Pioneering Surgery Cures The Boy Whose Blood Flowed The Wrong Way
Three year old Alec Hutchinson, was born with a rare condition which caused the blood vessels in his heart were plumbed in back to front.
Only a handful of babies every year are born with the condition, which is called Congenitally Corrected Transposition.
In sufferers, the artery taking oxygenated blood to the body, the aorta, is connected to the smaller pumping chamber of the heart, the right ventricle.
This means it cannot create a large enough amount of pressure to push blood all the way round the body. As a result of this, Alec had low oxygen levels in his blood and was often breathless and blue.
Four weeks ago, the condition was corrected by a 'double switch' procedure to turn his heart vessels around.
Doctors gave Alec a 20% chance that he would not survive the operation - but thankfully everything went to plan.
Now that he has recovered, his prognosis is good and doctors believe that he should lead a normal life.
His mom says that:
"Alec is back to his old self, bossing everybody around. He's been a brave lad. Since the operation he's been able to ride his bike again."
Because the double switch surgery was a success, surgeons at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle will offer the procedure to other kids with the same condition.
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