Hope for Hearts Gala: raising funds to change the outcome
Changing the outcome for children. That is what Dr. Luc Mertens and Dr. Barbara Cifra hope to accomplish through their work in Echocardiography at SickKids. According to Dr. Mertens, echocardiography, which creates images of the heart, is the core of the Labatt Family Heart Centre. Not only does it allow them to diagnose children with heart defects, but they can also provide prenatal diagnosis.“People rely heavily on echocardiography as the images we produce are essential for diagnosis and selection of the best treatment,” said Dr. Mertens. “Also, with our prenatal program, headed by Dr. Jaeggi, we are able to diagnose heart problems in children before they are even born.”
More than 300 children are diagnosed each year with a heart abnormality prior to their birth. Thanks to the extensive research and thorough assessments conducted by the echocardiography team, they are now able to change a child’s future by beginning treatment of the abnormality as early as 18 to 24 weeks into pregnancy.
“The prenatal program is often the first contact parents have with the Labatt Family Heart Centre,” said Dr. Mertens. “Families get to know the doctors in the heart centre before their child is even born. This allows us to prepare for the care immediately after birth and to optimize the outcomes.”
The work that Dr. Mertens and his team are doing is making a real difference in the diagnosis and treatment of heart abnormalities for children, and they are constantly looking for new techniques to assess paediatric cardiac function.
“We have a targeted functional assessment for each type of heart disease and each condition has a tailored protocol for how to assess and treat it,” said Dr. Mertens. “Our goal is to detect a heart abnormality as early as possible so that we can intervene earlier to try and change the long-term outcome for the child.”
"The research we do can not only change a child’s life, it can save a child’s life."
Some of the advances they have made in the assessment and treatment of paediatric heart abnormalities include:
- New treatment strategies for fetuses, including a procedure to treat aortic valve stenosis which involves inserting a balloon into the heart of the fetus to open up the valves and increase the chambers of the heart to help make the left side of the heart grow.
- Examining heart rhythm and treating heart rhythm abnormalities occurring in the fetus. The team innovated the way fetal rhythm abnormalities are treated, significantly impacting the outcome.
- In collaboration with the MRI group (Dr. Mike Seed), the team studies blood flow in the fetus and how it is affected by different congenital heart defects. A novel fetal MRI technique allows visualising the blood flow in the human fetus so that doctors can now study how blood flow to different parts of the body changes in different diseases before birth. This, for instance, allows for the understanding of how heart disease affects brain development.
- Continuous assessment and follow-up of children with CHD to learn how the heart reacts to the disease so doctors can develop strategies to keep a child’s heart strong as they grow older and develop new treatments to prevent damage to the heart.
The desire for constant advancement and assessment is what brought Dr. Cifra to SickKids four years ago. Dr. Cifra, who originates from Italy, has assisted in the development of the echocardiography exercise lab. Exercise stress echocardiography is an innovative technique which aims to gather information on cardiac function beyond the standard evaluation performed in resting conditions. Through the use of a special bike which the patient rides, Dr. Cifra is able to evaluate their cardiac reserve, which is the capacity of the heart muscle to improve its performance when stressed with exercise. This is important as some abnormalities cannot be detected at rest, but can be discovered when the heart is challenged through exercise. This is a pioneering approach to heart abnormality diagnosis in children.
Over and above the work and time they put into their roles, Dr. Mertens and Dr. Cifra have volunteered to take on a new challenge – hosting a fundraiser in support of the echocardiography lab at SickKids. On Thursday, May 7, the Hope for Hearts Gala will take place at the Riviera in Vaughan. The event will include a sit-down dinner, silent and live auction, as well as great performances and special guests.
Both Dr. Mertens and Dr. Cifra are passionate about the work that they do and even more passionate about the impact they know they can have on children with heart abnormalities. They have the ideas … they just lack the resources. “There is limited funding available,” said Dr. Mertens. “If we want to make a change, we need to find alternative funding.”
They also hope this event will provide further insight to just how important research is. “We want people to understand that research is practical and that it can change lives,” said Dr. Cifra. “The research we do can not only change a child’s life, it can save a child’s life.”
If you are interested in supporting or attending the Hope for Hearts gala, please email the event organizers at hopeforheartsgala@gmail.com. You can also donate in support of the event by visiting the event's fundraising page and follow along on their Facebook and Twitter channels.
Your support will help strengthen the echocardiography program and improve diagnosis and patient care for the treatment of heart disease. You will also have the opportunity to meet a team of people who are making a real difference in children’s health.
“We work in this every day and we know what can be done,” said Dr. Mertens. “We truly believe in the work we do. We see the benefits. We want to continue to share the results and impact lives.”
