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SearchQuick thinking leads to diagnosis, treatment of life threatening heart defect
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About six out of every one-thousand newborns have a heart defect. Some defects are more common and easier to spot than others. Which is why it’s so important to act quickly when there’s a suspected problem.
That’s exactly what Amy Vavra, of Cleveland, Ohio, did last spring when one of her 10-day-old twins, named Evie, suddenly stopped eating.
“She was kind of pulling away and just seemed off,” said Mrs. Vavra.
Amy and her husband, Brian, called the pediatrician who asked them to take Evie’s temperature.
“It was actually really low, so, it was 94.3 when we took it. So I thought the thermometer was broken,” said Mrs. Vavra.
The new parents rushed Evie to the ER where doctors discovered a problem with her heart.
Evie was transported by ambulance to Cleveland Clinic Children’s where she was diagnosed with severe coarctation of the aorta, a heart defect that causes narrowing of the large blood vessel leading from the heart. Evie’s aorta had closed, restricting blood flow to her lower body and putting extreme stress on her tiny heart.
“Within a couple more hours her organs would have started suffering permanent damage and if we’d waited overnight she would have died,” said Mrs. Vavra.
Medicine restored Evie’s blood flow temporarily and allowed her heart to relax. Over the next seven months she had a handful of procedures, the last being an operation to cut away the blocked portion of her aorta.
“We felt that the best thing for her so she wouldn’t have blood pressure problems, which can lead to higher risk of having heart disease or even strokes later in life, was to fix this while she was little,” said Robert Stewart, M.D., Evie’s pediatric heart surgeon at Cleveland Clinic Children’s.
Now, Evie’s heart is doing great. She’s approaching her first birthday and is expected to live a long and healthy life. Something Amy plans to reflect on as she celebrates her first Mother’s Day.
“I just feel so lucky to have both of them, have them here and healthy you know, it’s been the hardest year of my life and also the best year of my life and I just feel like I have so much to be grateful for this Mother’s Day.”
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. Cleveland Clinic is consistently recognized in the U.S. and throughout the world for its expertise and care. Among Cleveland Clinic’s 82,600 employees worldwide are more than 5,786 salaried physicians and researchers, and 20,700 registered nurses and advanced practice providers, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic is a 6,728-bed health system that includes a 173-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 23 hospitals, 280 outpatient facilities, including locations in northeast Ohio; Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2024, there were 15.7 million outpatient encounters, 333,000 hospital admissions and observations, and 320,000 surgeries and procedures throughout Cleveland Clinic’s health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and 112 countries. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at x.com/CleClinicNews. News and resources are available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org.
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