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Pediatric Heart Program
Several hours after giving birth, Sandra and her husband Peter learned that their baby, Christian, had tricuspid atresia, a rare heart defect in which the tricuspid valve is closed or absent, resulting in a lack of blood flow to the lungs.
Internationally renowned Richard Perryman, MD, Medical Director of Pediatric Heart Surgery at The Cardiac Center at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, performed a delicate procedure to insert a Blalock-Taussig shunt to improve blood flow. Christian’s medical care, however, was not over. Like most tricuspid atresia patients, he would need to undergo the Fontan procedure, a series of two open heart surgeries.
After the first part of the Fontan procedure, Christian had more energy and his skin tone improved. Today he is thriving as he awaits the second procedure.
Sandra and Peter are grateful for Christian’s medical team. “They explain everything,” Sandra says. “The doctors and nurses always make sure we know exactly what’s going on and that we understand … I love everyone at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.”
For more information about the Pediatric Program, call Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital at (954) 987-2000.
For referral to a physician for your child, please call Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Physician Referral Service toll-free at (866) JDCH-DOC. We’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
