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Cardiac Catheterization and Intervention

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You may be surprised to learn that many children with serious heart conditions don’t need open-heart surgery. In fact, we can examine the inside of your child’s heart and deliver life-saving treatments through tiny incisions in their neck or leg. Cardiac catheterization and intervention is a safe, reliable method for evaluating and treating certain forms of heart disease, even in children with high risk and complex conditions.

Why Children’s Health℠?

Performing nearly 1,000 catheterization procedures each year, Children’s Health℠ offers a level of care that is on par with the nation’s best children’s hospitals. Offering spacious, modern catheterization labs with the best available technology and dedicated specialists, we expertly perform every possible test and treatment. 

Conditions We Treat

Using catheters (thin, spaghetti-like tubes) we thread tiny instruments through your child’s blood vessels to access their heart. This technique allows us to evaluate and treat many forms of heart disease including:

Your child’s doctor will let you know if cardiac catheterization is right for their condition.

Expert Care

  • Advanced technology: Our technology allows interventional cardiologists to view any imaging test or consult with other experts during your child’s procedure. This access to information helps us carry out complex procedures with extreme precision.
  • Low-dose radiation: We are one of the first hospitals in the country offering the Siemens Q.zen imaging system. This advanced technology creates high-resolution images with an ultra-low dose of radiation.
  • 24/7 care: With a dedicated team of four interventional cardiologists, specialists are available around the clock to perform any type of catheterization procedure.
  • We’re available to you. If you have questions or concerns at any point during your child’s procedure or recovery, one of our specialists are happy to talk with you.
  • Highly specialized team: From dedicated cardiac anesthesiologists to highly trained imaging technicians, our team expertly performs your child’s test or procedure. It’s not uncommon for our patients to receive care from as many as 30 specialists.
  • Expert ICU care: If your child is undergoing a complex procedure, he or she may need to recover in our cardiac intensive care unit where they receive specialized nursing care until they are stable enough to go home.

Treatments

Cardiac catheterization helps us perform advanced diagnostic testing, including:

  • Angiogram: captures images of blood flow in and around your child’s heart
  • Biopsy: taking a small sample of heart tissue for more detailed evaluation
  • Diagnostic evaluation: a close look at your child’s heart structures and functioning helping us to accurately diagnose their condition and recommend the best treatment
  • Electrophysiology (EP) study: examining the electrical system of your child’s heart to help diagnose or treat heart rhythm disorders (arrhythmias)
  • Pre-surgical testing: capturing images and examining areas of your child’s heart to help plan a surgical procedure

We expertly deliver a comprehensive range of catheter-based treatments, including:

  • Ablation: restoring a normal heart rhythm by selectively damaging areas of heart tissue that are responsible for dangerous arrhythmias
  • Balloon angioplasty: using a balloon-tipped catheter to open narrowed arteries
  • Balloon valvuloplasty: using a balloon-tipped catheter to reshape and widen narrowed blood valves
  • Defect closure: placing small devices such as coils and plugs to close holes in the heart
  • Heart valve repair and replacement: fixing damaged or leaky heart valves by working with existing tissue to form a better seal or replacing a child’s own natural valve with a new one
  • Ventricular Assist Device (VAD): placing tiny heart pumps in children with advanced heart failure who are awaiting a heart transplant