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<\/p>\nWhen Erika Mu\u00f1oz was 34 weeks pregnant, she received devastating news: her unborn daughter, Darleth, had been diagnosed with Vein of Galen malformation, an extremely rare and life-threatening vascular condition affecting blood vessels in the brain.<\/p>\n
Today, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of a multidisciplinary team at El Paso Children\u2019s Hospital, Darleth is home with her family after overcoming one of the most complex pediatric cases the hospital has ever treated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat it is is basically a large vein inside the head that is taking a lot of the blood from the heart,\u201d said Dr. Ziyad Makoshi, medical director of pediatric neurosurgery at El Paso Children\u2019s Hospital. \u201cThe heart is then having to pump additionally, and that is the issue that we run into early on. The heart starts to fail, so our cardiologists are extremely important to help stabilize these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vein of Galen malformation is exceptionally rare, with many pediatric centers encountering only one or two cases every few years. Successful treatment requires extensive coordination among multiple specialties, including neurology, neurosurgery, cardiology, neurointerventional radiology and critical care.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are happy that here we have that expertise from neurology, neurosurgery, cardiology and neurointerventional specialists,\u201d Makoshi said. \u201cAll these specialties need to come together to manage a patient like this, and we were able to do that here.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Darleth\u2019s condition became increasingly critical during infancy, her family sought treatment options at major pediatric centers across the country. However, the complexity of her condition presented significant challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen she arrived at that catastrophic state, we tried to connect to the main centers that have the highest experience in the country for Vein of Galen malformation,\u201d said Dr. Alberto Maud, neurointerventionalist at Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso. \u201cHowever, none of those accepted Darleth because of the complexity and logistics it implied, as well as the complexity of her particular case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faced with limited options and months away from home, Erika made the decision to bring her daughter back to El Paso.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth is it was eight or nine months of agony out of El Paso because aside from this, I have three other kids,\u201d Erika said. \u201cIt was really stressful because I also had to care for them, not just for her. So I made the decision to bring her back to El Paso Children\u2019s, and I am very grateful because they have helped me so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once Darleth returned to El Paso Children\u2019s Hospital, physicians across numerous specialties came together to develop an aggressive treatment strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided to take the bull by the horns,\u201d Maud said. \u201cWe reunited multidisciplinary teams, including neurosurgery, pediatric neurology, neurointervention, PICU, CICU, anesthesia and cardiology. Together we made an extraordinary effort that resulted in six or seven consecutive embolization procedures to tackle this vascular malformation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each procedure required meticulous planning and coordination among clinical teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would rehearse and see exactly, even the route we were going to take for her procedures,\u201d said Ana Alvarado, who is a Critical Care Registered Nurse at El Paso Children\u2019s Hospital. \u201cEvery little step, we worked together to determine the best way to give her a positive outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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\nErika and daughter, Darleth. Pictures adorn the walls of Darleth\u2019s room at El Paso Children\u2019s Hospital. Photos by El Paso Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n
Communication with Darleth\u2019s family remained a critical component of her care. Dr. Natalia Betancourt-Guzman, a pediatric cardiologist at El Paso Children\u2019s Hospital, worked closely with the family to ensure they understood the complex medical decisions ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad only spoke Spanish, so the fact that I could sit with him and explain something so complex in his first language was something very beneficial for them,\u201d\u00a0 Betancourt-Guzman said. \u201cIt helped them be calm and understand what was happening and the risks so they could make a good decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the day Darleth was born, specialists closely monitored her heart function as they worked to stabilize her condition.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team has been doing echocardiograms since literally day one,\u201d said William Wong, pediatric echocardiographer at El Paso Children\u2019s Hospital. \u201cWe have been scanning her for almost a year now, and ultimately you just accept the fact that she is part of the family.\u201d<\/p>\n
The commitment of physicians, nurses, therapists and support staff became a defining part of Darleth\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a patient who has such a complex disease, it really emphasizes why you need physicians who love taking care of kids and love taking care of their families,\u201d said Dr. Alejandra Melendez-Zaidi, pediatric epileptologist at Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso and El Paso Children\u2019s Hospital. \u201cThat\u2019s pediatrics, and that\u2019s why you need a place that allows for the coordination of all those resources and interactions.\u201d<\/p>\n
After months of treatment and collaboration, the team\u2019s efforts produced remarkable results.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe embolization procedures resulted in stabilization of the brain, stabilization of seizures, stabilization of heart failure and stabilization of liver failure,\u201d Maud said. \u201cThat allowed a baby who was close to nine months old to breathe by herself, come off the ventilator and finally be discharged home.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Erika, the outcome exceeded every expectation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am left without words,\u201d she said. \u201cI am so grateful because this is my daughter that I had before. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. We are always going to remember you. I am always going to remind Darleth about what they did for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maud emphasized that Darleth\u2019s recovery reflects the collective dedication of countless caregivers, as well as the unwavering support of her family.<\/p>\n
\u201cOutcomes like this are possible because of our nursing staff, our PICU staff, our administration and everyone involved in providing the highest level of care for children with brain diseases,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we cannot overlook the role of her mother, her sisters and the family support throughout the entire process. The trust they gave us to take care of Darleth\u2019s brain was unparalleled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Darleth\u2019s story serves as a powerful reminder that advanced pediatric specialty care is available close to home for families across the Borderland region. Her recovery reflects the strength of multidisciplinary collaboration, innovative treatment and the resilience of a child who never stopped fighting.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at us and where we arrived,\u201d Erika said. \u201cThe effort that she put in, she is a strong girl. I didn\u2019t expect this, but she has proven to us that she is so strong, and I am so happy to be her mom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Erika Mu\u00f1oz was 34 weeks pregnant, she received devastating news: her unborn daughter, Darleth, had been diagnosed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,125374,140,139,3176],"class_list":["post-351923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-childrenu2019s-hospital","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-partner-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}