Maxwell

We lost our 3 1/2 month old son, Maxwell Wyatt, to aortic stenosis. According to our pediatric cardiologist, the anesthesiologist was prepping him for the cathode/angioplasty procedure at Cedar Sinai. She started the IV, no problems, put the tube down the throat and verified there was an airflow, but as soon as that was done, his heart rate dropped and he went into cardiac arrest and did not recover.

Maxwell had a bicuspid value and they saw on the echocardiogram that there was either heavy build up of tissue just above the bicuspid value or the value itself. Our baby was born with minor stenosis and at one month we had another echocardiogram still showing minor aortic stenosis; then we came back for a follow-up check-up and the echocardiogram showed "severe" aortic stenosis at 3 months old.

We got a second opinion who confirmed that the aortic stenosis had exacerbated and we needed to have the catheterization done soon. Our son was born at 6 lbs, 1 ounce. The day of the procedure, he was 13 lbs 8 ounces. An autopsy was performed limited only to the heart/lungs area and they found that the heart was 67% bigger than normal, and large amounts of muscle tissue had built up around the value. The pathologist's theory was like the heart was overworking, going to the gym too much to pump thru the bicuspid opening. He stated he did not see anything in the lungs but then the autopsy was limited per our request. Our pediatric cardiologist stated it has to be two things: Vagal reflex, where the tube down his throat caused the heart rate to go down; or the anesthetic given could have lowered his heart rate when he went under. We were shocked that this happened as our cardiologist indicated this was rare. The pediatric cardiologist stated that they gave our son every medicine to bring his heart rate up but his heart did not respond.

Our son had a beautiful spirit as seen in his portrait taken on his last day. He was our handsome Maxwell . . . a charming smile, big blue eyes and so much hair at birth. He will always be our little baby boy.