At the children's cardiac clinic in Charity Hospital doctors treat "not the heart, but the whole child."
The great majority of people who always associate "heart trouble" with the worried adult, will be surprised to learn that one out of every hundred babies is born with a malformed heart.
Of these about 25 per cent die in the first year, still leaving many children .who live in the shadow of congenital heart disease, whose activities are always prefaced with a big "DON'T."
Those who are lucky enough to come to the kind attention of Dr. Nelson K. Ordway, assistant professor of pediatrics at the LSU school of medicine and head of the clinic, receive not only thorough examinations and tests which determine what can be done for the heart, but also guidance in how to lead as normal a life as possible.
"Some children don't need help because their heart will never hamper them. We reassure the parents that they probably will lead normal lives, Dr. Orwad ax-plained.
"Children with congenital heart disease don't need as much restraint from activity as they usually get from their parents. In most cases the child will limit his own activity without doing himself any harm," he added.
