Heart Center

Yarmouth girl alive, waiting for new heart, thanks to device
March 5, 2013
The Cape Cod Times features the story of 13 year-old Kyah DeSimone, who was the first patient discharged from Boston Children’s with a ventricular assist device (VAD) and the first patient to go back to school in North America with a VAD while waiting for a heart transplant. Boston Children’s Christina VanderPluym, MD, and Beth Millian, RN, BSN, describe the team effort to get this VAD for Kyah and then train those in her community about the device. WCVB-TV Channel 5 also covers Kyah’s remarkable story.

Working to End Heart Transplant Rejection
March 5, 2013
Boston Magazine reports that Boston Children’s David Briscoe, MB, BCh, is leading the efforts to better determine the warning signs of a chronic heart transplant rejection.

Boston teen carries artificial-heart battery inside her black purse while she waits for transplant
March 4, 2013
The New York Daily News reports that doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital have treated  the first child who has been able to leave the hospital with a ventricular assist device (VAD). She carries the VAD in a small black purse, which lets her live a normal life outside of the hospital while waiting for a heart transplant.  Boston Children’s Hospital’s Christina VanderPluym, MD, is quoted. The Daily Mail also reports on this story.

Teen Takes Artificial Heart to School as She Waits for Transplant
March 1, 2013
ABCNews.com tells the story of 13-year-old Boston Children’s patient Kyah DeSimone who was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy at age 10. Until a new heart is available, Kyah has a portable, motorized pump in her heart, allowing her to return to school and live a normal life while she awaits transplant.

Heart Troubles Rare But Deadly in Young Athletes
February 28, 2013
ABC.com reportsthough relatively rare, a cardiac event that strikes a young athlete at practice or play is often deadly. About 100 young people die every year playing organized sports, and cardiac arrest is the cause in about half the cases. Boston Children’s Dominic Abrams, MD, provides perspective on the issue and offers prevention advice.

Stranger Saves Holyoke Boy… Now Active Life, with a New Heart
February 21, 2013
WGGB (ABC affiliate, Holyoke, Mass.) tells the story of 14 year-old Ardazan Dennis, who received a heart transplant at Boston Children’s Hospital when he was 10. Ardazan was born with a rare congenital heart defect and needed a transplant to save his life.

Children’s first cardio fetal intervention patient honored at Celtic game
February 19, 2013
The Ipswich Wicked Local reports that before Boston Children’s patient Jack Miller was born, an ultrasound revealed a blockage in his heart. Boston Children’s doctors performed a novel procedure, repairing Jack’s heart, then the size of a grape, while he was still in his mother’s womb. Thanks to this first-of-its-kind care, Miller was born perfectly healthy and remains healthy 11 years later

Wakefield Girl Gets Heart Transplant In Time For Valentine’s Day
February 14, 2013
WBZ-TV channel 4 reports that five-year-old Boston Children’s patient, Katy Murphy, struggled with a heart condition since birth and received a new heart just in time for Valentine’s Day.  Boston Children’s Dr. Kevin Daly, MD, the is interviewed. WHDH-TV channel 7 also reports on the youngsters’ transplant.

Good news for heart transplant recipients
January 9, 2013
The Metro newspaper reports on new research from Boston Children’s Kevin Daly, MD, and David Briscoe, MD, who found a way to use a combination of three blood-borne proteins to possibly prevent chronic rejection of heart transplants.

Poker Pals raising money for baby’s life-saving surgery
January 3, 2013
WCVB-TV channel 5 reports on the fundraising efforts to get a 6-month-old Pakistani infant with a complex heart condition to Boston Children’s Hospital’s Cardiac Care Center. Medical experts from Pakistan and India were unable to provide the complex medical care the baby needed and contacted hospital, were Boston Children’s Sitaram Emani, MD, agreed to manage the infants care.

The future of medicine is now
January 2, 2013
The Wall Street Journal reports on six medical innovations that could change the way we fight disease,including Boston Children’s Hospital’s cardiology team’s treatment for hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Boston Children’s Sitaram Emani, MD, is interviewed.