WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Baby Assist Device Saving Lives Of Young Heart Patients

Baby Assist Device Saving Lives Of Young Heart Patients

By Lori Lyle

(LOUISVILLE, November 5th, 2004) -- Welcoming a new baby into the world is often described as the happiest moment in a parent's life. But when that little one is born with a sick heart, emotions can turn to undescribable pain. But now doctors in Louisville are working to help heal those tiny hearts. WAVE 3's Lori Lyle reports.

Next week Louisville breaks ground on Jewish Hospital's Cardiovascular Innovation Institute, a soon-to-be world leader in heart research. So far, more than $40 million has been raised to save countless lives. Among them, the tiniest of heart patients -- a 1-week-old boy.

Mom's soothing voice and Dad's gentle touch are limited comforts for Logan Keating, an amazingly little guy in an enormous struggle: he's already had open heart surgery. Logan's left ventrical didn't fully develop and just hours after surgery, his blood pressure dropped and his heart stopped.

Logan was immediately attached to a huge machine called an ECHMO. Logan's mom, Anita, says it saved his life. "If they did not have this, he wouldn't be here." 

The ECHMO supports both heart and lungs. Logan needed it 48 hours, but many babies in Kosair's Just for Kids Critical Care unit rely on it for weeks. Doctors say that when children are hooked up to the device they must be constantly sedated and can't be moved.

The patients using the ECHMO can breathe only with the help of a ventilator -- something Logan still requires. And while Anita and Bryan are extremely grateful for this medical technology, it has been two weeks since they've held their 3-week-old son. "We'll get to hold him when they get him off the vent," Anita said.

Dr. George Pantalos, a researcher and Professor of Surgery at the University of Louisville, is working to perfect a much smaller, first-of-its kind assist device for infants.

Pantalos says the expectation with the new design "is that we can wean patients off the ventilator."

That would allow for that special care that only a parent can provide. "I think every child needs their parent to hold them," Anita said.

Pantalos says the assist device might even allow mothers to nurse their babies -- a critical step in those first days of life. Anita says one of Logan's greatest challenges will be learning how to eat.

Pantalos is one of numerous scientists working on research with Jewish Hospital's yet to be built Cardiovascular Innovation Institute, a 10-year dream of world renowned heart surgeon Dr. Layman Gray. "The research that we'll do in this lab will then be brought very quickly into clinical reality."

Healing sick hearts and broken ones, too. "There are no words," Anita said.

"It's hard when your child is laying there," Brian says, "and you're just helpless."

The research is being made possible by one of only five NIH grants given for this specific purpose. Pantalos hopes to have his smaller version of the ECHMO in clinical patient trials at Kosair in five years.

Online Reporter: Lori Lyle

Online Producer: Michael Dever