Uncommon Surgery Fixes Hole in 4-year-old’s Heart

Tatum Atherton showed no signs something was wrong with his heart. But deep in the 4-year-old’s chest, between the top two chambers of his heart, there was a nickel-sized hole – a very rare congenital heart defect.

To fix it, Tatum and his parents, J.R. and Joyce, traveled from Homosassa to AdventHealth for Children in Orlando, where Brian Kogon, MD, medical director of congenital cardiac surgery, was able to patch the hole in a minimally invasive way via a small incision under the armpit.

To learn more about Tatum and the uncommon procedure he underwent, click on the video above.