Physician Finds That Caring For The Hearts Of Children Is A Rewarding Practice

By Jan Howard

One out of every 100 children will have a minor to severe heart problem. Despite these statistics, there is good news, according to Dr Richard A. Berning of Newtown. The vast majority of the problems will repair by themselves as the child grows. This includes children who are born with holes in their hearts.

“The holes grow closed as the children grow,” Dr Berning said.

“The best part of my job is that I give a lot of reassuring news,” he said. “It’s mostly good news that it can be fixed or there is nothing wrong.”

A board-certified pediatric cardiologist, Dr Berning opened his practice, Pediatric Heart Specialists, LLC, in October at 143 Mt Pleasant Road. He has been practicing for 11 years.

“I always knew I was interested in the heart,” he said. “I decided to be a doctor when I was in sixth grade.”

Once in medical school, while he had considered surgery, he discovered, “I didn’t like surgery as much as I liked the kids. I liked taking care of kids.

“In a pediatric practice, every day is a good day,” he said. “There’s always one kid who will get you laughing.”

Dr Berning said he finds children inspiring. “I’m amazed at how strong they are,” he said, when facing illness and sometimes multiple surgeries. “They have given me a good perspective. It makes you realize your own problems aren’t so bad. They have a lot to teach us if we would just listen to them.”

Dr Berning earned a bachelor’s of science, magna cum laude, from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1983 and his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1988. From 1988 to 1991 he continued his training through a pediatric internship and residency at Stanford University Hospital in Stanford, Calif.

Prior to coming to Newtown, he was an assistant attending in pediatric cardiology at Bridgeport Hospital. He practiced in Fairfield (Southport) and Norwalk from 1996 to 2001.

He is affiliated with Bridgeport Hospital, St Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, and Norwalk and Danbury hospitals. He recently joined the pediatric cardiology group at Connecticut Children’s Hospital in Hartford. He is an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics (cardiology) at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven.

Dr Berning is a noninvasive cardiologist. “I make diagnosis on children from newborn to college age,” he said. In the event surgery might be required, he then meets with cardiologist colleagues to decide on the type of operation and whether it would help the child’s condition or if the child might get better on his/her own. If surgery is performed, Dr Berning follows up with postsurgical monitoring.

In the case of a congenital heart condition, surgical repairs are done in stages, he said. “I monitor the child after every surgery for when they go the next stage.”

At Connecticut Children’s Hospital, he monitors children in intensive care and performs ultrasounds during operations.

In regard to children born with holes in their hearts that will not repair by themselves, Dr Berning said interventional cardiologists use devices to plug the holes through a catheter in the leg.

“The child can go home the next day and is probably fixed for life. We call that an 80-year fix. It’s a very positive feeling that you can make a difference for someone for a lifetime.”

In the case of heart defects at birth, Dr Berning said he reassures parents that the condition happened spontaneously. “It has noting to do with what they did or didn’t do.”

He said between three and eight percent of all children with heart problems have an inherited condition. Dr Berning said at least half of his patients were born with birth defects, while arrhythmias are across the spectrum of all ages.

“Arrhythmias can be eliminated with a procedure so the child is not on medicine all their life,” he said. The procedure entails cauterization through a catheter, he noted, and the child goes home the next day.

He said he often makes diagnosis for these problems and then follows up after the procedures. “I try to be an advocate for the patient and an intermediary if need be,” he said. “I explain the conditions so the parents understand.” 

Most heart problems are fixable, he noted. “In America and Western European countries, there are not many illnesses that can’t be helped.”

Heart transplants are still rare in children, he said. “To have to do it is an exception,” he noted.

A normal heart can have a murmur, he said. “Not all murmurs are bad.” Skipped beats are also not necessarily a problem, he said. “What we have to decide is if the treatment is worse than the problem. All medicines have side effects,” he said.

Dr Berning is very interested in preventive cardiology. “The process for heart disease begins in childhood,” he said, noting that children need to be taught how to eat properly and to exercise.

Dr Berning, his wife Amy, and their three daughters, Molly, 11, Annie, 8, and Grace, 4, moved to Sandy Hook a year ago.

Newtown is a great community, he said. “I really enjoy it. It’s been a very welcoming community.”

Dr Berning can be reached by calling 426-0225.