A group of doctors at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia recently pioneered a new surgical intervention that helped save a toddler’s life, write Stephanie Stahl and Casey Kuhn for CBS News Philadelphia.
Their medical intervention allowed the child whose heart was failing fast live 9 months without a heart.
Dr. Katsuhide Maeda of CHOP said taking out his entire heart was the only way to save his life.
Michael Webb was born with a very complex heart disease. He needed a heart transplant to survive, but traditional surgical options were not able to stabilize him.
From there, CHOP doctors created an innovative way to replace young Michael’s heart, using a combination of mechanical devices.
Dr. Maeda noted this was rather risky.
Rick Webb, young Michael’s father, added that the family was informed that there was a 50-50 chance that it would work.
“We jumped on it because 50% chance was better than the zero we had,” he explained.
A donor heart was found for the young boy last December.
The heart transplant was a success, and now at 2-years-old, he comes back for checkups.
“I always tell them, I appreciate you saving my son’s life. It’s amazing,” said his mother, Ashley Webb.
Read more about how CHOP doctors gave a local family a new sense of hope at CBS News Philadelphia.
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