The Future of Single Ventricle Care Will Be Engineered
Karla and Derick Senn got the diagnosis at 20 weeks: Their son, Jaden, had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, or HLHS, a rare and potentially devastating congenital heart defect.
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With his left ventricle atrophied, only Jaden’ s right ventricle could pump blood— which, as long as he was in the womb, could circulate through his body via the ductus arteriosus. Once he was born, once he needed to breathe, that would change.
He’ d immediately need intensive care. Within days, he’ d need a Norwood operation to attach his aorta to his right ventricle and shunt blood to the lungs. Over the next two years, he’ d need two more major open heart surgeries— the Glenn and the Fontan— to fully harness his one working ventricle to do the job of two.
Karla and Derick were first-time parents. They couldn’ t wait to meet their son. But as Karla’ s due date approached, their anticipation mixed with fear.
“ The last month was difficult,” says Karla.“ We were counting
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Derick Senn and his son Jaden, who has hypoplastic left heart syndrome. One day, doctors might use his stem cells to rebuild structures of his heart.
down to the time when our son was no longer going to be safe.”
Building a surgical patch that beats
At the Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine, a 10-minute walk across the Anschutz Medical Campus from Children’ s Hospital Colorado’ s main hospital, Jeff Jacot, PhD, with the University of Colorado Department of Bioengineering, is figuring out what’ s in a heart.
“ Much of the material in organs is made up not of cells but of naturally occurring polymers