The Missing VSD

*** After I posted this for the first time Stephanie pointed out that there were numerous typos and errors. Upon review I discovered that I posted my first draft instead of the final version that I had edited. I have now edited this post and hope it is more readable. However, I reserve the right to spell or use any word however I choose in this post or any future postings. May the power of context be with you. ***

For those of you that may not have been following from the beginning, Meredith was diagnosed with having a large VSD. This is a hole between the chambers of the ventricles. Since the original diagnosis (and after leaving the hospital) Meredith has had 2 echos at Primary where the doctors never questioned the diagnosis. We sent her last echo from Primary to Cleveland for Dr. Mee to review, and he agreed with the diagnosis of a VSD. Then, we went to the Cleveland Clinic where Meredith had another echo and the diagnosis of a VSD was not questioned. I do not know how many people looked at her echo in Cleveland, but I do know that practically the whole cardiology team looked at it at Primary and they all came to the same conclusion. Then, in surgery, Dr. Hawkins discovered that there was no VSD to begin with. Don't get me wrong, not having a VSD is a good thing in that it will increase the chance that Meredith will not have a pacemaker. However my question is: How did so many people miss that?

No one is sure at this point (at least that they are willing to share), but I have 2 hypotheses - one from God the other from Man.

1) We will start with the one from God first because it is easier to explain. If you do not believe that God is a God if miracles you can skip to the next explanation if it do ya.

The explanation is that God healed the VSD through the power of faith as demonstrated by the priesthood blessings Meredith has received and the many people who have been praying and fasting and praying and pleading and praying.

2) The explanation from Man is really a guess, because even now as Puchalski (Meredith's cardiologist) went back and reviewed the previous echos he still saw what he saw and would still say that she had a VSD (were it not for the physical verification in surgery that she does not).

First, let me talk a little about the echo. You may have seen on some TV show where the doctor takes a picture of the heart and that is placed on a computer screen as a 3D model and the Dr. can then use the computer to do a virtual surgery. That may exist on some level, but that is not how an echo works, or an MRI for that matter. An echo takes a "picture" of a part of the body (the heart) from a specific angle. This picture only takes in what is in the echo wands path. Think of it as taking a stick with a camera on the end and pointing it at your heart, but the lens has tunnel vision and can only see what is exactly in front of it. The echo tech does this from many different angles to try and see certain things. When the Dr. looks at the echo he is really looking at snapshots of different parts of the heart.

Now let's talk about the "picture". While watching an echo, if you did not know what you were looking at, you might think that you were watching a black and white picture of molten lava flowing around in a pool. The tech can get some color, but it is limited to red or blue. These colors are supposed to show which way the blood is flowing. Now, to the hypothesis as to what everyone saw and thought was a VSD.

Again, the VSD is a hole in the heart between the ventricles, which are the pumps of the heart. The echo cannot actually see this hole, instead what the Dr looks for is flow between the ventricles - which they saw in Meredith's echo. Puchalski (who was completely dumbfounded) stated that the septum wall - the wall between the ventricles - may have had a little pocket in it that allowed the right ventricle blood to pass onto the left ventricle’s side of the heart, but still stay in the right ventricle. This was pure guess work on his part and only an attempt to explain what may have been the case. There is no way to prove it at this point

So there you have it. If I learn any more that would help to clarify position #2 I will surely post that. You can take a guess as to what I think happened.

-Chip