Conditions We Treat

Pediatric Cardiology

Our board-certified pediatric cardiologists, many who have fellowship training in subspecialties within their field, provide virtually all nonsurgical heart procedures available for children. They include:

General Cardiology

• Evaluation of heart murmurs  (an unusual sound made by the heart which may indicate a heart defect)
• Evaluation of chest pain and syncope  (fainting that is sometimes caused by a heart valve issue)

Preventive Cardiology

• Evaluation and management of hyperlipidemia (high levels of fats in the blood, such as cholesterol and triglycerides)
• Evaluation and management of hypertension  (high blood pressure)

Echocardiography

• Transthoracic echocardiography (a test that uses sound waves to obtain moving pictures of the heart)
• Transeosophageal echocardiography (a test using an ultrasound device that is passed into the esophagus of the patient to create a clear image of the heart muscle and other parts of the heart)
• Intracardiac echocardiography (a test that bounces high frequency sound waves off the inside of the heart, forming an image of the heart to determine if there are abnormalities or an infection of the heart valves or inner lining of the heart.)

Rhythm disturbances 

• Management of cardiac rhythm problems
• Radiofrequency ablation (nonsurgical procedure is used to treat some types of rapid heart beating)
• Automatic implantable cardiac defibrillators (a device placed in the chest and sometimes to shock the heart back into normal rhythm)
• Permanent pacemakers (a device that monitors your heart rhythm and sends out electrical pulses that can restore heart rhythm)
• Exercise stress testing (this allows the pediatric cardiologist to evaluate a patient's heart function and exercise tolerance)
• Microvolt T-wave alterans testing (a test that precisely measures heart rhythm during exercise or in response to medication to identify children at risk for sudden cardiac death)
• CryoTherapy (a procedure that uses freezing temperatures instead of the traditional method of heating or cauterizing the heart cells so pediatric cardiologists can treat the affected area without damaging healthy tissues of the heart)

Interventional Cardiology

• Balloon dilation of vessels and valves (a procedure used to widen narrowed  blood vessels and heart valves)
• Coil embolization of abnormal vessels (a procedure using a catheter that allows precise blockage of abnormal blood flow in a blood vessel)
• Device closure of atrial septal defects, patent foramen ovale and patent ductus arteriosus
• Stents for arterial stenoses

Fetal Cardiology

• Prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart defects including parental counseling

Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery

Our board-certified pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons perform reconstructive surgery on congenital anomalies ranging from simple to the very complex in infants, children and adults.  We treat a variety of heart defects in neonates, infants and children, including:

• Ventricular septum defect
• Hypoplastic left heart syndrome
• Transposition of the great arteries
• Aortic and mitral valve disease, including the Ross operation
• Total anomalous pulmonary venous return
• Tetralogy of Fallot
• Atrioventricular canal defects
• Double-outlet RV
• Coarctation of the aorta
• Truncus arteriosus
• Single ventricle palliation, including Glenn shunts and the Fontan operation
• Ebstein's anomaly
• Vascular rings
• Pediatric non-cardiothoracic procedures, including pectus deformities
  

Centers of Distinction