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DIAGNOSING Eli’s Fetal Cardiac Mass
The 20-week ultrasound was supposed to be exciting. Leetal Birger and her husband, Josh Rubinstein, couldn’t wait to see their baby’s hands and feet, a first glimpse of his little face. “They do the organs last,” she recalls. “And when they got to the heart, there was this silence in the room. Finally, the ultrasound tech was like, ‘I’m going to have to call the doctor.’” Leetal’s baby, Eli, had a mass on his heart, a tumor. It was big, nearly 40% of the heart’s mass. The good news was that wasn’t blocking anything, and they didn’t think it was cancer The size of it put Eli at risk for arrhythmias, which could shorten Leetal’s pregnancy and potentially cause fetal heart failure or even death. That was the bad news.
Editorial submitted by friend steward partners at the Colorado Fetal Care Center
“When it comes to your child’s life, you want the best of the best.” – L E E TA L , E L I ’ S M O M
Children’s Hospital Colorado complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. • ATENCIÓN: si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-720-777-1234. • CHÚ Ý: Nếu bạn nói Tiếng Việt, có các dịch vụ hỗ trợ ngôn ngữ miễn phí dành cho bạn. Gọi số 1-720-777-1234. CFCC-180144A-2020-02
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