Hope for Newborns with Heart Disease

This week, Mending Kids made a special mission to El Salvador with the support of Edwards Lifesciences Foundation and Drs. Jenny Zablah and Gareth Morgan from the Children’s Hospital Colorado. Together, we trained local cardiologists and frontline doctors on performing atrial septostomy—a life-saving procedure critical for newborns suffering from Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA). We also invited two Guatemalan cardiologists who serve children in hospitals far from their capital, where they previously had no options to help newborns with TGA. Many of these babies wouldn’t survive the long journey to receive care. What’s remarkable about this procedure is that it’s done bedside in the NICU, without the need for a cath lab or general anesthesia. While not a cure for TGA, it buys the child time to receive life-saving surgical care.
 
Including Guatemalan doctors was part of our effort to expand the footprint of this knowledge exchange beyond El Salvador. Recently, Edwards redesigned the specialized balloon required for the procedure, making this training possible. We will expand this program to two more countries in the next few months, ensuring that even more lives can be saved. This investment in the future is evergreen—the impact will continue for years to come.
 
Thank you to Edwards Lifesciences Foundation, Dr. Zablah, Dr. Morgan, and all the dedicated doctors working to bring hope, love, and mending to these communities.

together, we are Mending Kids!

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