Cardiac Care for Kids

Mineola, New York February 2011

The Michael Magro Foundation honors the life of Michael Magro, and perpetuates his spirit by helping children and their families face the challenges of pediatric cancer.
Creating innovative programs and expanding its outreach have put the Foundation at the forefront of Long Island philanthropy.

Sharing the mission of the Cancer Center for Kids at Winthrop-University Hospital, and partnering with the Hospital’s pediatric specialty areas, the Michael Magro Foundation has awarded the Hospital a $25,000 grant to fund a software package for a state of the art portable echocardiogram machine. This cutting-edge equipment, manufactured by GE, helps assess cardiac anatomy with advanced technology and exceptional clarity. In addition, utilizing Automated Function Imaging , it can monitor the heart before, during and after chemotherapy,enabling physicians to establish a baseline for pediatric cancer patients, determine the effects of treatment both long and short-term, and evaluate potential cardiac damage.

Dr. Mark E. Weinblatt, Director of the CCFK, the largest facility for treating children with cancer in blood disorders in Nassau County, expressed his gratitude to the Foundation for this generous gift and described its effect on his patients. “This highly developed technology enables us to detect cardiac issues sooner than later, and impacts dramatically on our children with cancer who may or may not experience latent effects from chemotherapy treatment.”

Combining superior detail and quality of information with sophisticated echocardiography will benefit all of Winthrop’s pediatric patients as well, according to Dr. Carlos Montoya, Director of Pediatric Cardiology at Winthrop Hospital Children’s Medical Center. “The echo machine will open a new window to the heart for all our pediatric patients, from newborns to young adults.” The Pediatric Echocardiography Lab currently performs over 2500 echocardiograms per year in patients from the unborn fetal patient to young adults with congenital or acquired cardiac disease.

According to Dr Donna Better, Director of Pediatric Echocardiography Laboratory and Perinatal Cardiology, “this improved technology will be valuable to all patients but will benefit most those with subtle abnormalities of the cardiac function, such as that which can be seen in patients following chemotherapy.”

Information about the CCFK and Winthrop-University Hospital’s pediatric specialty practices is available at www.winthrop.org/cck or www.winthrop.org