Five-year-old Mia Gonzalez was born with a congenital heart defect known as a double aortic arch. This caused a vascular ring to restrict her trachea, causing her breathing to become labored. Many doctors misdiagnosed her as asthmatic, until a cardiac MRI team at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital discovered that she required a surgical procedure.
Mia’s condition was quite unusual, described by Dr. Redmond Burke as “one of the rarest versions of a rare problem”. It is therefore common for mistakes to be made in the relevant surgery, possibly resulting in the death of the patient. Fortunately for Mia, Burke was employing the lifesaving power of 3D printing in her procedure. By employing a 3D model of the girl’s heart, he was able to know exactly what to expect when he opened up her chest. This allowed for a far smaller incision than would otherwise have been necessary. The surgery was completed without a hitch, and Burke is attributing its success largely to the use of modern 3D scanning and printing technology.
