Cardiology and Heart Surgery
A message from our divison chiefs
The Heart Center at Children’s Health has built a nationally recognized team of experts in pediatric and congenital heart care. Through our continued commitment to innovation, we are achieving some of the best possible outcomes for every child’s heart, oftentimes exceeding national benchmarks across a range of complexities. Our multidisciplinary, team-based approach has not only led to record-level outcomes, but has supported outstanding nursing and care team retention, allowing us to elevate and sustain the highest-quality care possible.
In 2023 and 2024, we completed 69 heart transplants, making our program the nation’s busiest pediatric and congenital heart transplant program two years in a row. More important than the number of transplants is the number of patients who continue to thrive following these transplants as evident by our outstanding survival rate despite a higher-than-average case complexity. Watching our patients enjoy healthy lives energizes our unwavering pursuit of discovery, including new technologies and research-based protocols. We continue to invest in learning networks and collaboration with other world-renowned centers to turn data and discovery into transformative care.
Our multidisciplinary approach to innovation is evident in our newly launched Complex Biventricular Repair Program. Through this program, we’ve provided leading-edge care to dozens of patients with severe congenital heart defects historically reduced to a single ventricle palliative pathway. Our success is possible due to our approach of tailoring each procedure to each child’s unique needs. Using best-in-class cardiac imaging, including digital 3D models, to examine every angle of their heart, we successfully strategize and personalize procedures with our expert group of surgeons, cardiologists, nurses and care team members.
It is this multidisciplinary approach that sets care at The Heart Center apart. From the moment a child becomes our patient, they have a comprehensive team of experts dedicated to successfully treating and managing individual challenges in a fashion that is personalized, specialized and driven by compassionate care.
Nicolas Madsen, M.D., MPH
Robert Jaquiss, M.D.OUTCOMES
Overall STS Operative Mortality:
1.1%STS STAT5 Mortality:
4.3%Total volume of transplants:
69 with 3.5% waitlist mortality*Data from July 2023-June 2024
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Innovations in pediatric cardiology and heart surgery: 2024 year in review
This past year, the Heart Center at Children’s Medical Center Dallas, part of Children’s Health, has led innovations transforming care in pediatric cardiology and heart surgery. In partnership with UT Southwestern, we’re proud to share these advancements – which highlight our ongoing mission to make life better for children. Through groundbreaking clinical trials, new treatments and pioneering programs – we continue to be recognized among the nation’s best children’s hospitals.
Read about our latest innovations in pediatric cardiology and heart surgery below:
Advancing the use of fetal CMR
Prenatal detection of congenital heart disease (CHD) is essential to high-quality care, yet diagnosis remains challenging. The Fetal Heart Program at Children’s Health is one of only a few centers in the United States to offer fetal cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (fetal CMR) as a complement to fetal echocardiography. Children’s Health is refining how to use this tool to produce the highest quality images and ease the diagnosis of CHD. The team is also exploring whether CMR can predict CHD prognosis.
Machine perfusion expertise expands access to lifesaving solid organ transplants
Lifesaving solid organ transplants rely on donor organs. In 2024, Children's Health transplant specialists helped expand the number of donor organs available – and extend the length of time those organs remain viable – through their work on international clinical studies of normothermic machine perfusion (NMP). NMP continuously pumps a nutrient-rich solution through the recovered organ to keep it healthy longer. Pediatric surgeons at Children's Health performed the nation’s first pediatric liver transplant using NMP in October 2022. Children’s Health remains one of the only children’s hospitals using this advanced technology today.
Integrating perinatal mental health screening into fetal cardiac care
Perinatal mental health conditions are the #1 health complication of pregnancy and early childhood. In October 2023, the Fetal Heart Program at Children’s Health became one of the few places in the U.S. to routinely screen patients seeking care. Pathways to appropriate levels of care are now incorporated into the clinical workflow – without adding time-consuming steps for the providers. In addition, patients are happy: 97% said the screening was helpful.