By Marsha Thompson - bio | email
Another medical milestone at UMMC in Jackson. Surgeons at the University of Mississippi Medical Center have successfully performed a procedure that corrects a rare and deadly heart defect on an 8- day old child.
Tiny Cayson Sanderford of Starkville underwent open heart surgery for 9 hours at Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children. He is the first child to undergo this delicate surgery in Mississippi. Dr. Jorge Salazar, Director of the Congenital Heart Program and his team performed the Norwood procedure on Cayson.
They began repairing a rare condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This condition occurs when the left side of the heart fails to develop completely. The left side of the heart can't effectively pump blood to the body, so the right side of the heart must pump blood both to the lungs to the rest of the body. If left untreated, hypoplastic left heart syndrome is fatal.
The mother said after taking her newborn son home from the hospital that he was breathing heavily. Cayson's symptoms got much worse. He didn't eat, his skin color turned ashen, and he was struggling to take a breath. The left side of his heart never developed making it nearly impossible to breath.
Initially, doctors at the family's local emergency room told his parents his condition was as serious as it could get. Two more surgeries are on the horizon, but this infants' future is bright. Doctors say Cayson now has the opportunity to have a normal life.
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