Cardiology
We believe in the team approach, bringing together diverse pediatric specialists under one roof to provide children with the best care.
Thanks to this philosophy, we are able to offer the following cardiology services:
Cardio Consultation
Our pediatric cardiology team at our Center for Heart Care brings our specialized expertise to care for infants and children with congenital heart disease. We offer a variety of evaluation, diagnosis and management consultation services, as well as a continuum of care for patients with heart disease.
Our nationally recognized team of pediatric cardiologists encompasses every pediatric and fetal sub-specialty — from non-invasive imaging to interventional cardiology. The consultation services we offer include:
- General pediatric cardiology
- Diagnosis and management of arrhythmias
- Comprehensive programs like CHAMPION, designed to monitor infants born with complex heart defects that require a series of heart surgeries
- Consultation for pregnancies with fetuses at risk for cardiac defects
- Nurses, therapists and support staff in respiratory therapy, Child Life, social work and nutrition who are specially trained to care for complex heart disease patients
- Consultation with other staff at the Center for Heart Care for services like cardiothoracic surgery, maternal-fetal medicine, neonatology and genetics
Cardiodiagnostics
Diagnosing heart disease can be complicated. Our cardiodiagnostics team uses state-of-the-art equipment and thorough testing to make sure our patients get the right diagnosis and the best treatment possible.
The cardiodiagnostics department is a non-invasive, ultrasound diagnostic center. This center is also known as the "Echo Lab", a nod to the echocardiography procedure conducted here. Once a cardiologist makes the diagnosis of acquired heart disease for a patient, our department plays an in-depth role in developing a treatment plan tailored to each patient.
The pediatric medical team at the Center for Heart Care uses the latest equipment to offer the area’s most accurate and effective cardiac diagnostic services. We image the heart with 2D and 3D technology and perform hemodynamic flow studies. Additional diagnostic tests and evaluations we perform include:
- Blood tests: These tests help a doctor evaluate a patient’s illness or monitor health after surgery. Types of blood tests include blood count, electrolytes, total protein and albumin, an evaluation of the effectiveness of anticoagulant drugs, blood gas and genetic blood tests.
- Echocardiography: This procedure assesses the heart's structures and function. This test is also called echo, cardiac ultrasound, cardiac ultrasonography or cardiac Doppler.
- Exercise (EKG/ECG) testing: An ECG (or EKG) provides one of the easiest and quickest ways to evaluate the heart. Electrodes (small, plastic patches) are placed at certain locations on a patient’s chest, arms and legs. Once the electrodes are connected to the ECG machine by lead wires, the electrical activity of the heart can be measured, interpreted and printed out for a physician’s evaluation. When an ECG is monitored while a patient exercises on a treadmill or stationary bike, it can assess the heart’s response to stress or exercise.
- Fetal stress testing: During a woman’s late pregnancy or labor, a physician or midwife may recommend monitoring the rate and rhythm of the fetal heartbeat to evaluate the fetus’ well-being.
- Holter monitoring: A prolonged type of ECG tracing, called a Holter monitor, can capture any abnormal heartbeats or rhythms that may be causing a patient’s symptoms, especially if they occur frequently. The Holter monitor test records ECG tracing continuously for 24 or more hours.
- Physical exams: This may include a head-to-toe assessment to help detect possible heart disease or determine how well a child is coping with existing heart problems.
- Tilt table evaluations: The tilt table procedure can identify what is causing the onset of syncope (fainting or temporary loss of consciousness) by making changes in the patient’s posture from lying to standing.
In addition, we offer pacemaker and defibrillator evaluation and follow-up.
Cardiac Catheterization
Cardiac catheterization is both a test and treatment. As a test, also known as diagnostic catheterization, it may be used to give a patient’s physician vital information to help plan for surgery. Cardiac catheterization can tell a doctor a lot about the heart, including:
- How well the heart muscle is pumping
- How well blood is moving
- If there are narrow vessels, thick muscles, holes or other problems with the heart
- How well the heart valves are working
As a treatment, often called interventional catheterization, it can open narrow valves and blood vessels or fix blood vessels or holes in the heart.
Our team of skilled physicians, nurses and technicians perform cardiac catheterization in an X-ray room. Before the procedure begins, the patient receives anesthesia. During the test, a tube (catheter) is placed in the patient’s blood vessels and gently guided into the heart (cardiac).
Using the catheter and an X-ray machine, a physician can gain great insights about the inner workings of the heart. The test may take several hours, but we make sure to keep families and loved ones informed throughout the process; a member of our team stays in constant contact with a patient’s family at all times.