VR Technology Helps Doctors See, Plan Removal Of Infant's 'Once-In-A-Lifetime' Heart Tumor

VR Technology Helps Doctors See, Plan Removal Of Infant's 'Once-In-A-Lifetime' Heart Tumor

Jayden Mirville-Beamon was born with a heart tumor bigger than any of his doctors had ever seen, but a new virtual reality program helped them see a way forward.

MINNEAPOLIS — When six-month-old Jayden Mirville-Beamon arrived for his close-up with KARE 11, he brought zero drama.

No crying.

No fussing.

He dropped a few smiles, the slightest bit of drool, and a vibe that can only be described one way.

"He just be chilling," said Edward Beamon, Jayden's father. "He's like this most of the time. He just really likes people and he's very curious."

But don't be fooled by that cool demeanor. Jayden has the heart of a fighter.

"He is the strongest baby," said Jayden's mom, Somya Mirville. "He is a trooper. Our little warrior."

Somya first realized his strength when she was still pregnant with Jayden. One day, when she was 29 weeks along, she couldn't feel him moving.

"When we went to the movies that night, I did what they call a 'sweet test,'" she said. "I ate some candy and I drank some pop and I laid down in the recliner seats and I still didn't feel him move.

After that movie was done, I didn't even want to go home. I told Eddie, just take me straight to the hospital."

A 3D ultrasound showed Jayden was extremely swollen due to fluid buildup. Doctors told Somya it was a symptom of an even bigger problem connected to his heart.

"The fluid in him wasn't flowing properly because of the tumor," Somya said.

A "once-in-a-lifetime" tumor

Dr. Shanti Narasimhan, director of pediatric cardiology with M Health Fairview and the University of Minnesota Medical School, said that first ultrasound revealed a tumor that had grown so large that it was pushing Jayden's heart to the other side of his chest.

Dr. Narasimhan: "More than 2/3rds of the chest is occupied by the mass."

Kent Erdahl: "Even at 29 weeks it was?"

Dr. Narasimhan: "Yeah."

Erdahl: "Had you seen a tumor like this before?"

Dr. Shanti: "No, and I started the fetal cardiac program so I pretty much know what are the patients coming in for the past 25 years. I have not seen a tumor this big. It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime type of case."

The first step for the team at M Health Fairview's Masonic Children's Hospital was to relieve that swelling in hopes of buying Somya and Jayden time.

"They drained the fluid out of him and me," Somya said. "Really, the objective was, keep him safe in my tummy for as long as possible."

But then, after just 32 weeks gestation, Jayden was tired of waiting.

"It was 32 weeks and five days and my water broke," Somya said.

"All I remember thinking on my way to the hospital was like, 'Holy snap, like, him being born is one thing today, but then we still have that tumor to address,'" Edward said.

"I was scared," Somya said. "They said they may even have to do comfort care. They were saying, we don't really know what's going to happen when he comes out. He may not breathe once he's born. We don't know what's going to happen until it happens."

Her little warrior survived day one, and after a CT scan on day two, Dr. Narasimhan got to work on a game plan.

The role of Virtual Reality

After Jayden was born, Dr. Narasimhan was certain he didn't have much time, but she was uncertain about how to attack such a rare tumor.

So she turned to a Virtual Reality program she had virtually no experience with.

"With just 24 hours before going into the operating room, I reconstructed this (CT Scan) in the VR program," Dr. Narasimhan said. "So I didn't have a lot of time to prepare.

We had just gotten the software and were in the learning mode. But I said, 'We really need to do this for this patient.'"

Dr. Narasimhan showed KARE11 how she was able to look inside the tumor and determine where it was attached to the heart. It was a critical step that gave her, and Jayden's surgeons, more confidence in the surgery.

"We were looking at the pulmonary veins and whether the tumor was invading," she said. "After looking at it I said 99.9% the tumor was not invading, which means we can tell the families the operations could pretty much be successful."

A successful surgery

Somya and Edward are grateful for the role that the virtual reality program played in planning the surgery, even if though they weren't aware of it at the time.

"I didn't even realize they were using that type of technology," Somya said. "I just knew it was very intensive. I knew it was serious."

Before long, she also knew the surgery was a resounding success.

"It was really crazy just seeing his journey from having so many tubes and breathing tubes and feeding tubes and all this and all that," Somya said. "And now he looks like a completely different baby."

A scar in the middle Jayden's tiny chest is a lasting reminder of the battle he fought so early in life.

Meanwhile, a VR headset offers a lasting reminder of what is possible for the army that fought for him.

Erdahl: "You just rolled this out?"

Dr. Narasimhan: "Yep."

Erdahl: "Seems like it was kind of meant to be."

Dr. Shanti: "Yes, exactly. That's why we are in medicine. That's why we wanted to be innovative."

SOURCE: KARE 11