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>> JASON IS 12 YEARS OLD.
LIKE MANY BOYS HIS AGE, HE'S PREOCCUPIED WITH GRADES
AND SPORTS AND MUSIC.
BUT UNLIKE MOST KIDS, JASON HAS LIVED HIS ENTIRE LIFE
WITH A CONGENITAL HEART CONDITION KNOWN AS A SINGLE
VENTRICLE DEFECT.
THIRTY YEARS AGO, SINGLE VENTRICLE DEFECTS WERE
ALMOST UNIVERSALLY FATAL.
BABIES DIED WITHIN DAYS OF BIRTH.
TWELVE YEARS AGO WHEN JASON WAS BORN,
CARE HAD ADVANCED TO THE POINT THAT MANY CHILDREN
WOULD SURVIVE THE THREE OPEN- HEART SURGERIES REQUIRED
TO TREAT THE CONDITION.
BUT WHETHER AND HOW THEY WOULD GROW UP WAS STILL
A QUESTION.
STOSH IS 6 MONTHS OLD.
HE TOO WAS BORN WITH A SINGLE VENTRICLE DEFECT.
AS HIS PARENTS TAKE JOY IN WATCHING HIS FIRST YEAR
MILESTONES -- SITTING, STANDING, SPEAKING HIS FIRST WORDS --
THEY CAN ALSO EXPECT THAT STOSH WILL HAVE
A MUCH MORE OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK.
THIS IS THE STORY OF TWO BOYS,
ONE PROGRAM AND YEARS OF MEDICAL PROGRESS.
IT IS A STORY OF DISCOVERY, DEDICATION AND HOPE.
>> A SINGLE VENTRICLE TYPE OF CONGENITAL HEART DEFECT
IS ONE IN WHICH, IN ESSENCE, THERE IS ONLY ONE
FUNCTIONING PUMPING CHAMBER FROM THE LOWER PARTS
OF THE HEART.
>> AND YOU AND ME AND MOST OF THE PEOPLE WE SEE ON
THE STREET, WE HAVE TWO PUMPING CHAMBERS.
ONE OF THEM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PUMPING THE BLOOD TO OUR
BODIES, AND THE OTHER TO OUR LUNGS.
>> SO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE HEART THAT PUMPS BLOOD OVER
TO THE LUNGS IS ESSENTIALLY BLOOD THAT YOUR BODY HAS
ALREADY USED THAT COMES BACK TO THE HEART AS BLUE BLOOD.
ONCE IT GOES AND CIRCULATES THROUGH THE LUNGS,
IT GETS OXYGENATED.
WE REFER TO THAT AS RED BLOOD OR OXYGENATED BLOOD.
AND THAT'S WHAT COMES BACK TO THE LEFT SIDE
OF THE HEART THAT THEN PUMPS IT OUT FOR YOUR BODY TO USE AGAIN.
>> AND WHEN A VALVE INSIDE THE HEART DOESN'T FORM
OR A PUMPING CHAMBER DOESN'T FORM,
THAT IS WHAT IS CONSIDERED TO BE A SINGLE VENTRICLE
ABNORMALITY.
SO BY THE TIME OF BIRTH, THE BABY REALLY ONLY HAS ONE
FUNCTIONAL PUMPING CHAMBER TO PUMP BLOOD TO THE BODY
OR TO THE LUNGS.
>> IT'S NOT A SINGLE ANATOMIC LESION.
IT INCLUDES A CONSTELLATION OF A VARIETY OF VERY,
VERY DIFFERENT TYPES OF ANOMALIES,
ALL OF WHICH ESSENTIALLY SHARE THE COMMON FINDING
OF ONLY A SINGLE FUNCTIONING PUMPING CHAMBER.