Minimally-Invasive Procedures Correct Children’s Heart Defects Without Surgery

Friday, January 06, 2006

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, a leading cardiac care hospital in New Jersey, repaired heart defects in two children using state-of-the-art, minimally-invasive techniques.

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital conducted two cases in its pediatric cardiac catheterization lab this past week, repairing a 10-year-old girl’s heart and a 3-year-old boy’s heart with minimally-invasive, interventional procedures that enabled the children to avoid open surgery.

The pediatric catheterization (cath) lab at the children’s hospital at RWJUH provides a vital service for children born with heart defects. Today, one in every 100 children has a congenital heart defect, and many of these conditions can now be corrected through less invasive procedures performed in the cath lab.

The children’s hospital at RWJUH began offering pediatric heart surgery in 2005, providing expert surgeons to those children who need traditional surgery. Now cath lab services complete the spectrum of cardiac care for children.

The pediatric cardiology program at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is led by some of the nation’s top doctors in the field.

Interventional procedures in the cath lab are performed by William E. Hellenbrand, MD. Dr. Hellenbrand is a nationally renowned pediatric cardiologist. He has been listed as one of “America’s Top Doctors” by Castle Connolly and has lectured at conferences and cardiology centers throughout the world.

“Dr. Hellenbrand brings world-class status to our cath lab,” said Daniel A. Notterman, MD, Physician-in-Chief of The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at RWJUH. “For families, this means your child can receive world-class care close to home, in the supportive, child-friendly environment of our children’s hospital.”

The family-centered Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital consistently ranks in the top one percent of children’s hospitals nationwide for patient satisfaction, according to Press Ganey, a company that measures patient satisfaction.

Dr. Hellenbrand performed two procedures during the cath lab’s first week of operation. In one, he repaired a hole in the heart of a 10-year-old girl. The condition, known as an atrial septal defect, or ASD, is one of the most common heart defects seen in children. In such cases, a hole between the two upper chambers of the heart – the right and left atria – causes abnormal blood flow. If not corrected, an ASD can lead to problems in adulthood including congestive heart failure, abnormal heart rhythms, pulmonary hypertension and stroke.

In a second procedure, a 3-year-old boy received treatment for a heart defect known as patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), a condition in which a blood vessel connecting the pulmonary artery and the aorta stays open in a newborn baby, rather than normally closing shortly after birth.

The opening of the pediatric cath lab reinforces the standing of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as a leader in cardiac care for adults and children.

RWJUH already has seven cardiac catheterization labs for adults that handle more than 12,000 procedures annually, making the hospital among the busiest catheterization centers on the East Coast. It is one of only two hospitals in New Jersey that perform heart transplants.

In 2004, the hospital rating agency, Solucient, ranked RWJUH among the top 100 cardiovascular hospitals in the nation. In 2005, Consumers Digest magazine ranked RWJUH among the top five hospitals nationally for patient safety. The hospital received an overall score of 98 percent for the treatment of heart attacks in the 2005 Hospital Performance Report by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. It is also one of a select number of hospitals in the nation using the daVinci robotic surgical system.

Attention members of the media: For more information on this release, please contact the Department of Public Relations (732) 937-8521.

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