Heart Transplant

A fist-sized contraption of plastic and metal kept 63-year-old Grant Feusner alive for five weeks earlier this year, pumping blood from his chest to his brain, kidneys and muscles. Doctors had removed most of Feusner's heart, ballooned with disease and too weak to nourish his organs with oxygen and nutrients. It wasn't the first time Feusner's doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center had implanted such a device. Artificial hearts are designed to be used as a bridge from heart failure to heart transplant.

The devil may have taken Skylar Marion away, his father says, but God had to figure out how to spread him around. Skylar, a 15-year-old Chesapeake High School freshman who loved to tinker with bicycles and spend time outdoors, was killed in a hit-and-run just a quarter-mile from his home in Pasadena in April. The driver of the vehicle that hit him has yet to be found. But in a turn of events that surprised two families in the tight-knit Pasadena community, part of Skylar will continue to live on. His heart, transplanted into the body of an ailing friend, will bind two families together for the rest of their lives.

Q: Two acquaintances of mine have had a heart transplant while in their 30s. What kind of heart problem can require a transplant at that early age?A: Although it is a relatively uncommon form of heart disease, cardiomyopathy is the most common disorder resulting in a heart transplant in young people. Cardiomyopathy is a term used to describe several types of abnormalities of the muscle (myocardium) of the left ventricle, the heart chamber that pumps blood via the aorta to the rest of the body.

Five-year-old Teresa Bartlinski was lying unconscious shortly after 3 a.m. Friday at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia when the doctor told her parents they had called off the heart transplant she was prepped to receive. The girl - whose Catonsville family enlisted their church, community and global supporters to join them in praying for a miracle healing - remains a top candidate for a heart donation, but this midnight drive from Maryland had been a disappointment. Dr. Joseph Rossano, medical director for heart transplantation at the Pennsylvania hospital, told Teresa's parents, Ed and Ann Bartlinski, that the heart, which came from a child who had died, appeared in an ultrasound to be healthy enough.

Five-year-old Teresa Bartlinski was lying unconscious shortly after 3 a.m. Friday at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia when the doctor told her parents they had called off the heart transplant she was prepped to receive. The girl - whose Catonsville family enlisted their church, community and global supporters to join them in praying for a miracle healing - remains a top candidate for a heart donation, but this midnight drive from Maryland had been a disappointment. Dr. Joseph Rossano, medical director for heart transplantation at the Pennsylvania hospital, told Teresa's parents, Ed and Ann Bartlinski, that the heart, which came from a child who had died, appeared in an ultrasound to be healthy enough.

Judith Colwell Lininger, a heart transplant patient whose illness inspired her to help others, died of heart failure Thursday at her Lutherville home. She was 57.A native of Teaneck, N.J., Mrs. Lininger graduated with a degree in art from Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, in 1964.In 1962, she married John L. Lininger, whom she had met in college. The couple lived in Havre de Grace and in Bel Air before moving to Lutherville three years ago.Mrs. Lininger was a homemaker and substitute teacher who enjoyed painting portraits of children.

The Tin Man knew there could be a day like this, if he only had a heart.Not a cloud in the sky and the sun flashing off his polished funnel hat and the red plastic heart dangling from his neck roughly marking the spot where the trouble began. The Tin Man's real heart filled with good will as he stood outside Marley Elementary School in Anne Arundel County yesterday afternoon waving and smiling as the youngsters walked by in their Halloween costumes.When the Grim Reaper approached with scythe aloft, the Tin Man smiled and let Death walk by. What else could a heart transplant patient do?

Donna Lynn Anderson, a former high school and college athlete whose survival of two heart transplant operations allowed her to continue playing sports and was an inspiration to others, died of renal failure Sunday at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She was 53 and lived in Ruxton. Miss Anderson was born and reared on Ruxway Road in Ruxton. She was a 1968 graduate of Towson High School, where she played varsity lacrosse, field hockey and basketball. A physical education major, she attended Catonsville Community College for two years, continuing to play lacrosse, field hockey and basketball.

Seven Oaks Elementary School performed a play about life in the Clinton White House for a dog named Shoes. Kingsville Elementary School connected a scene from the "Iliad" in which Patroclus is stabbed through the heart to the first heart transplant operation by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in 1967.And, when the world finals of the recent Odyssey of the Mind Tournament were over, both Baltimore County schools had finished in the top 10.Seven students from Seven Oaks in Perry Hall finished sixth among 55 teams in the Furs, Fins and Feathers category.

Nobody believed Liu Fang, born with half a heart and abandoned in a village west of Beijing, would survive long after being adopted by a Baltimore County family. Even the Bartlinskis, deeply religious Catholics, expected the girl's lungs would fail even if her heart could be repaired. Two years later, as the 5-year-old girl awaits a cardiac transplant, her parents, a Catonsville school and the family's parish are literally praying for a miracle. She is awaiting the procedure at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Nobody believed Liu Fang, born with half a heart and abandoned in a village west of Beijing, would survive long after being adopted by a Baltimore County family. Even the Bartlinskis, deeply religious Catholics, expected the girl's lungs would fail even if her heart could be repaired. Two years later, as the 5-year-old girl awaits a cardiac transplant, her parents, a Catonsville school and the family's parish are literally praying for a miracle. She is awaiting the procedure at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

A fist-sized contraption of plastic and metal kept 63-year-old Grant Feusner alive for five weeks earlier this year, pumping blood from his chest to his brain, kidneys and muscles. Doctors had removed most of Feusner's heart, ballooned with disease and too weak to nourish his organs with oxygen and nutrients. It wasn't the first time Feusner's doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center had implanted such a device. Artificial hearts are designed to be used as a bridge from heart failure to heart transplant.

Facebook has started an effort to get more people interested in organ donation -- and so far about 10,600 people "like" this. Read The Sun's story in today's paper here . But the effort seems to at least partially stem from a conversation a hopkins doctor had with an old classmate from Harvard who happens to now be an executive at the social media site. It may be Facebook's first foray into social issue on such a scale. The comments also are pouring in from those who have donated a loved one's organs or their own (living donors also are needed)

Kathy Brown wasn't always much of a chef - but she was an educator. When Brown, the former head of Grace Christian School, was diagnosed with amyloidosis of the heart in April 2008, she began experimenting with recipes to suit her new low-fat, low-salt, low-sugar diet. Compelled to share what she'd learned, Brown started compiling a heart-friendly cookbook for other patients. While Brown later received a successful heart transplant, the 62-year-old died in December 2010 before she could finish the book.

It's only natural that J. Scott Wilfong, president and CEO of SunTrust Bank for the Greater Washington/Maryland area, would want to give back to the American Heart Association. After all, heart disease runs in his family. His wife, Susan, suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart weakens and becomes enlarged. Her brother died at the age of 13 and her father at the age of 61 from the same condition. Their daughter, Sarah, 29, has a defibrillator and his sister-in-law has had a heart transplant.

This week's AT&T National will be Erik Compton's 29th start on the PGA Tour, on which his unique story — twice a heart-transplant recipient — has made him a frequent recipient of sponsor's exemptions over the last decade. There's a different outlook, though, as he arrives at Aronimink Golf Club. A PGA Tour card no longer is the goal; it's the next chapter. "It's just a lifelong dream," said Compton, 31, whose win at last week's Mexico Open all but assures him a card as one of the Nationwide Tour's top 25 in earnings.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Trainer Graham Motion can't seem to catch a break at the Kentucky Derby this week, unless it's a bad break. Motion came to Kentucky with a legitimate Derby contender in Toby's Corner, but had to scratch him on Tuesday after the horse injured his left hind leg while training in Maryland. Motion still has another Derby entry in Animal Kingdom, but on Wednesday Animal Kingdom's jockey, Robby Albarado , was thrown from his mount in a maiden claiming race and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Trainer Kathy Ritvo, all 5 feet of her, stands on her toes in the Preakness barn at Pimlico Race Course and reaches up to the massive horse known as Mucho Macho Man. "You need a hug," she says, stretching her arms to encircle his face. Mucho Macho Man puts his ears back and gives her a look. Ritvo, dressed in jeans and Kentucky Derby jacket, shakes her long blond hair and laughs. "I say, 'You need a hug.' And he says, 'Scram,'" she said. "But isn't he a handsome horse?"

Trainer Kathy Ritvo, all 5 feet of her, stands on her toes in the Preakness barn at Pimlico Race Course and reaches up to the massive horse known as Mucho Macho Man. "You need a hug," she says, stretching her arms to encircle his face. Mucho Macho Man puts his ears back and gives her a look. Ritvo, dressed in jeans and Kentucky Derby jacket, shakes her long blond hair and laughs. "I say, 'You need a hug.' And he says, 'Scram,'" she said. "But isn't he a handsome horse?"