What should have been done:
- Blood pressure (No we are not kidding. Rowan’s most recent blood pressure reading was 4 days prior)
- Electrocardiogram (Rowan’s most recent electrocardiogram was on October 21st nearly two months before anesthetic induction)
- Cardiac echocardiogram without sedation (Rowan slept in his stroller for an hour, every day at approx. 12:30. Every day, we walked down a 4 lane road and into a busy pre-school playground without him waking up)
- Stress Electrocardiogram and/or Stress Echocardiogram to test for myocardial function, and if any ischemia had already happened. www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/mar/14/ct-scan-stress-test/
- Adding precautions to general anesthesia, if deemed absolutely necessary. Precautions could have included: anesthetic induction in the cath lab (rather than outpatient room) in case of cardiac arrest, insertion of an IV catheter before induction, locating an appropriate trach tube before induction.
- High sensitivity troponin T and troponin I blood tests to see if there was any evidence of myocardial ischemia associated with preexisting damage to the cardiac muscles.
- Perform the CT without anesthesia
“..anesthesia is used with some nonsurgical procedures, too, such as to keep tots still during MRI scans – and Ross said that’s an area to try alternatives. For example, Duke has had parents or nurses crawl inside scanners to hold a child.“Under 3 is certainly more challenging, but it’s doable for a lot of kids,” Ross said.” http://www.newsmax.com/Health/Health-News/anesthesia-children-brain-study/2015/02/26/id/626991/#ixzz3ZxiX1kWX
- Nothing at all (though Rowan had a heart condition, he would have lived a longer life without any medical intervention.. and would have enjoyed the Christmas he was soo excited for)
About this photo: This photo was taken during Rowan’s most recent ECG on October 21st. At his May visit, Rowan’s cardiologist noted that Rowan was uncooperative during his exam. We promptly bought a real stethoscope for his sister, played doctor at our home regularly, and Rowan quickly became very comfortable with exams from ourselves and others.
