Our cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons perform procedures as routine as they are extraordinary, by utilizing a variety of advanced imaging and interventional techniques to diagnose and treat patients of all ages who are affected by congenital heart disease.
Programs and services include:
Adult Congenital Heart Program
The Adult Congenital Heart Program provides seamless, comprehensive care for adults with congenital heart disease. It is the only program of its kind in Connecticut, and one of a few in the region.
Our pediatric cardiologists consult with specialists in adult cardiology, adult pulmonology, high-risk obstetrics, cardiac imaging, cardiac transplantation and cardiothoracic surgery. Experts in congenital electrophysiology offer potential curative therapies for life-threatening arrhythmias. Social work services, along with expert, advanced nursing personnel, help create the multidisciplinary approach to the finest patient care.
Congenital and acquired cardiovascular diseases that require surgical intervention are managed by our team of pediatric cardiovascular surgeons, with years of experience dedicated to this specialty.
Cardiac Catheterization
The Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory is a nationally recognized leader for technological advances in diagnosis and intervention, treating young cardiac patients who would have otherwise required open-heart surgery. The laboratory routinely performs diagnostic and interventional catheterization procedures in children and adults with congenital heart disease, including transcatheter closure of intracardiac defects, as well as ballooning and stenting procedures for narrowed valves and vessels.
Echocardiography
The completely digital Pediatric Echocardiography Laboratory performs nearly 4,000 studies per year. It encompasses the transthoracic, 3-D, transesophageal and intracardiac approaches. The Echocardiography lab provides surgical and cath lab management of cardiac patients and receives referrals and consultations from patients and their families from throughout the state.
Electrophysiology
The Pediatric Electrophysiology and Pacing Service offers a full range of services to pediatric and adult congenital heart patients with arrhythmias. A dedicated expert team of physicians and nurse practitioners cares for patients with congenital arrhythmia syndromes, including:
- Wolff-Parkinson-White
- Long QT Syndrome
- Brugada Syndrome
- Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, and other rare channelopathies
- Supraventricular tachycardias
- Ventricular arrhythmias
State-of-the-art procedures include:
- Outpatient transcatheter ablation techniques
- 3-D arrhythmia mapping
- Ablation using advanced intracardiac mapping systems
- Pacemaker and defibrillator (ICD) device implantation
Fetal cardiology
The Fetal Cardiovascular Center, the first of its kind in the United States, performs more than 1,000 fetal echocardiograms a year in women whose pregnancy may be affected by congenital heart disease and arrhythmia. Patients are evaluated by specialists of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and then receive a one-on-one consultation by a pediatric cardiologist who specializes in fetal cardiology. The Center affords families the opportunity to prospectively meet the entire team of physicians and nurses who will be involved in the labor and delivery as well as the newborn management of their child.
Spotlight on research
The development of an autologous tissue-engineered vascular graft with the ability to grow holds great promise for advancing the field of congenital heart surgery. In February 2010, Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital received FDA approval to initiate a clinical trial to use tissue engineering technology to create vascular conduits made from an individual's own cells for use in repairing congenital heart defects. The trial, led by Christopher Breuer, MD, and Toshi Shin'oka, MD, will make Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital the first and only center in the US to offer this potentially life-saving procedure to babies with severe heart disease.
Clinics
Yale-New Haven Children's Cardiac Services maintains regular clincs in Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital. Cardiologists maintain regular clinics in New Haven, as well as in Brookfield, Guilford, New London, Norwich and Waterbury.