The girl's parents are hoping for a miracle. (Representational Image)
A five-year-old girl in the United States is fighting for her life after being diagnosed with an extremely rare heart syndrome, according to a report in ABC News-affiliate WCVB, based in Boston. Katherine Lange was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Doctors had told her parents about the condition, which results in difficulties in breathing among other symptoms. The heart defect causes the left side of the heart to be underdeveloped. Her parents are now fighting against all odds hoping that she will be cured.
"We got diagnosed at 20 weeks pregnant and found out we were going to have this heart defect and they gave us some options," the girl's father Gary Lange was quoted as saying by the outlet. "They told us 'well, you're going to have to go to Colorado, or somewhere else because nobody in New Mexico can do the surgeries'."
"She's had three open heart surgeries - one at four days old, one at four months old and one at 2.5 years of age," Mr Lange further said. "She's had approximately 10 heart catheterisations. Just in the last 12 months, she's had over 40 blood draws. She is set for her 11th heart catheterization procedure before the end of the year. You see this perfect healthy child and you also know at one minute, she can have a stroke."
Apart from the heart condition, the little girl is also dealing with liver leakage.
"It's called protein-losing enteropathy and it has to do with the lymphatic system leaking into the liver and blood goes through the pathways through resistance and pushes down on the liver, which is causing her albumin to leak," said Mr Lange.
The family is hoping that the medication will work. But if all else fails, she will need heart and live transplants to save her life.