If someone is having chest pain, it’s time to get to the best hospital for heart attack treatment. But aren’t all hospitals equipped to treat a heart attack? Yes, and getting treatment right away is the most important thing, so call 911. Some hospitals have better outcomes than others and are able to reach those…
The only accredited program in Kentucky and Indiana, Norton Children’s Heart Institute is recognized for collaborative work to treat adults and children living with lifelong congenital heart disease. In recognition of its expertise in serving individuals with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD), a structural heart condition present at birth, Norton Children’s Heart Institute, affiliated with the UofL School…
According to the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), 200,000 adults in the U.S. are diagnosed with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) every year. It is the 10th-leading cause of death for American men over the age of 55, and a ruptured AAA is the 15th-leading cause of death in the U.S. Symptoms Abdominal aortic aneurysm often…
The patient A woman presented to Norton Audubon Hospital with shortness of breath and dizziness and was noted to be in new-onset atrial fibrillation (A-fib). She underwent immediate cardioversion but had recurrent A-fib and then was placed on flecainide with a repeat successful cardioversion. Her echocardiogram showed normal left ventricular function. The providers Kent E….
Repairing the aortic and mitral valves of children is not as common as replacement with mechanical or tissue valves, but it has distinct advantages. If we can keep the child’s own tissue and have good function of the valve, we don’t have to deal with the risk of clotting or bleeding that comes with a…
Traditionally, quality improvement for surgeons focuses on cases that did not go as planned. These cases are dissected at weekly morbidity and mortality meetings. A little more than a year ago, Norton Children’s Heart Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, completely revamped the classic morbidity and mortality process. We’re looking at trends, rather…
While endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) of aortic aneurysm has expanded over the last 20 years, there are still cases where this minimally invasive procedure has limitations. Using a new type of endograft called fenestrated endografts, surgeons at Norton Heart & Vascular Institute are repairing abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) that are close to the renal or…
Roddy D. McDowell, M.D., and Delwyn E. McOmber, M.D., are making their Pediatric HeartCare Partners practice a part of Norton Children’s Heart Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine. In addition to adding two skilled pediatric cardiologists to the Norton Children’s heart team, Pediatric HeartCare Partners will add five Southern Indiana locations and three…
The patient A girl born at 26 weeks’ gestation due to premature labor and prolonged premature rupture of membranes. At birth she weighing 891 grams. The mother received appropriate dose of steroids prior to giving birth, and the baby was intubated shortly after birth) and given surfactant with a second dose given at 12 hours….
Norton Children’s Heart Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, has opened its Fontan Clinic to provide follow-up care to children and adults who have undergone the third of a three-surgery series to treat a congenital single ventricle anomaly. The clinic is a passion for Joshua Kurtz, M.D., a pediatric interventional cardiologist at Norton…
The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved hybrid ablation as a treatment for long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (A-fib), the most severe form of the condition affecting about 45% of A-fib patients. Hybrid ablation treats A-fib in procedures that combine endocardial radiofrequency ablation with epicardial ablation. The ablations create lesions that interrupt the faulty electrical…
In babies with single-ventricle anomalies, triggering their oral feeding motor skills in the first hours or days of life before their first surgery may reduce dependence on feeding tubes and lead to better outcomes. “Preoperative oral feeding may be a modifiable risk factor that can decrease time of postoperative feeding tube dependence,” Joshua Kurtz, M.D.,…