The following Healthcast report by Channel 4 Action News medical editor Marilyn Brooks first aired Nov. 21, 2003, on Action News at 5 p.m.

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Before it gained popularity as a sex drug, Viagra was developed for use in patients with heart disease. The parents of one child give thanks every day that an Allegheny General Hospital doctor decided to try it on their daughter's breathing problems.

Montana Bloom arrived much too early, weighing barely one pound, with cerebral palsy. When she developed pneumonia at 18 months, she also developed the rare but deadly condition pulmonary hypertension.

Dr. Michael Forbes: "The amount of pressure in the lungs that the heart has to overcome to get oxygen to the lungs is very high."

Bloom's heart worked hard, but her body remained starved for oxygen.

Crystal Bloom, mother: "This baby was on deathbed. I mean, literally. She was on full life support. She couldn't have no more."

When oxygen and nitrous oxide didn't work, Forbes consulted with colleagues at Children's Hospital in Boston about an unlikely remedy: Viagra. He asked the parents' permission to try it, and the surprised Blooms agreed.

There is no liquid form of Viagra, so in order to get it into the child, her mother has to drop a pill into warm water and let it dissolve.

It doesn't work for every child, but for those it does work for, it literally turns their life around. Viagra opens blood vessels, increasing pulmonary blood flow in the lungs.

Rick Bloom, father: "Within 24 hours, she was off the nitrous oxide and she went home. It was the coolest thing."

Montana Bloom is now 3 years old. She still takes Viagra, but only when a cold threatens her lungs.

Viagra is considered an experimental treatment for pulmonary hypertension in babies, which means insurance won't pay for that specific use.