Iranian infant Fatemeh Reshad arrives safely at OHSU Doernbecher

By Tamara Hargens-Bradley February 07, 2017 Portland, Ore.

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Fatemeh Reshad, an infant from Iran with a life-threatening heart condition, will be treated at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Representatives from OHSU Doernbecher have been working with the Reshad family, the immigration attorneys working on their behalf, and with elected officials to facilitate the child’s care. (Family photo)

Heart diagram

Four-month-old Fatemeh Reshad was born with a complex, life-threatening heart defect known as transposition of the great arteries, or TGA. TGA with ventricular septal defect affects approximately 2 in 10,000 newborns each year. Although this defect is rare, OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital and other congenital cardiac centers in the United States routinely care for children with this condition. In the United States, the standard approach for a child born with this defect is to perform heart surgery, typically within several days to several weeks of birth. Generally speaking, the surgery has a very high rate of success. (OHSU)

Fatemeh

Laurie Armsby, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics and interim head of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology Doctors at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland speaks at a press conference, February 4, 2017, announcing that Fatemeh Reshad, an infant from Iran with a life-threatening heart condition, will be allowed to come into the U.S. and have surgery. (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)

Fatemeh

Doctors at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland announced that Fatemeh Reshad, an infant from Iran with a life-threatening heart condition, will be allowed to come into the U.S. and have surgery. (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)

Fatemeh

Irving Shen, M.D., professor of surgery and pediatrics, and head of Division of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland speaks at a press conference, February 4, 2017, announcing that Fatemeh Reshad, an infant from Iran with a life-threatening heart condition, will be allowed to come into the U.S. and have surgery. (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)

Fatemeh

Reshad family attoney Jennifer M. Morrissey, J.D. speaks at a press conference on February 4, 2017. Doctors at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland announced that Fatemeh Reshad, an infant from Iran with a life-threatening heart condition, will be allowed to come into the U.S. and have surgery. (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)