Recently, both went through open-heart surgery to correct their conditions at the Anschutz Medical Campus. And both benefitted from the Colorado Adult and Teen Congenital Heart (CATCH) Program, a partnership of Children’s Hospital Colorado and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital on the Anschutz campus. It’s one of the largest programs of its kind in the nation.
“It is very uncommon for family members to be diagnosed with adult congenital heart disease and have to have surgery around the same time period,” said Amber Khanna, associate director of the CATCH Program [and associate professor of medicine]. “[It was a] huge coincidence.”