Louisiana

New noninvasive heart surgery saves New Orleans twins. They graduated Kindergarten in May.

Published

9 months ago

May 31, 2025

New noninvasive heart surgery saves New Orleans twins. They graduated Kindergarten in May.

Ashley Lane gave birth in July of 2019 to twins 17 weeks before her due date.

Both boys had patent ductus arteriosus, or PDA, a congenital heart defect where a blood vessel that allows blood to bypass the lungs in the womb, fails to close after birth — along with other health concerns like lung damage.

“With being so premature,” Lane said. “There were so many what-ifs and question marks and things in the air of what would be wrong with them.”

The Metairie family waited three weeks for the holes in their children’s hearts to heal on their own.

They did not.

Then, the family met with Dr. Ivory Crittendon, a pediatric cardiologist and the co-chief of pediatric cardiology at Ochsner Medical Complex in New Orleans.

Crittendon wanted to try a new FDA-approved method and device, the Amplatzer Piccolo Occluder, to close the twins’ hearts using a catheter in the leg.

The Lane family said yes.

“That first day with Dr. Crittendon set the tone for our whole story. We definitely had such a sense of peace,” Lane said. “When your kids are born that young, and everything that you planned was totally out of your control, and you had to learn to let go very, very, very quickly and trust strangers with your most prized possession, it’s very vulnerable.”

One week later, the twins were taken into back-to-back procedures as among of the first patients in Louisiana to receive treatment.

The previous treatment for PDAs was to perform open-heart surgery, where the doctor would create an incision along the side of the body and crack the chest of the child.

“I think there’s been enough data through all the years to prove that open-heart surgery probably wasn’t the best form of PDA closures,” Crittendon said. “Because a lot of kids struggled for a number of reasons afterwards.”

PDAs are more common in premature babies than mature babies, according to Crittendon. The more mature a child is born, the more likely the hole in the blood vessel is to close on its own.

In this new procedure, Crittendon and his team at Ochsner insert a catheter into the leg of an infant as small as 700 grams (the twins were 770g and 817g at the time of the surgery). Then, through the catheter tube, the surgeon places a device that will facilitate tissue to grow around the hole in the heart.

“It starts the natural process of the PDA closing,” Crittendon said. “It basically augments that process and tissues, sort of envelops around the device and closes the PDA on both sides.”

According to the Crittendon, the most impactful part of the noninvasive procedure is that the recovery time is exponentially higher for the very small, vulnerable patients.

“We take out that hollow tube and take out that small IV and just leave a Band-Aid on the leg,” Crittendon said. “And there’s really no real recovery from the procedure, which is the best part.”

The Lane twins’ hearts have since grown over the devices, and, after five years of checkups, they have gotten their approval from Crittendon to wait another three years for their next visit with the doctors. They both graduated kindergarten in May.

According to Lane, the twins are doing every sport they can get their hands on — soccer just ended, and they are looking to pick up baseball this summer.

“We know that there are so many babies out there that are not as fortunate, and families that are not as fortunate to have this procedure,” Lane said. “This is their second time around playing all these sports. They are really getting the hang of it and enjoying their sporting activities and being competitive against each other as twins.”

Treating patients in the future

The team of physicians, nurses and anesthesiologists that performs the new Piccolo procedure is based at Ochsner Children’s Hospital in New Orleans.

While the team has made moves to travel between hospitals within New Orleans to perform the live-saving procedure, they have also transported patients from around the state and Mississippi for treatment.

“That’s something that we’ve been proud of that we’ve been able to do,” Crittendon said. “However, we’ve sort of led the nation on trying to bring the therapy to the babies, rather than transporting them.”

Going forward, the team hopes to expand their ability to perform the procedure to patients outside of New Orleans, to hospitals within the health system across the state.

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Louisiana

Shavers leads ULM past Louisiana 79-63

Published

4 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Marcavia Shavers posts 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead ULM Warhawks women’s basketball past Louisiana 79-63 in the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

ULM (15-15, 7-11 Sun Belt) took control early, outscoring Louisiana 17-7 in the first quarter and extending the lead to 41-21 by halftime. The Warhawks never trailed and led by as many as 28 points in the second quarter.

Shavers anchored the inside for ULM, finishing 9-of-15 from the field with 13 rebounds. Jazmine Jackson added 17 points off the bench, knocking down four 3-pointers, while J’Mani Ingram scored 16 points and dished out six assists.

ULM shot 46.9% from the field and held a 42-27 advantage on the boards. The Warhawks also converted Louisiana turnovers into 29 points and scored 26 second-chance points.

Louisiana (5-26, 2-16 Sun Belt) was led by Mikaylah Manley with 18 points and Imani Daniel with 17 points and seven rebounds. Amijah Price chipped in 12 points.

After struggling early, Louisiana shot better in the second half, scoring 42 points after the break. However, the early deficit proved too much to overcome.

ULM advances in the Sun Belt tournament, while Louisiana closes its season with the loss.
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Louisiana

State Treasurer John Fleming accuses Jeff Landry of interfering in Louisiana Senate race

Published

16 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

State Treasurer John Fleming accuses Jeff Landry of interfering in Louisiana Senate race

BATON ROUGE (KNOE) – Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming is accusing Governor Jeff Landry of interfering with the state Senate race, which Fleming is a part of.

Fleming took to social media to accuse Landry of working “behind the scenes” to get Congresswoman Julia Letlow elected to the Senate.

According to Fleming, Dr. Ralph Abraham offered him the position of Deputy Director of the CDC shortly before announcing he was stepping down. Fleming said he politely declined.

A week later, news broke that Abraham is now leading Letlow’s Senate campaign.

“We know that Jeff has been heavily lobbying the Trump campaign team for the endorsement, he is pressuring the Republican Party of Louisiana and the Republican Executive Committees to support and endorse Letlow as well,” Fleming wrote on Facebook. “And, he is personally calling his donors to raise big money to save the Letlow campaign.

Landry formally endorsed Letlow for the U.S. Senate on March 4. Letlow also has the endorsement of President Donald Trump.

“We need a warrior who stands with the President to Make America Great. And there’s no greater warrior than a Louisiana mom,” Landry wrote on Facebook.

Fleming continued his commentary, asking when Landry will stop interfering with the state’s Senate race.

“Who is best to decide who represents you in Washington? Jeff Landry, or YOU?” Fleming asked.

Also in the heated race is incumbent Bill Cassidy, M.D.

Party primary elections in Louisiana are set for May 16, 2026.

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Louisiana

Louisiana Lottery Mega Millions, Pick 3 results for March 3, 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

The Louisiana Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 3, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Mega Millions numbers from March 3 drawing

07-21-53-54-62, Mega Ball: 16

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 3 drawing

6-8-3

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 3 drawing

3-6-7-4

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 5 numbers from March 3 drawing

0-8-3-2-0

Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

All Louisiana Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at Louisiana Lottery offices. Prizes of over $5,000 must be claimed at Lottery office.

By mail, follow these instructions:

Sign and complete the information on the back of your winning ticket, ensuring all barcodes are clearly visible (remove all scratch-off material from scratch-off tickets).
Photocopy the front and back of the ticket (except for Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, as photocopies are not accepted for these games).
Complete the Louisiana Lottery Prize Claim Form, including your telephone number and mailing address for prize check processing.
Photocopy your valid driver’s license or current picture identification.

Mail all of the above in a single envelope to:

Louisiana Lottery Headquarters

555 Laurel Street

Baton Rouge, LA 70801

To submit in person, visit Louisiana Lottery headquarters:

555 Laurel Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801, (225) 297-2000.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.

Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Louisiana Lottery.

When are the Louisiana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 5: Daily at 9:59 p.m. CT.
Easy 5: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
Lotto: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Louisiana editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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