In this continuing education series, the heart and lung community from St. Louis Children’s Hospital aims to raise awareness of Pulmonary Hypertension in kids. Learn more about the symptoms, diagnosis \u0026 treatment of pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension.
The St. Louis Children’s Hospital YouTube station is intended as a reference and information source only. If you suspect you have a health problem, you should seek immediate care with the appropriate health care professionals. The information in this web site is not a substitute for professional care, and must not be used for self-diagnosis or treatment. For help finding a doctor, St. Louis Children’s Hospital Answer Line may be of assistance at 314.454.KIDS (5437). The opinions expressed in these videos are those of the individual writers, not necessarily St. Louis Children’s Hospital or Washington University School of Medicine. BJC HealthCare and Washington University School of Medicine assume no liability for the information contained in this web site or for its use.
Content
0.03 -> Hi everyone! My name is Jennifer Hinkle
2.19 -> and I'm a heart mom here in St. Louis. My
4.799 -> husband and I started the Ollie Hinkle
6.27 -> Heart Foundation five years ago in honor
8.55 -> of our son, Ollie.
9.809 -> The Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation is
12.21 -> dedicated to lessening the impact of CHD
14.7 -> through love, awareness, and the
16.92 -> advancement of congenital heart disease
18.75 -> diagnosis and treatment. Recently we
21.72 -> sponsored the A Dose of Magic event and
23.88 -> are excited to help bring a continuing
25.98 -> education series through Facebook live
28.349 -> discussions. Today we'll be discussing
30.72 -> the topic of pulmonary hypertension with
33.63 -> Dr. Mark Grady and Jessica York. Dr.
36.39 -> Grady is a cardiologist and pulmonary
38.79 -> hypertension specialist here at St.
41.37 -> Louis Children's Hospital. Jessica is
44.01 -> a pulmonary hypertension mom and
45.899 -> advocate. Thank you both for being here
48.12 -> today. Thanks for having us. One last note
50.73 -> before we begin, we'll be giving prizes
53.129 -> away to the first three people who
54.87 -> submit questions during this discussion—
56.67 -> all you have to do is be one of the
58.559 -> first three viewers to submit a question
60.27 -> and you can win some awesome prizes from
62.82 -> The Heart Center and the Olli Hinkle Heart
64.5 -> Foundation.
65.27 -> To begin, Dr. Grady, can you help
68.46 -> explain what pulmonary hypertension is?
70.85 -> Sure it's a disease of the lungs that
74.22 -> makes it difficult for the blood to get
77.009 -> through them. That's a pretty simple
79.14 -> explanation. There's lots of different
80.64 -> reasons why that may be the case but
82.71 -> essentially it's a problem with the
85.11 -> lungs getting, I mean a problem with
87.09 -> the blood getting from from the heart
89.88 -> through the lungs to the other side of the
92.579 -> heart. Okay. Jessica, I read about your
96.78 -> daughter, Haley’s story on The Heart
99.06 -> Center’s Facebook page. Can you tell us a
101.07 -> little bit about her and her diagnosis?
102.96 -> Sure, Haley is the youngest of our two
105.81 -> daughters. She's five and she has a
107.579 -> sister Jordan who's 15. For the first few
111.149 -> years of life, Haley met all her
112.92 -> milestones at a steady pace and as her
116.52 -> sister had years before. She developed a
120.479 -> magnetic personality always smiling,
123.96 -> making jokes, and doing pranks to make
126.24 -> people laugh. At our three-year-old
128.64 -> checkup which was delayed, so we had it in
131.069 -> October of 2016
133.39 -> her birthdays in July, was when her
136.63 -> heart murmur was heard for the first
138.19 -> time. Her doctor had decided that
141.1 -> we would wait a month to see if the murmur was
143.319 -> still present. If it was, then we would go
145.54 -> ahead and schedule an echo. During
148.27 -> that time my dad had become paralyzed.
150.31 -> Six months prior, she'd been going to
153.04 -> weekly appointments with him to a wound
155.38 -> care specialist. That office actually
157.45 -> noticed that she had purple lips, purple
160.69 -> fingernails, and seemed really short of
163.209 -> breath so they urged us to call her
165.489 -> doctor, which we did. They immediately
168.1 -> scheduled the echo which was when
171.13 -> they discovered she has a complete AV
173.38 -> canal heart defect also with pulmonary
175.84 -> hypertension. Dr. Grady, as you know
180.28 -> Jessica is a big PH advocate and she's
183.79 -> pulled together some questions from the
186.43 -> PH community for today's discussion. What
191.11 -> signs are important to look for to rule
193.18 -> PH out or get earlier diagnosis of
196.81 -> pulmonary hypertension? That's a good
201.4 -> question! I think sometimes the diagnosis
203.65 -> can be delayed as in Haley's case for a
207.97 -> number of years when it's thought to be
209.5 -> perhaps something else. It's
212.17 -> a rare diagnosis and so as a
214.09 -> pediatrician you have to have
216.73 -> that in the back of your mind as a
218.44 -> possibility like lots of rare
220.69 -> things that happen in kids, but in
224.29 -> general if a child's got significant
226.209 -> pulmonary hypertension, at some point they
227.89 -> become a little bit less active. They're
229.48 -> not as playful or as energetic as they
231.489 -> used to be. Sometimes it can mask as
233.739 -> asthma. I've seen situations where
236.35 -> children are diagnosed with asthma for
238.329 -> several years. It doesn't seem to be
239.709 -> getting better despite a lot of
240.88 -> treatments and they come to discover
242.98 -> that it's actually pulmonary hypertension.
245.43 -> Anytime a child
249.12 -> faints for no good reason,
252.67 -> that sometimes can be a sign of pulmonary
255.579 -> hypertension. Now, lots of kids faint, so I
257.229 -> don't want everyone
257.87 -> to panic, but if it's something that
260.329 -> happens repeatedly that would be another
261.889 -> sign. How can we help educate
265.33 -> pediatricians and nursing staff on local
267.86 -> levels about early diagnosis and taking
271.01 -> the observations of parents seriously?
274.24 -> Well again, I think situations like
277.699 -> what we're doing right now just
279.889 -> increases the awareness of pulmonary
281.449 -> hypertension as a diagnosis. I've
283.729 -> been involved with it for the last ten
285.41 -> years and I can say that the number of
287.81 -> kids that we’re diagnosing with it
289.639 -> seems like it continues to go up each
291.77 -> year. I think just having that in
295.94 -> the back of your mind as a general
297.26 -> pediatrician is hard because they have
298.58 -> to have lots of things in the back of
299.87 -> their mind, but again just letting people
303.38 -> know that that's always in the
304.61 -> differential. What kind of challenges
308.419 -> are presented when trying to treat a
310.34 -> child with pulmonary hypertension with
313.039 -> medications that are not yet approved by
315.41 -> the FDA? Well that's a problem that's
318.949 -> true in a lot of pediatrics.
321.61 -> As a pediatric cardiologist, we do a lot
324.47 -> of things other—I do—other than treat
326.36 -> pulmonary hypertension and a lot of it
328.07 -> involves medicines and that aren't
330.47 -> necessarily approved for children. We
333.08 -> struggle with this all the time. Drug
334.97 -> companies just aren't as interested in
336.53 -> developing that specifically for
338.21 -> children, so we have to borrow from
340.82 -> the adult world. A lot of times that
343.43 -> works out okay. We just give the kids
345.2 -> maybe a little bit less of a dose than
346.97 -> we do the adults, but sometimes we're not
350.9 -> sure what the effects will be on a
353.75 -> growing child. Sometimes the studies
355.55 -> aren't there and we just have to
357.199 -> take our best guess with it. It can be
359.18 -> problematic especially in the PH world.
362.51 -> These medicines are rare or expensive.
366.289 -> To be really effective there are
369.53 -> some that you can take by mouth, but
371.599 -> there are some that really require more
374.15 -> invasive delivery like an IV that
377.389 -> has a pump much like Haley has been
379.16 -> wearing for the last several years that
381.07 -> provides that medicine 24/7.
383.78 -> Obviously, that's a big challenge for an
386.69 -> energetic three or four year old to keep
389 -> that going.
390.31 -> Right? Yeah. Does Haley have any
393.56 -> limitations from her pulmonary
395.96 -> hypertension? Yeah, she definitely does. I
398.15 -> mean Haley pushes herself very well but
401.51 -> she has limitations like climbing the
404.12 -> stairs. If she climbs stairs, she gets out
406.16 -> of breath after three stairs. We had
408.23 -> to get a stair lift put in our home just
410.27 -> for her to get upstairs to her room. She
413.27 -> has to use a wheelchair when walking
415.76 -> long distances always, but even sometimes
418.669 -> short distances if she's having a bad PH
421.07 -> day. That can be a problem. She also has
425.27 -> the Broviac in which she has to wear a
427.91 -> backpack 24/7 to pump medication through
431.69 -> so she can't be submerged in the water.
434.14 -> Bath time requires shower guards.
437.419 -> If she swims, she has to wear a special
439.58 -> dry suit for that. There are
442.4 -> definitely limitations. Then, she's
444.2 -> getting ready to go into kindergarten so
445.94 -> that's a whole process because right now
447.71 -> she goes to preschool just twice a week,
449.74 -> three hour days and I mean that makes
452.63 -> her exhausted. The fatigue is
455 -> another big limitation for her as well.
457.46 -> Mm-hmm. Dr. Grady, are there any new
464.03 -> potential treatments on the horizon that
465.83 -> you're excited about? Well again, we have
470.87 -> to rely on some of the adult
472.55 -> studies for our medications. I don't know
476.66 -> that there's anything pill wise that
479.09 -> is really going to be
483.2 -> effective in the pediatric world. There
485.12 -> are some devices that might be of
489.35 -> interest. I know Haley has to
491.33 -> have a backpack where her pump is
493.72 -> continually providing her with her
496.16 -> medicine through a central line. In the
499.7 -> adult world, now they've started to take
501.229 -> those pumps and actually implant them
502.94 -> under the skin, so now you don't have
504.71 -> a backpack anymore. Again that's just
508.19 -> getting under way in the adult
511.28 -> world and whether something like that
512.51 -> will be applicable to children, that
514.039 -> would be exciting. Yeah, I was
518.06 -> going to ask. Jessica,
519.919 -> can you tell us a little bit about
521.24 -> Haley's medications
522.38 -> and the process you and your husband
524.93 -> carry out to prepare these medications?
526.67 -> Sure two of our medications we
530.21 -> have to order from a specialty pharmacy
531.92 -> which that in itself takes about a 30
534.86 -> minute phone call every month to do.
538.61 -> Then you have to sign for the package
540.08 -> because they're very expensive.
542.84 -> Then her modulin—she used to
546.35 -> be on Flolans—you had to mix that
547.82 -> every single day.
548.93 -> There are modulins that you have to mix.
552.02 -> They actually have a module diluent
554.27 -> now so we can premix it for like
557.48 -> seven doses. You switch the cassette out
560.57 -> though every other day so we have to do
563.63 -> that, as well as her bandage changes we
565.7 -> do once a week. Change those out. Then
568.43 -> she's on oral medications which she takes
570.71 -> 2 at 6 a.m., one at 2 p.m., one at 6 p.m.
575.09 -> and then one at 9:00 p.m. Those are
578.51 -> her daily meds. Speaking of
581.09 -> medications, Dr. Grady, to your knowledge, do
584.75 -> any of the medications or pulmonary
588.11 -> hypertension itself cause problems with
590.06 -> schoolwork like attention, focus, and learning?
593.95 -> It's a good question. I would just
597.2 -> preface it by saying miss York does a
599.06 -> fabulous job in managing what really for
602.54 -> a lot of people is almost inconceivable.
604.31 -> It's almost like
606.02 -> having your own intensive care unit at
607.7 -> home. She's awesome at it. Thank you! I appreciate that. Haley has done
611.99 -> as well as she has because of the dedication of
614.18 -> mom and dad here. In terms of how
617.87 -> it affects people at home, I mean at
620.12 -> school,
620.83 -> I'm not aware that they have direct, I have
624.53 -> not seeing that as a common problem. I
626.84 -> think they all have side effects.
628.43 -> They can cause headaches, GI stomach
630.59 -> upset, and things that may affect their
632.57 -> performance in school or fatigue and
634.52 -> things of that nature. We had a few
640.76 -> questions about the surgical procedure
643.67 -> Potts Shunt. Dr. Grady what is Potts Shunt
647.9 -> and who is considered the ideal
649.58 -> candidate for this procedure? Right so
652.67 -> earlier you were asking me if there’s
653.99 -> something new that's
655.309 -> coming out that may be of benefit to
658.439 -> kids with hypertension. I would say
660.72 -> this this surgical technique called the
663.269 -> Potts Shunt, named after the surgeon
665.249 -> who developed it back in the 1940s, was for
668.459 -> treating a different kind of congenital
670.259 -> heart disease. The utilization of
674.009 -> this Potts Shunt in the last five to ten
676.709 -> years has—I think—made a real difference
678.329 -> in some children's lives with pulmonary
680.549 -> hypertension. Essentially it's a
684.299 -> connection between the right side of
686.279 -> the heart and the left side of the heart.
687.779 -> Instead of the the right side of the
690.929 -> heart which has got to push all that
692.16 -> blood through the lungs which it has
694.199 -> trouble doing, you make this connection
696.48 -> to give the heart a
698.639 -> back door where some of the blood can
700.559 -> escape. Perhaps that pressure drops a
703.199 -> little bit inside the heart, so it's
704.939 -> not under so much tension. By
707.79 -> doing that, you preserve the heart
709.499 -> function longer, the kid feels a little
711.119 -> bit better, they're a little bit bluer
712.619 -> because of it but their heart is a little
714.569 -> happier. It's a technique that was
717.619 -> first developed and used a lot in
721.379 -> France. We've now just done our
724.86 -> sixteenth child with a Potts Shunt which