'Mini-Darth Vader' Max Page In 'Good Condition' Following Heart Surgery
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A child actor, who became an overnight sensation after portraying Darth Vader in a Volkswagen Super Bowl ad, was in good condition after undergoing heart surgery this week.
Dr. Sylvia Del Castillo, attending physician at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, says Max Page "had a good night. He is in very good condition."
Dr. Del Castillo says she expects Page to remain in the hospital's Cardiothoracic ICU Saturday to allow doctors to monitor his blood pressure, adding, "he is on medication for his blood pressure and that will keep him in the unit."
Thursday's open-heart procedure to replace his pulmonary valve took two and a half hours.
"He was born with what's called Tetralogy of Fallot which is a fairly common cyanotic heart disease and when he was an infant, we repaired it at that time without a pulmonary valve because he was just too small and we did not have a valve of appropriate size," Dr. Vaughn Starnes at Children's Hospital Los Angeles said during a news conference on Thursday.
The birth defect is found in approximately one in 1,000 births. In about half of the cases, surgery is not needed.
The new valve is expected to last him for another 10 to 15 years before it needs to be replaced.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Page, Max's mom, shared some of his goals on the Children's Hospital Los Angeles website. On his list: blowing bubbles and removing most I.V. lines.
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