We wish ourfamily and friends a
very healthy, happy aturprosperouss New Year.
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and
New Tear.
JOEL AND ELLIE <SCHAUMBERG
JENNIFER AND MELISSA
larged heart and no heart mur-
mur. His skin had a bluish tint to
it. We call it cyanosis. There was
a drumstick appearance to the
nails of his fingers and toes that
we call clubbing. His electrocar-
diogram and X-ray were abnor-
mal, and his red blood cell count
was very high.
Ordinarily, after passing
through the tissues of the body,
blood gives up its oxygen and
turns dark blue. In this state it re-
turns to the right side of the heart
and then to the lungs via the pul-
monary artery. After being oxy-
genated in the lungs, blood turns
bright red. From the lungs it re-
turns to the left side of the heart
and then to the body through the
aorta.
Blood from the right side of
the heart does not mix with blood
from the left because the right-
and left-sided heart chambers
have walls that keep it separated.
The aorta and pulmonary artery
are also separated from one an-
other.
These separations develop in
the fetus, before we are born. If
the walls that separate right from
left heart chambers don't form
' properly, the aorta and pulmonary
"—artery become hooked up to the
wrong heart chamber. Unoxy-
genated blood mixes with the oxy-
genated red blood. This is called
shunting, and if enough blue blood
gets into the circulation, to the
skin, the person turns blue.
Furthermore, oxygen satura-
tion in blood circulating to the
body falls. In response, the body
"makes more red blood cells in an
"- attempt to capture more oxygen
to sustain tissue function. This
raises the hemoglobin level and
red blood cell count.
Brad had all the findings of
a serious cyanotic congenital heart
condition. These were the days be-
fore echocardiography and many
of the other modern miracles of
managing these patients were de-
\Dveloped. I discussed Brad's condi-
tion with him and his parents and
' recommended heart catheteriza-
tion in order to determine if his
condition might be amenable to
heart surgery. After all, it had
been more than 10 years since ag-
gressive management was con-
sidered for his problem.
The catheterization showed
that during his fetal development,
\; Brad's heart rotated in such a
manner that the pulmonary
artery came from the left side of
the heart and the aorta from the
right side. His body was getting
blood with low oxygen while high-
oxygen blood was recirculating to
the lungs over and over again. A
small opening between the right
and left sides of the heart allowed
just enough oxygenated blood to
;shunt back through the aorta to
keep him alive.
No corrective heart surgery
was available at that time for
,
TECHNOLOGY page 70
THE NESSELS - MARTY, SANDY, DANA AND ARI
THE BITTKERS - CARYN AND RON
laryDri nalz nu u)'?
We with our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous New Tear.
to- a&
to- al/
MIRLE AND EUGENE PERLSTEIN
our-jcient&
and Pelatioes%
jAleildc/
and pelatium
REGINA FEUER
AND FAMILY
MRS. FRANCES MILLER
AND FAMILY
laTIDT1 1111Z
12.11DI1 11111.1
01114
nitir7
12.11DTI
We with our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous New Tear.
HOWARD, DEBBIE, JASON, NEIL AND STEVEN SILVERMAN
2004 OAK RIVER STREET • LAS VEGAS, NV 89134
(702) 363-5580
nalz niw
to-re
our
to- a&
ottpffiencls/
and Pelatives,
1 '
/telatioes,
BRENDA AND
BOB FELSENFELD
JOSHUA, ELYSSA AND
MATTHEW
ALEX AND HOWARD
SPINNER
1
A Very Happy and
Healthy New Year
to All Our
Friends and Family.
BARRY K. SALON
,0747. 447M-56t ...
M Al Our
acktires anal cirionds,
Our wishfir a- ,vea- r
fea )41th haptineg
heakh a n prapert
MORREY'S SPRINKLER SERVICE
MARC AND NANCY AMHOWITZ
JODI, CARLY AND BLAKE
kapptne5 anci
foe
ave
family anci
OAKLAND COUNTY CIRCUIT JUDGES
STEVEN N. ANDREWS GENE SCHNELZ
FRED M. MESTER BARRY L. HOWARD
RUDY J. NICHOLS
Our
Caehtives and ciriath,
oCur wishfr a - 29ear
flied with happiness,
hea- kh a n prosperV.
BALKIN PRODUCTS, INC.
THE BALKIN FAMILY
MICHAEL, DEBBIE, ELANA AND AARON