congenital heart disease

electricity arcing in a heart shape between two exposed wires

Mutation raises heart block risk

A newly identified genetic risk factor for heart block after surgery may help guide the course of postoperative care.

VUMC nurse’s personal experiences drive her care of patients with congenital heart defects

Every day, Misty Sharpe looks at the scar down the center of her chest and knows she’s a survivor. She has had four heart surgeries to repair congenital heart defects, ranging from when she was 4 days old to 4 years old. Sharpe, MSN, R.N., now works as a nurse case manager in the Pediatric Cardiology Clinic, treating patients with congenital heart defects and working to raise awareness of the condition.

Children, heart disease, and IQ

Treatment for congenital heart disease during infancy may result in cognitive and attentional deficits during adolescence and young adulthood, Vanderbilt researchers have found.

Newborn screening program championed at VU helps save boy

John Isaac Stone Seabolt was born Feb. 26, less than two months after a new state law went into effect encouraging the screening of newborn babies for “silent” heart defects.

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