, Seattle Children’s has executed the largest-scale ECPR simulations in the nation, with medical staff coming together bimonthly to practice as though they were in a real ECPR situation. Even though Seattle Children’s ECPR outcomes are higher than the national average, the hospital initiated the simulations with the goal of standardizing each step of the process to further improve outcomes for patients. Read full post »

On Sunday, Briella Caniparoli celebrated her first birthday, a miraculous feat given the struggles she’s had to overcome. This is Briella’s story, from a devastating heart diagnosis before birth to hope for a bright future.

Briella with Dr. Agustin Rubio at Seattle Children’s Hospital

Christina Caniparoli and her husband, Mark, came to Christina’s 20-week ultrasound at a local hospital with no expectations except to learn the sex of their second child. Four hours later, the couple left with very different news.

“During the appointment they kept leaving the room and coming back, then leaving again,” Christina Caniparoli said. “Something was definitely not right.”

Doctors told the Caniparolis that their baby had significant heart defects, and most likely had Down’s syndrome. The parents-to-be were presented with the option to terminate the pregnancy.

“It just wasn’t an option for us,” Christina Caniparoli said. “I wasn’t ready to just accept what they were saying, but even if they were right, we would deal with whatever it was.”

Read full post »

The following is part 1 of a two-part series on ECPR, a combination of CPR and ECMO offered at Seattle Children’s Hospital to save the most fragile patients’ lives. Here, we tell Hannah Mae Campbell’s story and how ECPR saved her life. In part 2, we’ll discuss how Seattle Children’s has spearheaded a first-of-its-kind ECPR simulation program this year to improve the process that allows the hospital to save patients in a time of crisis.

Today, Sept. 24, marks a remarkable milestone for the Campbell family – the end of a long, tumultuous journey that began the day their daughter, Hannah Mae Campbell, was born. It’s the anniversary of the day Hannah received a new heart, and a chance at life two years ago.

Hannah’s journey begins

When Jennifer Campbell of Everett, Wash., was pregnant with Hannah she prepared as much as she could and followed all the prenatal guidelines to a tee. This was her first baby and she, as all parents do, wanted her little girl to be perfect.

Once Hannah was born on May 18, 2012, Jennifer and her husband Jon remember how the joy of seeing their little girl for the first time quickly turned into terror. Hannah was lethargic, her hands and feet were blue and her heart was rapidly pumping at 253 beats per minute. The room at the local birthing center quickly filled with doctors and then Hannah was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Twelve hours later, Hannah was transferred by ambulance to Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Read full post »

Mason Garka, 6, holds a photo of himself as a baby, just before his surgery on July 4, 2008

Independence Day has a unique meaning for Greg and Kelsey Garka. It was on July 4, 2008, that their brand new baby boy, Mason, had his chest closed after the first of three life-saving heart operations at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

“His recovery from that day forward went text book well,” Kelsey Garka said. “It was the first step toward the spunky, independent boy he is today.”

Mason, who just celebrated his sixth birthday, was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), a congenital birth defect that affects the left side of the heart, which pumps oxygen-rich blood to the body.

Read full post »

According to a new study that will be highlighted this weekend at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting, women, particularly younger women, are still smoking while pregnant, putting their newborns at risk for congenital heart defects.

Patrick Sullivan, MD, lead author of the study and clinical fellow in pediatric cardiology at Seattle Children’s Hospital, said maternal smoking seemed to place newborns at a 50-70 percent greater risk for specific heart anomalies. The risk was highest in the heaviest smokers. Read full post »

Julie Kobayashi, a 12-year-old girl from Hawaii, is Seattle Children’s third patient to receive the HeartMate II ventricular assist device (VAD), a device that allowed Julie to leave the hospital while waiting for a life-saving heart transplant. This is her story, from failing heart to transplant.

Julie Kobayashi started feeling sick on a Saturday in November 2013. She felt nauseous, but didn’t have a fever. The symptoms reflected that of the stomach flu. Her family wasn’t overly concerned at first. They thought the symptoms would subside and their daughter would be back to her normal self in no time. For Julie, an active and fun-loving 12-year-old, she usually didn’t let anything slow her down for too long.

When Monday rolled around, Julie felt well enough to go to school. She enjoyed school and had been working really hard practicing her clarinet for an upcoming concert. Missing school wasn’t an option in Julie’s mind. Read full post »

In honor of American Heart Month, we are sharing Gabrielle’s incredible journey from sick baby to healthy toddler.

Christen Simon was 18 weeks into her third pregnancy when a routine ultrasound revealed the unthinkable: a serious birth defect. The daughter that Christen and her husband would call Gabrielle would need a heart transplant soon after birth.

“At that point I was in shock,” said Simon. “I didn’t know heart defects existed before that point in time. It wasn’t even in my scope of possibilities, not for my daughter.” Read full post »

In honor of American Heart Month, we are sharing a series of stories about some of our incredible heart patients who have overcome the odds.

Nobi Johnson was a seemingly healthy, charismatic and extremely athletic 13-year-old girl. She excelled at sports and was a star on the basketball court and soccer field. There was nothing she couldn’t do if she put her mind to it, which made the diagnosis of an anomalous coronary artery difficult to understand. Sports were out of the question, due to the unforeseen heart defect. How would Nobi find her happiness again? It would take over a year, but Nobi would find herself back on the court, thanks to her determination to play again and Seattle Children’s and Mary Bridge Children’s Regional Cardiac Surgery Program. Read full post »