Little Sandra Ann Engolia, 9, can thank an almost chance visit to a. doctor for detection of an unusual heart condition that ultimately would have cost her life.
"Sandy," a fourth grader at Our Lady Star of the Sea school and as rosy-cheeked as any girl you'll ever see, went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago for a routine type of shot. Aside from the usual childhood red bumps and coughs, she'd never been sick in her life.
But the doctor heard something in her heartbeat he didn't like, and notified the Crippled Children's Cardiac Screening clinic.
It was discovered that she had an obstruction in the pulmonary valve, the one that pumps blood to the lungs. Her heart, working overtime to compensate for the clogged valve, had developed some excessively thick muscles, creating a double problem.
"There's no doubt her outlook for life would not have been much, possibly a few years," said one of the physicians from the surgical team of the Louisiana State university medical school who treated her.
The school's artificial heart pump was called into service during the removal of the double-trouble spot. Doctors said it was a condition she was born with, which might have gone undetected indefinitely but for the chance check-up. Needless to say, her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Engolia, 2465 N. Johnson, are most grateful the doctor heard the offbeat heartbeat.
Sandy, recovered now at Charity hospital with a string of X-marks down her chest the only reminder of the operation, is glad too, although a little too young to recognize her close call. She's happy mostly that she'll be back home by Christmas.
PHOTO:
A HEART FULL OF THANKS is seen in the faces of MRS. LEWIS ENGOLIA and her daughter, SANDRA ANN, 9, after a lucky checkup detected a delicate heart condition in the youngster.
