Cleveland Clinic Repairs Boy's Criss-Cross Heart

Surgeons corrected a rare heart condition in 4-year-old Wyatt Keller, who was discharged five days later.

Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Heart Disease

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a single smooth heart-shaped form on a plain clinical tray, in deep red and cream against a quiet background. — Cleveland Clinic surgeons repaired a rare criss-cross heart condition in 4-year-old Wyatt Keller in January, and he went home five days later. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Cleveland Clinic surgeons performed open-heart surgery in January 2026 on 4-year-old Wyatt Keller to correct criss-cross heart, a condition he was diagnosed with before birth. He was released from the hospital five days after the operation and is preparing for preschool.

Why it matters

Criss-cross heart is a congenital condition in which the heart's chambers and connecting blood vessels are abnormally positioned. As Wyatt grew, the condition limited his ability to exercise, play and keep up with other children, making timely surgical correction a central concern for families and clinicians.

The operation was a single-patient case, with surgeons monitoring Wyatt for about four years before intervening at age 4 and discharging him five days later. Long-term outcomes and follow-up results have not been reported.

The players

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic is a large academic medical center in Cleveland, Ohio, known for its cardiac surgery program.

Wyatt Keller

Wyatt Keller is a 4-year-old Northeast Ohio boy whose criss-cross heart condition was corrected by surgery at Cleveland Clinic.

The details

Surgeons used a ventricular switch procedure, which makes the right ventricle the main pumping chamber for the body, and planned the operation using a 3D-printed model of Wyatt's heart. The Keller family lives about 40 minutes from Cleveland Clinic in Northeast Ohio.

Before birth: Wyatt is diagnosed with criss-cross heart.
About four years before surgery: Doctors begin monitoring his condition.
January 2026: Open-heart surgery is performed.
Five days after surgery: Wyatt is released from the hospital.

Medical Frontier

Surgeons used a 3D-printed model of Wyatt's heart to plan his operation, a method that lets teams rehearse complex congenital repairs before entering the operating room. The approach reflects a growing reliance on patient-specific anatomical models in pediatric cardiac surgery.

Criss-cross heart can limit a child's ability to exercise, play and keep up with peers, so families of children with congenital heart conditions may face a choice about timing for surgical correction. Wyatt's five-day hospital stay shows the recovery window reported in this case.

The takeaway

Early monitoring and advance planning can shape the outcome of complex congenital heart surgery. Families facing a diagnosis before birth should ask their care team how surgical timing and preoperative modeling are used.