HEART OPERATION Boy Enters Hospital This Afternoon

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31991, 19 May 1969, Page 14

HEART OPERATION Boy Enters Hospital This Afternoon

(New Zealand frees Association)

AUCKLAND, May 18. David Lowden, a five*year«old Melbourne boy will enter the Mater Misericordiae Hospital tomorrow afternoon for a major heart operation which his mother, Mrs J. Lowden, described tonight as his only hope.

On Wednesday after* noon Dr B. G. BarrattBoyes, a leading 1 heart surgeon, will attempt to mend two holes and correct two transposed arteries and a narrow artery in the boy’s heart His life will depend on the result of the operation. David, who has been attending school since last February, had led an almost normal life since his birth, but has not been able to take part in strenuous sports or walk very far. Last winter he began losing weight Today he weighs only 381 b. His parents' decision to send him to Auckland for the operation aroused controversy in Australian medical circles when a Sydney heart

surgeon said it could be performed at any of several cardiac units in Australia.

Action Supported

The parents’ action was Supported by Dr A. W. Venables, a leading Melbourne cardiologist, who said the operation was unusually complicated. Mrs Lowden, who is staying with friends in Auckland, said tonight that the Sydney surgeon appeared to be misinformed as to what the operation actually involved. He appeared to think it was only a transposltory, whereas it also involved widening an artery and mending the holes in the heart

The decision of the Lowdens was made after consultations with heart authorities all over the world, including the Mayo Clinic in the United States.