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Girl with Half a Heart Thrives After Surgeries at Louisiana Children's Hospital

On Dec 7, 2025, Jules Tanksley, a seven-year-old patient from Louisiana, was reported stable and thriving after multiple surgeries at Children's Hospital.
At 23 weeks of pregnancy, doctors detected hypoplastic left heart syndrome in Jules Tanksley, meaning only one side of her heart developed and requiring early intervention to avoid life-threatening risks.
At six days old, surgeons at Manning Family Children's Hospital operated on Jules, with follow-ups at six months and three years, while Dr. Timothy Pettite reconfigured her circulation by combining valves, redirecting blood flow and adding a graft.
Now, regular six-month checkups are all that's required to monitor Jules Tanksley's health, and her mother says she is a mostly normal first grader who will be a queen in this year's holiday parade.
Manning Family Children's Hospital is the only Louisiana center offering the state's percutaneous, complete hybrid operation, and Pettite said, `What some pioneers of my field discovered many years ago is that you don't need a ventricle to pump blood, specifically to the lungs.

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Girl with half a heart thrives after surgeries at Louisiana children's hospital

Jules Tanksley, a 7-year-old with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, is thriving after multiple surgeries at a children's hospital in Louisiana.

7 days ago

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WDSU

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Louisiana girl with half a heart thrives after surgeries at Manning Family Children's Hospital

Jules Tanksley, a seven-year-old with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, is thriving after multiple surgeries at Children's Hospital in Louisiana, where doctors have developed innovative procedures for similar heart defects.

8 days ago·New Orleans, United States

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