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When Baby Heart Patients Grow Upby Lori Williams At age 28, Keith Benningfield didn't mind that most people in the clinic waiting room thought he was a parent. Or that he was offered a toy by a volunteer during a hospital stay. Benningfield is the role model for a surprising shift in the treatment of congenital heart patients. The truth is that baby heart patients are growing up. They live normal childhoods, participate in sports, embark on careers and even raise families. Thanks to advanced surgical techniques and improved medications, there are now more adults than children with congenital heart disease. "Forget the image of poor little kids left to the side," said Dr. Richard Friedman, professor of pediatric cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine. "We've had to race not to leave them behind." The new Texas Adult Congenital Heart Center, a collaborative program of BCM, Texas Children's Hospital and Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, is providing seamless care for these patients as they mature. The pediatric cardiology team, led by Dr. Jeffrey Towbin, takes care of them until they are transitioned to the adult cardiology team overseen by Dr. Douglas Mann at the Baylor Clinic. If they need surgery, either as children or adults, it is done under the direction of congenital heart surgery chief Dr. Charles Fraser and his team. As children, the surgery takes place at Texas Children's; as adults, at Texas Heart/St. Luke's. Friedman and Dr. Wayne Franklin, assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at BCM, serve as directors of the program. Franklin coordinates all the care with the three institutions. Congenital heart patients typically are diagnosed at birth. Depending on the type of heart defect, surgeries may be done early, years later, or the condition may be treated with medication and no surgery. Patients are followed closely, undergoing checkups at least once a year. Born with a major heart defect called transposition of the great arteries, Benningfield was first treated surgically at the age 10 months by Dr. Denton Cooley. Every year, he went to see his pediatric cardiologist at Texas Children's and by his late teens, a heart rhythm irregularity was picked up and he had a pacemaker implant. He would return to the pediatric clinic for routine checkups—even as an adult. But, at the age of 28, Benningfield felt more at home when he was introduced by Friedman to Franklin, who is trained in both pediatric and adult cardiology. He now sees Franklin in the Baylor Clinic, but Friedman is still involved as part of his care team. While the transition has been made, the same physicians he has depended on his whole life are still involved. "As my patients aged, they started developing the same diseases to which we are all susceptible, which is beyond my area of expertise," Friedman said. "They need a focus on the problems they may encounter as they grow older." Franklin said most patients welcome the move. "We help transition them. It's not like we hand them a card and say, 'This is going to be your new doctor.' We reassure them that their anchors are not going anywhere, but now they can be seen at the Baylor Clinic with an adult approach," he said. It's all good for Benningfield, now 31, who lives a healthy life and feels like he has had "the best of the best" care since birth. Well, maybe there's one downside to the change. "I am going to miss the Elmo™ Band-Aids®," he said. |
Patient CarePutting the Pieces Together: Megan's Story When Baby Heart Patients Grow Up Saying Goodnight to Sleeping Pills ResearchFrom a Sister's Illness... A Cancer Crusade EducationCommunity ServiceAlumni & DevelopmentBRASS Connections Help Students Soar College NewsPhysician Hall of Fame: College Receives One-of-a-Kind Signature Collection
People Working Together to Achieve Greatness
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Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 2007 |
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