Cardiothoracic Surgery
When your child needs serious health care, you want care from health care professionals who are serious about their work. Children's Hospital & Medical Center Heart Center is the leading pediatric program in the region for cardiac surgery in infants and children. With more than 20 years of experience, our cardiothoracic surgeons are experts at repairing large and tiny hearts and perform some of the most advanced and complex surgeries available in the country with success rates that outperform national averages. We specialize in complex surgeries for congenital heart defects in premature babies, neonates, infants and children as well as adults with repaired or unrepaired congenital cardiac defects.
Our cardiothoracic program has all of the elements in place to achieve a world-class surgery program including advanced diagnostic tools, interventional cardiology capabilities, hybrid catheterization lab, dedicated cardiac operating suite, experienced pediatric cardiologists and anesthesiologists, trained and experienced nurses and operating room team, 24-hour coverage by pediatric intensivists in our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and 50 neonatal intensive care unit beds.
When it's your child, you want experience and competence. Our cardiothoracic surgeons average approximately 350 surgeries annually on babies as small as two pounds or less. Our large volume of patients means we have the clinical experience, expertise and knowledge to provide the highest level of care. Experience is critical in honing the skills needed to treat the complex heart conditions of tiny babies and children. That's why our surgical survival rates are among the best in the country, averaging more than 96 percent. When you come to Children's, you know your child is in the hands of surgeons you can trust.
Our surgeons are certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and perform about 200 open heart and 150 closed heart surgeries each year. Closed heart surgeries are performed by opening the chest of your child and operating on the blood vessels around the heart while your baby's heart pumps on its own. Open heart surgeries involve the use of a heart-lung machine, which temporarily performs the function of the heart and lungs while surgeons work on the heart and blood vessels. This procedure involves stopping and cooling your baby's heart and rerouting circulation of blood through the heart-lung machine. This technique allows surgeons to perform surgeries that involve repair of the holes and valve problems inside the heart as well as abnormal blood vessel connections to the heart.
Some of the more common pediatric cardiac surgeries we perform include:
Our center participates in the National Congenital Heart Surgery Database of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The complexity and outcomes of our procedures are on par with larger, nationally recognized programs.
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