Our hospital sees pediatric patients with a broad range of heart diseases and defects that we manage and treat such as:

• Septal defects ASD, VSD and more complicated TOF
• Patent ductus arteriosus,
• Hypoplastic left heart syndrome
• Aortic valve disease
• Aortic abnormalities
• Congenital heart defects
• Acquired heart defects

Our surgical team is expert at managing trauma to the heart, arteries and organs.  We use the latest techniques in heart surgery including:

Open heart surgery

Learning your child needs open heart surgery to correct a heart defect brings with it many anxiety provoking questions. Our pediatric heart surgery team plans for every detail before, during, and after surgery, giving you information you need so you are able to focus on the most important person - your child.

Open heart surgery is major surgery and your child will be completely sedated for their particular procedure.  You can find out more about what to expect for surgery including how to prepare them.

Cardiac catheterization

Minimally invasive surgical procedures are performed in our Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization Lab.  We use a unique hybrid approach where cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons come together to perform delicate heart procedures on pediatric patients.

ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) 

When a child needs heart surgery, they will be put on ECMO to keep their hearts and lungs working while they are having surgery. Your child will be monitored by specially trained nurses and respiratory therapists.

These 10 benchmark procedures represent the national standards of care (as recognized by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons) and illustrate the types of high-in-demand procedures performed at Children’s Hospital of Georgia:

• Aortic Arch Repair – Aortic Coarctation Repair

• Arterial switch operation for transposition of great arteries
• Atrial Septal Defect
• Atrioventricular Canal Repair
• Norwood Procedure for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (including hybrid stage I procedure)
• Tetralogy of Fallot Repair
• Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (TAPVR)
• Truncus arteriosus repair
• Univentricular palliative procedures (Systemic-to-pulmonary Shunt, Bidirectional Glenn and Fontan Operation)
• Ventricular Septal Defect

If your child has a known heart defect, pediatric cardiologists will follow their health progress and present their findings to a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon to determine the best time to perform surgery.  Sometimes surgical timing depends upon age, weight, and medical status of your child.  Other times it can be more urgent, especially if the heart problem is life-threatening. We know each situation is unique, but in general, the cardiologist and cardiothoracic surgeon will talk to you about the nature of the surgery, and the staff will set up a surgery appointment.

The entire experience is centered around the principles of patient-and-family-centered care as we recognize the patient and family are the most important members of the care team. We encourage family involvement during all phases of care.

Pre-op work-up

You will bring your child in the day before their surgery to have the following done in preparation for surgery - you will go to the pre-op clinic on the 2nd floor of the Children’s Hospital of Georgia to have:

• Laboratory tests
• Chest x-ray
• Echocardiogram
• Health history review
• Physical exam
• Surgical consent will be explained and obtained by the surgical team.

The day of surgery

On the day of surgery, you will check in at Patient Access Services on the 1^st floor of the Children’s Hospital of Georgia, at the Operating Room main desk. Children are taken back, along with their parents, to prepare for surgery where:

• Clothes are changed.
• Pediatric anesthesia and surgical teams speak with the patient and family.
• Often a pre-operative medication is given to your child to help decrease anxiety.
• Patients are then taken back to the operating room where they breathe an inhaled anesthetic agent, administered by a pediatric anesthesiologist, to go to sleep.
• Once your child is asleep, all procedures are performed as planned.

Post-op care

Following an open-heart procedure, patients go directly to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) or Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Patients will be taken care of by a team of critical care intensivists or neonatologists, as well as, cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeon and nurses trained in caring for children with heart disease.

Prior to discharge, your child may be transferred to the surgical unit where they will be followed by the cardiology service with close involvement of the surgical team prior to their discharge home.

Follow-Up

Patients usually follow up with their cardiologist and cardiothoracic surgeon after about two weeks, and sometimes again at six weeks.  If your family has traveled a long distance, you may be followed-up in one of our outreach clinics. Your child will then be followed at least annually, on an individual basis, by their cardiologist.