Mile 88

Shortly after his birth in December of 2024, baby Theodore was flown to Manning Family Children’s where he was diagnosed with two critical congenital heart defects – a coarctation of the aorta, or narrowing of the aorta, and a ventricular septal defect, or VSD, which is a hole in the wall that separates the left and right ventricles.

Because of the complexity of his case, Dr. Ernesto Mejia and Dr. Farshad Anvari teamed up to use Virtual Reality Segmentation technology to study every aspect of Theodore’s case, and to help inform the surgical approach, also helping to reduce operating time and improve outcomes.  Theodore went home on December 19, exactly one week after surgery and two weeks after being born. His surgery marked the first use of this type of virtual reality technology in the state of Louisiana, and it’s not just for tiny hearts. Manning Family Children’s is currently exploring the use of this technology in other specialties, such as neurology and orthopedics.

Theordore’s family is grateful to the Manning Family Children’s team for their compassion, expertise and commitment to innovation. How everything came together so that Theodore could go home a healthy baby boy was they family’s Christmas miracle.