Trans-catheter PDA closure

At 1 pound, 9 ounces at 25 weeks gestation, Paris Walker Rogers was born with a patent ductus arteriosus that caused her oxygen saturation to stay dangerously low.

Paris’ parents, Marquita and Edward, worried she was too small for a PDA ligation, or surgical repair. Cardiac Interventionalist Shyam Sathanandam, MD, proposed repairing the PDA with a transcatheter technique. At 2.03 kilograms (kg), Paris was half the size of many babies who undergo the procedure.

“Small preemie babies have tiny blood vessels which makes the trans-catheter device closure of PDA a challenging technique,” Shyam said.

Because the procedure is performed in the cath lab, preemies benefit from the less invasive procedure, which often shortens their length of stay in the hospital.

Today, Paris is a healthy, typical 15-month-old with no lasting effects of her early days in the hospital.

“We are so thankful for Dr. Shyam and the entire Le Bonheur staff. We believe this surgery saved her life,” said Marquita. “Her little body was just so fragile, I don’t believe she would have survived a more invasive surgery.”

To date, Shyam and his team have performed 17 PDA closures on children who weigh less than 2.5 kgs, eight of whom are between 1-1.5kg