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What is coarctation
of the aorta?
Coarctation of the aorta—or aortic
coarctation—is a narrowing of
the aorta, the large blood vessel
that branches off your heart and
delivers oxygen-rich blood to
your body. When this occurs, your
heart must pump harder to force
blood through the narrow part
of your aorta. Coarctation of the
aorta is generally present at birth
(congenital) and may range from
mild to severe.
Within
two days,
Clay
underwent
surgery. A few
days later, an
echocardiogram found
that another coarctation
had formed and surgery
was set for five weeks after his
discharge.
Tessa and her husband, Eric, spent
13 days with Clay at Children’s before
he was able to come home.
“We saw the Children’s doctors
weekly at the Richland clinic,” said
Tessa. “At the third visit, just two weeks
before his next surgery, his heart flow
was really good. It had cleared itself.
They said that never happens. Surgery
was cancelled.”
When Clay is a teenager, he may
have to have surgery, but for now, the
Hansons can think about other things
like watching him grow like any other
baby.
“It was the care that Cynthia took
in examining Clay that helped her find
what was going on and saved his life,”
said Tessa. “They told us in Seattle, that
had it not been found, he would have
gone into cardiac arrest within a couple
of days.
“It was really hard with ups and
downs, but we all made it and he’s doing
really well,” she said.
For Ironside, the relationship with
the Kadlec’s pediatric hospitalists
was important in getting Clay treated
promptly and appropriately. “The
pediatric hospitalists are fantastic. I can
call and talk to them about situations I
am concerned about. They are very good
at what they do. It is wonderful to have
a relationship with them and in Clay’s
case, it made a big difference.
“Clay was a lucky little guy,” said
Ironside. “Everything worked out just
right for him that day.”
Coordination of care proves critical
W
WHEN TESSA HANSON took her
tiny new son Clay in for his two-week
well checkup with Cynthia Ironside, a
certified pediatric nurse practitioner at
Kadlec Clinic Pasco Primary Care, she
had no idea about how the life of her
family was about to change.
But Ironside’s desire to find answers
as to why little Clay was having
difficulty breathing, had an elevated
heart rate and lack of femoral (inner
thigh) pulse, started the family on an
often scary, but successful journey.
“When I couldn’t find Clay’s femoral
pulse, I suspected a coarctation of the aorta,
which is a narrowing of the descending
aorta and very serious,” said Ironside. “I
called in Dr. (Aaron) Richardson from
our office to examine him as well and he
could not find the femoral pulse either.
That’s a big red flag.”
Tessa watched as Ironside “examined
him very carefully. She then sent us to
get chest X-rays,” said Tessa.
“The X-rays indicated there was
pneumonia,” said Ironside, “so I knew
he needed to be hospitalized. But I
also called Dr. (Stacey) Hedlund in the
Pediatric Center and told her about
Clay’s lack of femoral pulse.”
Once Tessa got Clay to Kadlec’s
Don and Lori Watts Pediatric Center,
Dr. Hedlund, one of Kadlec’s pediatric
hospitalists, examined him and
ordered additional tests including an
echocardiogram.
“When the results came back, the
doctor sat us down and said Clay had a
coarctation of the aorta and that it is a
life-threatening condition,” said Tessa.
Within minutes, Dr. Hedlund
arranged for Clay to be transported by
airplane to Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Meanwhile, she started him on
medication to help get a better blood
supply to his lower extremities and he
was put on a respirator.
Clay
Saving
Tessa Hanson, left, holds her son Clay.
She is joined by her daughter Kiley and
Cynthia Ironside, CPNP, who made a
diagnosis which saved Clay’s life when
he was just days old.