Cardiomyopathy Clinic
What is cardiomyopathy?
A disease of the heart muscle. It makes it harder for the heart to fill with blood and to pump blood.
What does the clinic do?
In this clinic, pediatric cardiologists and heart transplant specialists team up with other experts to address the unique needs of children who develop heart failure.
Benefits
- Coordinated care: During a single visit, children with cardiomyopathy receive coordinated care, including behavioral health and psychological services, genetic testing and counseling, nutrition and pharmacy services.
- Group support: The clinic provides unique group support for teenagers and young adults to encourage medication compliance and to prepare those who will need transplants in the future.
Connective Tissue and Aortopathy Program
What is aortopathy?
Conditions that cause enlargement of the main artery to the body leading to aortic aneurysm.
What are connective tissue disorders?
Disorders that affect the tissues that help support organs and other body parts. The tissues can be fat, bone or cartilage. There are many types of connective tissue disorders, however the primary disorders concerning the heart are Marfan’s syndrome, Loeys-Dietz syndrome and vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
What does the program do?
The Pediatric Connective Tissue and Aortopathy Program diagnoses and treats children and adolescents with the genetic and acquired forms of aortic enlargement, either as an isolated problem or as part of a connective tissue disorder.
Benefits
- Multidisciplinary care: Our team takes a multidisciplinary approach to your child’s care and works with many different specialties within Cleveland Clinic, including pediatric thoracic surgery, pediatric orthopedics, pediatric psychology, genetics and more.
- Family-centered approach: We understand the importance of taking a family-centered approach to your child’s care and oversee family screenings, medical management, surgical management and sports and lifestyle management and exercise prescription.
- Close collaboration with adult program: Since these can be genetic conditions, it's important to have the entire family screened so our team works closely with the adult program at Cleveland Clinic to provide efficient family screenings.
What we treat
- Marfan syndrome.
- Connective tissue disorders affecting the aorta, such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Loeys-Dietz syndrome, bicuspid aortic valve disease, osteogenesis imperfecta, polycystic kidney disease and Turner syndrome.
- Inflammatory and/or autoimmune diseases of the aorta such as aortitis.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Clinic
What is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?
A complex type of heart disease that affects the heart muscle. It causes thickening of the heart muscle (especially the ventricles, or lower heart chambers), left ventricular stiffness, mitral valve changes and cellular changes.
What does the clinic do?
The Pediatric Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Clinic diagnoses and treats children and adolescents with the genetic forms of cardiomyopathy that causes the thickening of the heart muscle. Our team takes a multi-faceted approach to care and includes advanced imaging, exercise testing and rhythm monitoring. We provide guidance to patients on their activity and sports participation, rhythm and device management, surgical options and participation in research trials.
Benefits
- Multidisciplinary care: Our team takes a multidisciplinary approach to your child’s care and works with many different specialties within Cleveland Clinic, including pediatric electrophysiology, pediatric thoracic surgery, pediatric orthopedics, pediatric psychology, genetics and more.
- Family-centered approach: We understand the importance of taking a family-centered approach to your child’s care and oversee family screenings, medical management, surgical management and sports and lifestyle management and exercise prescription.
- Close collaboration with adult program: Since hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic condition, it's important to have the entire family screened so our team works closely with the adult program at Cleveland Clinic to provide efficient family screenings.
Our Team
Not pictured
- Diane Clements, MS, CGC, Cardiovascular Genetics Counselor
- Christina Rigelsky, MS, CGC, Cardiovascular Genetics Counselor
