Overview

Overview

cardiology

We have an outstanding reputation for successfully handling the most complex cases of heart disease in children at Cleveland Clinic Children’s. We also serve as a worldwide referral and second opinion center for patients of all ages with pediatric congenital heart disease (CHD).

We see children and adolescent patients in the M Building and J building on Cleveland Clinic’s main campus as well as Hillcrest Hospital, Fairview Hospital, and our family health centers.

Highly Trained and Experienced Pediatric Staff

Cleveland Clinic Children's pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiologists and anesthesiologists are among the most highly trained and experienced in the world. The team is the largest and most experienced in Northern Ohio.

In addition to our clinical specialists, we rely on the entire pediatric team to ensure the very best results for our child and adolescent patients, including the referring physician, the patient's family, specially trained cardiac nurses, allied health professionals, social workers and child life specialists.

Innovative Heart Disease Treatments

Our pediatric cardiac surgeons manage all forms of heart disease in children. We routinely perform the most complex surgeries such as Repair of Tetralogy of Fallot, Transposition of Great Arteries, and surgical palliation for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and single ventricles.

For some instances of pediatric congenital heart disease, Cleveland Clinic Children's specialists may recommend medication.

  • If intervention (other than medication) 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.

Cleveland Clinic Children's is one of the first hospitals to offer percutaneous pulmonary valve replacement, eliminating the need for repeat open heart surgeries for patients who have already required surgical pulmonary valve replacement for congenital pulmonary valve conditions.

Congenital Heart Surgery

World class heart surgery at Cleveland Clinic Children’s is provided by the Cleveland Clinic Congenital Heart Surgery team. Children and adults born with heart disease receive state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment close to home through our northern Ohio congenital heart surgical, quality and research collaborative that includes Akron Children’s Hospital, Cleveland Clinic , Cleveland Clinic Children’s and MetroHealth Medical Center.

Surgical Team

Adult Congenital Heart Disease

World class care for adults with congenital heart disease at Cleveland Clinic Children’s is provided in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic and Akron Children’s Adult Congenital Heart teams. Adults born with heart disease receive state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment close to home through our northern Ohio congenital heart surgical, quality and research collaborative that includes Akron Children’s Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Clinic Children’s and MetroHealth Medical Center.

Heart Transplants and Mechanical Hearts

  • We offer a heart failure/transplantation team to assess and treat children with heart failure.
  • Alternatives to pediatric heart transplants, such as a mechanical heart, may offer lifesaving treatment or act as a bridge to heart transplantation.

Hybrid Pediatric Catheterization Laboratory

Children with complex congenital heart defects may need more than one procedure to correct their defects. Traditionally, those surgeries were performed separately. This innovative facility, however, allows a cardiologist and surgeon to work together. These combined, or hybrid procedures decrease down time, anesthesia use and patient recovery time. Its advanced imaging technology also makes a safer environment for both the patient and staff because it significantly reduces radiation output. Cleveland Clinic Children's is one of the few hospitals in the country to offer this state-of-the-art laboratory.

Success Rates

  • 12,250 outpatient visits across 11 Northeast Ohio locations
  • 171 cardiothoracic surgeries, with 0.7% mortality (vs. 3.5% Society of Thoracic Surgeons benchmark)
  • 443 catheterization procedures; 7,022 echocardiograms
  • 10 pediatric heart transplants (12 total in congenital heart disease patients), the most in Ohio and the center’s most in a single year

Outcomes & Recognition

Cardiology & Heart Surgery was nationally ranked in U.S.News & World Report's 2019-20 edition of “Best Children’s Hospitals.” More specialists were named “Best Doctors in America” by their peers than any other cardiac care program in the region.

What We Treat

What We Treat

We diagnose and treat a variety of pediatric and congenital heart diseases and defects. Our pediatric heart  treatments and services include:

Benefits

Benefits

Fetal and Newborn Heart Care

  • Our physicians not only diagnose heart disease in children, we can determine management strategies before they are even born.
  • Complicated and high-risk pregnancies are expertly managed within our Level III perinatal center.
  • Critically ill newborns receive the highest level of care available in our Level III neonatal intensive care unit.

Leaders in Research and Innovation

  • Our pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons developed and perfected the double switch operation for complex transposition of the great arteries.
  • We 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 pediatric patients with congenital heart defects.

Lifetime Care for Children and Adults

  • We are one of the few heart centers in Ohio dedicated to the lifelong care of children and adult patients with congenital heart defects, including post-surgery care and treatment.
  • We work in close collaboration with the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic Heart & Vascular Institute to ensure that children and adults receive the best possible care with state-of the art-technology, and clinical expertise.
Staff

Staff

Appointments

Appointments

  • Call Cardiology Services: 216.445.5015 or 800.223.2273, ext. 55015
  • Call Congenital Heart Surgery: 216.445.ACHD (2243)
    • Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays
    • After Hours: 216.444.KIDS (5437)
  • Online: Send us an email
  • Online: Make an appointment

Outside the US?

  • Contact the Cleveland Clinic International Center at 216.444.6404 or icwebmail@ccf.org