Baby Allison’s New Heart
Three-month old Allison lies in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Medical Center Dallas as her mother holds her hand. Allison, diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), had one open-heart surgery and a pacemaker installed when she was just 5 days old. Her cardiologists determined that it was too risky to complete the series of surgeries she would need to create a new circulatory circuit that would transmit the oxygenated blood her tiny body needs to survive. Allison’s blue fingertips, seen in this photo, and her erratic heart rate were some of the symptoms that led physicians to place her on the heart transplant waiting list instead.
Allison received a new heart two weeks after this photo was taken. Her mother calls Allison’s recovery “bumpy,” requiring extra days in the cardiovascular intensive care unit. In mid-March of 2018, after spending the first few months of her life in the hospital, her cardiologists finally cleared her to go home. Today, Allison visits once a month for check-ups.
In 2018, Allison was one of 26 heart transplants performed at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. The same year, Children’s Health celebrated the 30-year anniversary of the cardiac transplant program, achieved the best one-year post-transplant survival rate in the U.S., is currently the busiest cardiac transplant center in Texas and the second busiest of all 50 centers in the U.S. Children’s Health is a training center for heart failure and transplant cardiologists, preparing future generations of physicians with the knowledge and skills to treat patients like Allison.
Photo: Juan Pulido
https://www.childrenshospitals.org/Newsroom/Photo-Exhibit