“Our Connective Tissue Disorder Clinic allows ample time for each patient, which enables us to provide medical guidance as well as patient education. Patients often comment that their condition has never been explained to them in such detail before, and they walk away with a much better understanding of what to expect. We focus more on what we can do for the patients and what they are able to do, rather than on restrictions. One of the greatest challenges we face is to have to constrain our patients from certain activities because of the risk of aneurysm growth or even dissection—particularly because aneurysms are asymptomatic and are usually found incidentally, or due to related systemic features or a positive family history. I spend 80 percent of my time in the lab trying to better understand these conditions and to develop new treatments. My greatest hope for these patients is that whatever the condition they have, it won’t define their lives negatively. Rather, they will learn that with some modifications, they can live happy, productive lives with a normal life expectancy.”

—Jennifer Pardo Habashi
Pediatric Cardiologist
Johns Hopkins Children’s Center