Children’s Hospital Los Angeles develops new heart defect treatment

Researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) have developed a new “catheter first” treatment approach for newborns facing the most severe forms of heterotaxy-associated congenital heart disease.

A study of 217 patients revealed that the traditional surgical paradigm often resulted in survival rates of less than 50% for high-risk infants with conditions such as single-ventricle heterotaxy, obstructed total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR), and disconnected pulmonary arteries.

To improve outcomes, clinicians are now utilizing catheter-based palliation to stabilize infants before surgery. This minimally invasive method involves placing stents in vessels to regulate blood flow to and from the lungs, allowing infants more time to grow and strengthen before undergoing their first major operation. In the initial application of this approach to four patients, all four survived.