Joey Rousseau

His Story

It was 2009, one month before Joey’s fourth birthday, when the sparkle in his eye disappeared. Lengthy fevers became his norm. Testing led to two possible causes, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) or Kawasaki disease; however, a series of failed treatments showed otherwise. Chest pains began waking him up at night, and Joey said his heart hurt. No one knew why.

The Diagnosis

After an ECHO and EKG failed to show abnormalities, it was a CT Angiogram that finally produced the frightening results. It was July 29, 2010, when Joey’s parents learned their little boy had a 90 percent blockage of his left coronary artery. ECHO Cardiograms are the principal way of viewing coronary arteries in youth, but it was only through the advanced visualization of the CT Angiogram that Joey’s cardiologists could offer a conclusive diagnosis and prepare him for surgery. Advanced visualization software aided the procedure that spliced the coronary artery laterally and attached a patch created from heart tissue.

Joey Today

Since all of Joey’s ribs were broken for surgery, recovery was slow. Nonetheless, he was excited to heal and now once again enjoys life as an active little boy.