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Cardiothoracic Surgery

Pediatric Heart Surgery

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Phyllis and David Komansky Center for Children's Health have built a national reputation for outstanding care devoted to children. Our newly integrated Pediatric Cardiovascular Center is one of the largest and most preeminent pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery centers in the nation.

We have consistently ranked as the best in pediatric care in the New York area, with the lowest mortality rate for pediatric heart surgery in the state. We are also the only New York institution to rank nationally in U.S.News and World Report. Our patients come to us from around the country and around the world, to seek state-of-the-art treatment for heart conditions and for the re-repair of previous surgery when that treatment fails.

Therapeutic Excellence and Innovation

The pediatric cardiovascular center, led by world-renowned specialists at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and the Komansky Center for Children's Health, offers one of the largest preeminent cardiac surgery programs in the nation. It provides expertise that includes congenital and acquired heart disease, complex cardiac arrhythmias, heart failure, and pulmonary hypertension. Ours is the largest pediatric heart transplant program in the nation. In fact, we have ranked in the nation's top five centers for pediatric heart transplant for the last decade.

The center has the only pediatric catheterization laboratories in metropolitan New York dedicated to pediatric pulmonary hypertension and arrhythmia studies, as well as diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, such as radiofrequency ablation for cardiac arrhythmias and balloon valvuloplasty. Each year, we perform more than 550 pediatric cardiac surgical procedures and 650 cardiac catheterizations.

We have a rich history of developing innovative surgical treatments that set the standard in pediatric cardiac surgery. This tradition continues today, as evidenced by some of our groundbreaking achievements.

In 1984, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital was the first to conduct a successful heart transplant in a child and the first to provide Pediatric Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) therapy – a modified heart-lung support – that today is a life-saving tool for critically ill infants and children undergoing cardiothoracic surgery. In selected children, this therapy substitutes for the heart and lung function until the child's organs recover. ECMO may also play a role as a bridge to transplantation for children awaiting a suitable donor.

World-class Care for Children of All Ages

At Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and the Komansky Center for Children's Health, we offer the most advanced surgical therapy for congenital heart disease for pediatric patients of all ages, from newborns to adolescents. The conditions that we treat most often in the various age groups include:

Neonates

Transposition of the great arteries, in which the anatomical positions of the pulmonary artery and aorta are switched, so that the aorta arises from the right ventricle, and the pulmonary artery arises from the left ventricle. This causes oxygen-poor blood to be circulated to the body instead of oxygen-rich blood, a life-threatening medical emergency requiring immediate treatment. Our world-renowned surgeons have pioneered the innovative arterial switch procedure which re-establishes normal anatomy and function while seeking to avoid the complications that have been associated with other surgical approaches. We have performed more than 400 arterial switch procedures since 1990.

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), in which the left side of the heart is incompletely formed. We have extensive experience with the Norwood procedure and stage palliation for HLHS. Our outcomes rank among the best in the country for this type of repair, and we are currently involved in a major multi-institutional study evaluating this and other innovative procedures for the treatment of HLHS.

Infants

Tetralogy of Fallot, the most common cyanotic defect (the heart delivers less oxygen to the body than normal). This complex congenital condition consists of four developmental defects that require surgical correction early in childhood.

Ventricular septal defect, an opening in the wall that separates the two ventricles of the heart, causing mixing of oxygen-poor blood with oxygen-rich blood.

Coarctation of the aorta, a constriction in the aorta that causes blood pressure to increase above the narrowed area while limiting blood flow to the body.

Atrioventricular canals, which are large openings between the right and left sides of the heart. Usually, one large common valve replaces the normal mitral and tricuspid valves. Left untreated, this defect can cause the poor growth, malnourishment, enlargement of the heart, and even pulmonary hypertension.

Children

Single ventricle, a collective term that describes defects in which oxygen-rich and poor blood is mixed in a single ventricle. Our pediatric cardiac surgeons have expertise in the Fontan procedure, which directs oxygen-poor blood directly to the pulmonary artery and lungs. The single ventricle is reserved for collecting oxygen-rich blood from the lungs, then pumping it to the aorta and the rest of the body.

Valve repair, for damaged mitral, tricuspid, or aortic valves.

Re-repair of previous surgery.

Adolescents

Valve repair, for damaged mitral, tricuspid, or aortic valves.

Repair of failing Fontan surgery performed in childhood.

Adult Congenital Heart Disease

At NewYork-Presbyterian, we also provide highly specialized cardiology and cardiac surgery care for adults with congenital heart disease whose needs require the special expertise of physicians who are trained in both pediatric and adult heart disease and their treatment.

Last Modified: 05/26/2009