Hypoplastic Left
Heart Syndrome
Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
Image is from this website:http://6andahalfhearts.com/tag/hlhs/
Image is from this website:http://6andahalfhearts.com/tag/hlhs/
What is it?
Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome is a birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart. It is one type of congenital heart defect. Congenital means present at birth.. Those babies have a underdeveloped left ventricle and a very narrow aorta. This can lead to death if action is not taken.
Results & Recovery
In order to survive this syndrome a baby will need certain treatments. Once the child recieves the treatments it will most likely take days to recover. After recovering, some problems may present themselves but the blood flow in the body should be tremendously better, leading to the baby's survival.
Treatment
A child with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) can be treated in different ways. As of right now, a common path taken is the use of three different surgeries at different times in the child's life. The first surgery is the Norwood Procedure, which is done days after the birth. Next is the Glenn Procedure. This procedure is done when the child is 3-10 months of age. The last surgery is the Fontan Procedure, and it is done between the ages of 18-24 months. Another way that a child with HLHS could be treated is through the two-staged hybrid procedure. Transplantation is also another option.
This picutre is from the following website: http://www.pted.org/?id=hypoplasticleft3