Young CHF, CP and Transplant Patients

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VentMedic

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This is a good illustration of some of the patients that you will be seeing more of. People born with congenital heart defects are now older and some of those earlier patients are "frequent fliers" with CHF, CP and Shortness of Breath while waiting for a transplant. It may not be that uncommon to now see a sixteen year old in CHF. The are also other aspects of caring for patients that have new hearts in the way the body must rely on other feedback to regulate HR and BP.

So, I do recommend reviewing some of the CHDs especially post repair and the basics of heart or any organ transplant. Heart and lung transplants are now more common as are livers. Kidney transplants are almost routine.

For some kids, second heart transplant needed

Monday, March 23, 2009

Vanessa Williams is only 18, but she's already on her third heart.

She underwent her first transplant at seven weeks - at birth, her heart had failed to develop properly.
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"Your life is different from the lives of your friends," she said. "At sleepovers, you're the one carrying a big bag of pills and having to remember to take them at a certain time and at a certain dosage. The medications have side effects that can give you a raging appetite and a rounder face and make your hair grow. Your immune system is lowered, so you are more vulnerable to infections. It is a very emotionally challenging experience."
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It is also amazing at how fast some can heal after a heart transplant.

On Jan. 19, just as she was about to bite into a burrito dinner at her boyfriend's house, the call came from Lucile Packard Hospital. Williams was scrambling to find her phone in her purse when her father also rang.
"He said I had to go home right away," she said. "I thought 'What did I do?' He said 'They have a heart.' "

Williams was taken into the operating room just before 11 p.m. She emerged nine hours later.

She was discharged in late January.
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I'd really love to read up on young CHF patients, but you didn't provide the link to your article!
 
I was born with a ventricular septal defect. It never closed, and at twelve it was decided that it was time to repair it because blood started to cross through the passage. Open heart surgery via medial sternotomy and with bypass was preformed which sucsessfully patched the hole but left me with a bundle branch block because of the incision through the myocardium. It's asymptomatic but watched closely with cardiologist appointments every two years. Indeed I had a mild form of heart failure at such a young age so yes this is very possible.
 
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