- Elliot Atkins became the first child in the UK to undergo an angioplasty for heart failure , a procedure typically reserved for adults.
- Diagnosed at 11 months old with heart failure and the rare middle aortic syndrome, his condition was initially deemed too risky for major surgery .
- Medics at Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh) performed a series of angioplasties to widen his blood vessels, which reversed his heart failure and strengthened him for further treatment.
- These interventions enabled Elliot to receive a complex aortic bypass graft and a kidney transplant last July, which he would not have survived without the angioplasties.
- Now aged seven, Elliot is thriving, running around with friends, and preparing for school sports day, with Gosh having since applied this pioneering treatment to other children.
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