Since she was born, Kristen Parks has received treatment at University of Iowa Children's Hospital for a congenital heart defect. Her condition is likely hereditary, so when she became pregnant, Kristen came to those same experts for help.
She says she’s excited about having her first child, but she’s also concerned about passing a congenital heart defect on to her baby. Kristen came to University of Iowa Children's Hospital and the region’s only fetal heart monitoring system. This is the day Kristen will learn if her baby has the same heart condition.
"I’m glad that we’re here and they know my history," she said. "So hopefully, yeah, it’s not a genetic thing that gets passed on from me to my baby."
Specialists perform an echocardiogram — a noninvasive technique that uses sound waves to provide information about cardiac structure and blood flow in the heart. The results are excellent. Kristen’s baby is healthy and does not have the same heart condition.
"She’d had a long history — positive history with the university," said Missy Disterhoft, UI sonographer. "Fortunately, everything was fine with the fetus. She can move on and live life the way it should be lived."
Her doctor says this technology is key for today’s complex heart cases. "Nowadays, echocardiography has been a very important tool for making a diagnosis," said Shuping Ge, UI assistant professor of pediatrics.
"It’s very rarely for a complex problem that we won’t evaluate a patient with this important clinical tool."
Kristen is thrilled with her care at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics — and happy her baby is healthy. "I appreciate everything they have done," she said. "I’m happy to come here because I know the best care is going to be here."
UI Heart Care specialists perform more than 100 fetal echocardiograms every year at University of Iowa Children's Hospital. The lab recently became one of only two facilities to receive national accreditation from the Intersocietal Commission for Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories.
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