Understanding the heart’s anatomy
Before Wyatt Keller’s open-heart surgery, Cleveland Clinic doctors used a 3D-printed model to examine his heart’s unusual structure and plan their approach, according to FOX 8 and Talker News. The operation, performed in January 2026 when Wyatt was 4, included a ventricular switch that made his heart’s right ventricle the main chamber pumping blood to his body, the outlets reported.
Criss-cross heart is an uncommon congenital condition involving abnormal positioning of the heart’s chambers and connecting vessels. A Cleveland Clinic account about a different patient describes the atrioventricular valves as crossing abnormally. A study from Beijing Anzhen Hospital found 14 prenatal cases among 41,354 fetal echocardiograms reviewed from July 2016 to June 2022—0.03% of that center’s reviewed cases. All 14 had other structural heart abnormalities. Those figures describe the study’s sample, not a population-wide rate, according to the study.
A technique used in other complex cases
Cleveland Clinic has used 3D-printed heart models in other surgical planning. A 2019 News 5 Cleveland report said the hospital printed a model of 9-month-old Paisley Born’s heart before a ventricle-switch procedure described as the first of its kind there. The report also said Paisley had open-heart surgery six days after birth to stabilize her heart, which had a single-working-ventricle defect.
A separate 2023 case report in Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine described doctors using a model made from CT scan data to assess the anatomy of a 13-year-old girl with criss-cross heart and a related defect. She underwent a right ventricular double outlet repair and made a full recovery, the report said.
Wyatt’s diagnosis and recovery
Wyatt’s condition was diagnosed before birth after an anatomy scan raised concerns about his heart, FOX 8 reported. Doctors monitored him for about four years before deciding surgery was needed. As he grew, the condition affected his ability to exercise, play and keep up with other children. His parents, Anna and Jonathan Keller, and his medical team agreed to proceed with the operation, according to FOX 8. Talker News separately reported that his energy began declining around his fourth birthday.
What newborn screening can detect
Ohio requires newborns to be screened for critical congenital heart defects with pulse oximetry before hospital discharge, according to the Ohio Department of Health. The screening does not detect all heart defects; the department says it is most likely to detect seven specified critical defects. That guidance does not establish whether screening would have detected Wyatt’s particular condition, according to the department’s screening FAQ.
FOX 8 reported that Dr. Hani Najm, chair of pediatric and congenital heart surgery at Cleveland Clinic, led the surgical team. Wyatt left the hospital five days after the operation and was preparing for preschool and playing with his older brothers, the outlet reported. Talker News later reported that he had been cleared of physical restrictions and that doctors did not expect him to need further procedures.
