Most parents-to-be anxiously await the birth of their child. But for some, the baby comes too early, born prematurely, at a low birth weight. Parents of these children never imagined that they’d be watching their baby fighting for their life in the neonatal intensive care unit. One common complication for preemies, revealed by an echocardiogram, is heart-wrenching news for parents: their baby could have a life-threatening opening in the heart called patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) that often requires urgent treatment to survive.
Approximately 60,000 premature babies in the U.S. are born each year with a very low birth weight and nearly 12,000 (one out of five) of these have a significant opening in their heart that won’t resolve on its own and requires urgent medical intervention. Without treatment, blood continues to flood the lungs and babies cannot survive without being on a ventilator.
Recently approved by the FDA, the Abbott Piccolo device is the world’s first medical device that can be implanted in the tiniest babies weighing as little as two pounds using a minimally invasive procedure to treat this common heart defect. Parents of pediatric patients who urgently need corrective treatment for their PDA now have hope for their premature babies not responsive to medical treatment and ineligible for open-heart surgery.
February is American Heart Month and Dr. Evan Zahn, director of the Congenital Heart Program at Cedars-Sinai's Smidt Heart Institute, and a parent of a baby he treated with the Abbott Piccolo device spoke with EverydayFamily's Shiloh Johnson about this important advance for preemies with this life-threatening heart defect and life afterwards. It’s heart-warming news for the tiniest of heart patients and their parents.
- FDA Approved Device for Premature Babies with PDA, a Life-Threatening Heart Defect ( Download)
- FDA Approves Device to Treat Newborns with Heart Defect ( Download)
- The World's First Medical Device for the Tiniest Babies with a Common Heart Defect ( Download)
- Non-Surgical Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) Closure for Premature Babies ( Download)
- Premature twins are first in NE Ohio to receive newly approved treatment ( Download)
- Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) in Preterm Infants | FAQ's ( Download)
- Filling a Big Need Among Smallest of Us ( Download)
- case 354 non classic clinical signs of HsPDA, patent ductus arteriosis, persistent hypotension, vent ( Download)
- Baby-OSCAR podcast about PDA and prematurity for parents ( Download)
- PDA Closure in a preterm baby ( Download)
- Zunzunegui: PDA: from adult to preterm ( Download)
- PDA Closure saves Infant's life at MemorialCare Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach ( Download)
- 28 weeks, 1100grams youngest baby who had non-invasive PDA closure at KIMS Cuddles ( Download)
- Red-hat campaign helps raise awareness of babies' heart health | ABC7 ( Download)
- Calcification of Patent Ductus Arteriosus ( Download)
