CT Hospital's Specialized Surgery Saves Generations: From Child to Parent

Doctors in Connecticut rescued Megan Heggland’s life with open-heart surgery when she was 12, and they performed the same procedure years later to save her baby girl, who is now seven years old.

But one doctor at
Yale New Haven Hospital
ventured past the technical aspects of medical training to provide Megan with hope and “reassurance” during her pregnancy with her daughter, Harper.

During Megan Heggland’s pregnancy, an
echocardiogram
done in utero at another facility frightened the doctors, who informed Heggland they were shocked by what they saw and told her she could terminate the pregnancy up to 24 weeks, she said.

“They said, ‘we’re concerned, it looks severe.’ They were startled by what they saw and said they hadn’t seen anything like it,” Heggland said.

But Heggland said she and her husband decided they were going to fight for baby Harper and went to Yale New Haven Hospital for another opinion.

It was at this place that they discovered hope and “reassurance” in Dr. Dina Ferdman, who would eventually take on the role of Harper’s cardiologist. Dr. Ferdman also serves as co-director of
Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital’s Fetal Care Center
and an assistant professor of pediatrics at
Yale School of Medicine.

Ferdman examined an echocardiogram, spent numerous hours with Megan, and went over each aspect of Harper’s heart condition in detail. He also sketched a diagram and provided comfort to the anxious mother.

Megan stated, “She handled me well, this panicking mother. She was the calm amid the chaos—she was simply amazing.”

Heggland admitted, fairly speaking, the physician who conducted the initial echocardiogram was not specialized — yet another insight she derived from this experience.

Harper emerged victorious in her parents’ battle to preserve their legacy.

She was born with a weight of 9 pounds and required open-heart surgery when she was just five weeks old since it became clear she wasn’t flourishing.

Her doctor mentioned she might require another operation down the line, Mom explained.

However, at present, she remains a vibrant 7-year-old who only has limitations set by her parents, according to Ferdman. Harper enjoys eating chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese, practices taekwondo, participates in a trail running group, and engages in various outdoor pursuits alongside her family.

She’s incredibly strong. Despite being highly self-aware, she remains laid-back,” Megan Heggland commented about Harper. “We emphasize embracing your true self. That’s just how it is.

Ferdman remarked about Harper, saying that the “highlight” of being a pediatric cardiologist is “having the chance to see her these days.”

I enjoy the interaction of collaborating with the whole family—being able to discuss what it signifies for the child,” she stated. “It’s hard to tell from her current state what she endured as an infant.

The family currently resides in Vermont, and both the Heggland mother and daughter place great trust in the Yale New Haven Health’s Heart and Vascular Center. As a result, they make return trips specifically for their cardiology appointments.

The congenital heart defect Megan Heggland had as a child is considered to run in families and Ferdman said they assume the condition was passed to Harper in that way.

Megan Heggland, who was 39 years old, underwent surgery in 1997 following episodes of turning blue after engaging in horseback riding activities. When Megan was just 4 years old, during a routine check-up for an illness, her pediatrician detected a heart condition or murmur. At that time, she exhibited signs of having a murmur.

Ferdman said echocardiograms are done in pregnancy routinely in pregnancy if a mom has a history like that of Megan Heggland. Her first child, a boy born two years before Harper didn’t have any heart issues.

The mother and daughter had “similar” heart conditions, Ferdman said.

Harper had an
atrial septal defect,
A type of congenital heart condition, Megan was diagnosed with an uncommon variant of atrial septal defect, referred to as a primum ASD. Additionally, she exhibited a cleft, indicative of a partial split, within her mitral valve.

Megan Heggland’s specialist is Dr. Robert Elder, who leads the
The Adult Congenital Heart Program at Yale New Haven
Health’s Heart and Vascular Center and an associate professor of pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine.

He mentioned that similar to numerous adult patients dealing with congenital heart issues, Megan Heggland went without a cardiologist who specializes in congenital heart disease for many years following her surgery.

Now that she has returned to Yale New Haven Hospital, Elder supervises her treatment.

“We have this saying in our field that repaired is not cured,” said Elder.

Individuals with congenital heart disease face an elevated risk of various complications, including issues related to heart rhythms and valves. Research indicates that consulting a specialist in this field allows for the prevention or early detection of these potential complications. Therefore, locating a doctor knowledgeable about specific types of congenital heart diseases seems crucial.

Megan Heggland stated, “The fact that we spend three hours traveling both ways just to be with a team of doctors speaks volumes.”

She mentioned that the cardiology team at Yale is incredibly approachable. They are adaptable, well-informed, and genuinely concerned about their patients.