I am happy to report that the Mission trip to CEDIMAT in the Dominican Republic last week was a success. Dr. Fagan continues to mentor and assist Dr. Ada Baez who is progressing in her catheterization skills. In addition, Dr. Rebecca Perez Dr. Cynthia Rossario and Dr. Dhamelisse Then presented complex cases of children with congenital heart lesions for our consultation and opinions. We also attended the Cardiology and Cardiovascular surgical conference led by the surgeons, Dr. Ivan Vides and Dr. Oscar Veras.

Cath Cases: 11 children underwent catheter-based interventions. These included a 2-month-old with critical pulmonary stenosis that was successfully balloon dilated; a 16 year old boy with a long segment coarctation that was stented widely open (see images below); 5 children with atrial septal defects closed with devices (age range 4-14 years); and 4 children with a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) closed with devices (age range 2-10 years).

Consultations: 10 children with complex congenital heart defects were presented and our opinions given. These included 2 fetal echocardiograms and children aged 6 months to 16 years of age. Another 7 children were reviewed at the surgical conference.

Our overall impression is that the program is continuing to advance gradually, and they uniformly agreed that our presence helps them greatly with the more complex cases and in giving them expert advice and assistance.

Thank you for your amazing support!
Robert D. Ross, M.D.