PHOTO GALLERY: Images of Mott Children's Hospital: 4-month-old Dominic Santini has open heart surgery

By Courtney Sacco Staff Photographer

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Posted on Mon, Dec 3, 2012 : 5:58 a.m.

Dr. Richard Ohye meets with his 4-month-old patient Dominic Santini and his parents Nick and Andrea in a pre-operation room before Dominic's surgery.
Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com

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Dr. Richard Ohye meets with his 4-month-old patient Dominic Santini and his parents Nick and Andrea in a pre-operation room before Dominic's surgery. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com

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Dr. Richard Ohye meets with his 4-month-old patient Dominic Santini and his parents Nick and Andrea in a pre-operation room before Dominic's surgery. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/Mott Heart final /cache/112712_Mott_heart_CS-1_fullsize.jpg
4-month-old Dominic Santini holds his fathers thumb as Dr. Ohye walks his parents through the open heart surgery he is about to undergo. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/Mott Heart final /cache/112712_Mott_heart_CS-2_fullsize.jpg
Dr. Shobha Malviya administers anesthesia to 4-month-old Dominic as he is prepped for his atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) repair surgery. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/Mott Heart final /cache/112712_Mott_heart_CS-3_fullsize.JPG
Dominic lays on an operating table in an C.S. Mott Children's Hospital OR as he is prepped for surgery. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/Mott Heart final /cache/112712_Mott_heart_CS-4_fullsize.JPG
Dr. Ohye and surgery fellow Dr. Jennifer Nelson scrub in outside the operating room before Dominic's surgery. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/Mott Heart final /cache/112712_Mott_heart_CS-5_fullsize.JPG
The Head of the Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery Division, Dr. Ohye performs a atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) repair on 4-month-old Dominic Santini. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/Mott Heart final /cache/112712_Mott_heart_CS-6_fullsize.JPG
Dr. Ohye (right) and Dr. Jennifer Nelson (left) perform an atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) repair on Dominic. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/Mott Heart final /cache/112712_Mott_heart_CS-7_fullsize.JPG
Dr. Ohye (right) and Dr. Jennifer Nelson (left) repair a hole in one of Dominic's ventricles during his atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) repair. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/Mott Heart final /cache/112712_Mott_heart_CS-8_fullsize.JPG
Dr. Ohye performs a atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) repair on 4-month-old Dominic Santini. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/Mott Heart final /cache/112712_Mott_heart_CS-9_fullsize.JPG
Dr. Ohye (Right) and Dr. Jennifer Nelson (Left) perform a atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) repair. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/Mott Heart final /cache/112712_Mott_heart_CS-10_fullsize.JPG
The morning after his surgery, 4-month-old Dominic sleeps in the Pediatric-Cardio-Thoracic Unit (PCTU) as he holds his father's finger. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/Mott Heart final /cache/112812_Mott_heart_CS-11_fullsize.JPG
Andrea Santini holds Dominic in her lap the morning after his open heart surgery. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/Mott Heart final /cache/112812_Mott_heart_CS-12_fullsize.JPG

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The new C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor provides complex care for children that are often the sickest of the sick.

Among them is 4-month-old Dominic Santini of Charlotte, Mich., who underwent open heart surgery on Nov. 27 at the hospital.

Dominic's surgeon, Dr. Richard Ohye, performed a procedure to fix the little boy's heart.

Dominic had two holes in his heart that prevented it from pumping blood through his body efficiently. Technically, it's called an atrioventricular septal defect.

AnnArbor.com photographer Courtney Sacco was able to watch as Ohye surgically corrected the problem.

The day after the surgery, Ohye reported Dominic was happy and doing well.

Ohye said he performs surgeries to correct atrioventricular septal defects several times a month.

"It's one of the top 10 most common surgeries we do," Ohye said.

Since about 2000, Ohye said specialists in the pediatric cardiovascular surgery field have been able to treat almost every heart defect with equal chances of survival because of advances in medicine.

"Now that we’re getting much better at survivors, we’re looking at better quality of life issues," Ohye said, explaining that some of the hottest topics for research in the field are in lifelong neurological and physiological issues after heart surgery.