Benny Halbleib is home in Orem with his parents and two older siblings after spending seven weeks in the hospital. KSL News reported that he was eight weeks old when he left the hospital, following treatment that included open-heart surgery before he was two weeks old.
Surgeons used a Ross procedure to replace Benny’s damaged aortic valve. They moved his own pulmonary valve into the aortic position and used a donor valve to replace the pulmonary valve; the operation was successful, KSL News reported. Benny then remained in the hospital for five more weeks to recover.
The valve replacement became necessary after Benny was diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis, which narrows the aortic valve and restricts blood flow from the heart. KSL reported that a murmur led to an echocardiogram and an air transfer from Orem to Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. Doctors first tried a less-invasive procedure; a staph infection then damaged the valve, and doctors determined it needed to be replaced.
The Heart Center at Primary Children’s has four board-certified surgeons who work together on complex congenital heart disease, according to Intermountain Health. KSL reported that Dr. Adil Husain, the center’s co-director and division chief of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, described Benny’s case as especially complex. Dr. Adam Ware, the division chief of pediatric cardiology and a center co-director, said care for children with heart disease involves collaboration across specialties, KSL reported.
