Miriam's Place
Miriam's coarctation
This is the angiogram from 10/4/07 showing how her coarctation, or narrowing, has returned after surgery.
During Miriam's first surgery, the surgeons clipped out the narrow portion and sewed the ends back together (an "end-to-end repair"). They then cut lengthwise along the aorta and sewed in a Dacron patch to expand the diameter of the arch.
Her cardiologist has followed her closely since then. On Oct. 3, he checked her upper- and lower-body blood pressures and saw a difference (a pressure gradient). He also saw a substantial difference when he took an echocardiogram. That day, he admitted her to pediatric ICU (PICU).
On the 4th, he and her surgeon took her to the cath lab for an angiogram and angioplasty; because her narrowing is so long, the angioplasty didn't help. She has to have another coarctation repair, which is set for Tuesday, November 6th. The surgery will be similar to the first one: a larger patch will be used to expand the narrowed aortic arch along the whole length that's affected.
Miriam's coarctation
This is the angiogram from 10/4/07 showing how her coarctation, or narrowing, has returned after surgery.
During Miriam's first surgery, the surgeons clipped out the narrow portion and sewed the ends back together (an "end-to-end repair"). They then cut lengthwise along the aorta and sewed in a Dacron patch to expand the diameter of the arch.
Her cardiologist has followed her closely since then. On Oct. 3, he checked her upper- and lower-body blood pressures and saw a difference (a pressure gradient). He also saw a substantial difference when he took an echocardiogram. That day, he admitted her to pediatric ICU (PICU).
On the 4th, he and her surgeon took her to the cath lab for an angiogram and angioplasty; because her narrowing is so long, the angioplasty didn't help. She has to have another coarctation repair, which is set for Tuesday, November 6th. The surgery will be similar to the first one: a larger patch will be used to expand the narrowed aortic arch along the whole length that's affected.