HHEART DISEASE IN CONGENITAL AND PEDIATRIC

Today, Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital includes a team of internationally renowned pediatric congenital heart disease specialists and surgeons among its staff of more than 150 pediatricians and pediatric specialists. According to the American Heart Association, about 40,000 children are born with heart defects in the United States each year. Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital's Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Diseases has an outstanding reputation for successfully handling the most complex cases of heart disease in children, and serves as a worldwide referral and second opinion center for patients of all ages with pediatric congenital heart disease (CHD). Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital pediatric heart surgeons, cardiologists and anesthesiologists are among the most highly trained and experienced in the world.

Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital pediatric heart surgeons, cardiologists and anesthesiologists are among the most highly trained and experienced in the world. In addition, our team consists of the referring physician, the patient's family, specially trained cardiac nurses, allied health professionals, social workers and child life specialists. In 2006, our Heart Center registered more than 13,700 outpatient visits. For some instances of pediatric congenital heart disease in children, Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital specialists may recommend medication. If intervention is needed, our pediatric cardiologists can repair certain heart defects in the cardiac catheterization laboratory using coils, stents and implantable devices. These defects may be repaired through small incisions in the groin, thus eliminating the need for open-heart surgery. In 2006, our cardiologists performed 418 heart-related catheterizations.

Our cardiac surgeons manage all forms of heart disease in children, including heart and heart/lung transplants not performed elsewhere, and routinely perform complex surgeries such as Repair of Tetralogy of Fallot Transposition of Great Arteries and The Norwood Procedure. Our success rates, including those for repairing heart defects in newborns, are excellent, and our complication and mortality rates are low. Adults with complex congenital heart defects require expert care. Ours is one of the few heart centers in Ohio dedicated to the lifelong care of patients with congenital heart defects, including those over 18. Each year, our heart center assesses more than 400 adults with congenital heart defects. Since 1993, we have performed more than 500 surgeries on adult patients with a mortality rate of 0.9%. Our Heart Center's cardiac surgeons developed and perfected the double-switch operation for complex transposition of the great arteries

Our cardiologists pioneered the research that led to the development of devices to close holes between the chambers of the heart. Our physician investigators are sponsored by corporate and government organizations with the goal of advancing treatment for patients with congenital heart defects. Because heart defects are relatively rare, it is crucial to choose a multispecialty medical center with a highly skilled and experienced medical team. At Cleveland Clinic, our physicians can diagnose heart disease in children and determine management strategies before they are even born. Complicated and high-risk pregnancies are expertly managed within our Level III perinatal center, and critically ill newborns receive the highest level of care available in our Level III neonatal intensive care unit.