Departments

A pioneer in minimally invasive therapies for congenital heart disease, the Pediatric Interventional Cardiac Catheterization Program at Yale performs diagnostic and interventional catheterization procedures on patients with congenital heart disease from childhood into adulthood. We perform a variety of procedures including closures of atrial septal defect, patent foramen ovale, and patent ductus arteriosus. Ours is the only congenital cardiac catheterization laboratory in Connecticut that offers transcatheter pulmonary valve replacements, including the Melody and Edwards valves. Yale New Haven Children's Hospital's digital pediatric catheterization suite features state-of-the-art equipment that allows for a multidisciplinary approach to patient care. Our team has expertise in nonsurgical transcatheter treatment of aortic and pulmonary valve stenosis, coarctation of the aorta, intravascular stent placement for narrowed arteries and vessels, and blood vessel coil occlusion. Our interventional team also works collaboratively with our pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons to deliver the most innovative hybrid procedures that are intended to minimize surgical time and difficulty, while making patients safer. Through active participation in clinical trials, we continue to push the boundaries of noninvasive treatments to replace pulmonary valves and close atrial septal defects.

We designed our echocardiogram laboratory with families in mind. An echocardiogram is a test that uses sound waves to measure heart activity, and is used to diagnose various heart conditions such as arrhythmia, structural problems of the heart, and congenital heart disease. We realize medical tests, even routine ones, might make children anxious. Each of our state-of-the-art imaging suites is equipped with a television and DVD player to make children more comfortable during their evaluation. Our highly experienced staff performs more than 3,500 echocardiograms per year, including transthoracic, transesophageal, three-dimensional, and intracardiac approaches. We also offer noninvasive assessments of cardiac anatomy and physiology. The results from our studies play a vital role in planning for surgery, assessment before and during surgery, as well as in the Interventional Cardiac Catheterization Program. The Yale Fetal Cardiovascular Center was one of the first centers of its kind. Each year, we perform more than 1,000 fetal echocardiograms in women whose pregnancy may be affected by congenital heart disease or arrhythmia. The center provides a multidisciplinary approach to comprehensive care with physicians from maternal-fetal medicine, pediatric cardiology, and perinatal medicine, as well as genetic counselors.

At Yale New Haven Children’s Heart Center, we help children feel better. Our goal is to provide safe, sustainable, comprehensive care for pediatric and congenital heart disease across the lifespan. We know that one in every 100 babies will be born with a heart problem, and about a quarter of those will need heart surgery or another intervention within their first year of life. Some will need additional operations as they grow. Children’s heart problems are different from heart disease in adults, and there are many different types. We treat all of them. Our doctors are innovators—many have national and international reputations—and they have access to the latest tools and techniques. They often diagnose heart defects in utero and treat babies soon after they are born, help older children live normal lives, and support teenagers as they transition from pediatric to adult cardiac care. When they aren’t caring for patients, many of our doctors are in the research lab investigating better ways to fix small hearts. We are the only hospital in Connecticut that performs such highly specialized procedures as patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) closures for newborns, allowing many to avoid invasive surgeries, and the only pediatric center in the state to provide heart transplants and mechanical cardiac assist devices. Many of our outcomes surpass the national average in such areas as mortality and length of stay. Yale wants patients to have easy access to care in their communities whenever possible. So, we care for our young patients in Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital and at other locations throughout the state from Greenwich to Old Saybrook.

As our pediatric congenital heart disease patients move from childhood into adulthood, our program is there every step of the way to make sure they receive continuous, comprehensive care for even the most complex heart disease. Our multidisciplinary integrated program was the first in the state dedicated to the care of adult patients with complex congenital heart disease, and encompasses the full spectrum of care, including imaging, exercise testing, and surgical as well as less-invasive catheterization therapies. Our patients can expect to receive detailed information about their underlying congenital heart defect, its management, and the implications on their future heart function. Patients in the program are assured of the careful transition of care from their childhood diagnosis into adulthood, and appropriate wrap-around care for adults who are new to the program. Commonly encountered problems related to adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) include the following: Unrepaired congenital defects Complications associated with early surgical repair Heart failure Heart rhythm problems, including pacemakers and defibrillators Pregnancy issues Our expert, board-certified cardiac physicians and surgeons treat these, among other heart conditions: Atrial septal defect (ASD) Ventricular septal defect (VSD) Atrioventricular canal defect Bicuspid aortic valve Pulmonary stenosis Coarctation of the aorta Ebstein's anomaly Transposition of the great arteries, including those who have had a Mustard or Senning operation or arterial switch operation Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries Tetralogy of Fallot Complex single ventricle patients, including those who had a Fontan operation Cyanotic heart disease Patients who had a Ross operation as a child Congenital coronary anomalies, including ALCAPA (anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery) Instead of delaying treatment for complex congenital heart disease, our state-of-the-art imaging, including echocardiograms (ultrasound) and MRI, allows for early diagnosis, before symptoms may interfere with a patient’s life. Our program also works closely with Yale's maternal-fetal medicine team to care for women with congenital heart disease before and after they give birth. Yale’s world-class congenital cardiac catheterization lab provides access to the latest advances in transcatheter valve placement, treatment of atrial septal defects, and all forms of congenital heart disease. We provide comprehensive electrophysiology services, including management of arrhythmias and placement of pacemakers and defibrillators.

The Advanced Heart failure Program is a rapidly expanding service at the front lines of treating heart failure. Launched in 1988, the program builds upon decades of experience treating failing hearts. In 2019, we performed 49 heart transplants, putting us among the top centers of the country. Our left ventricular assist device program treats more cases than any other program in the Northeast. It provides heart pumps for patients who need support while they are waiting for a donor heart or who are ineligible for a transplant and need another permanent solution. Heart transplants are the gold standard treatment for patients with end-stage heart failure. But many face a long, difficult wait for a donor heart, and some don’t survive. Yale Medicine is one of a handful of centers in the country to push existing boundaries in heart transplant by aggressively seeking out donor hearts other centers turn down even though they may be suitable for some patients. This process, using what’s called “donation after circulatory death” (DCD) organs, is helping more of our patients get heart transplants sooner. What’s more, our one-year survival rates for heart transplants—93%—are better than the national average. Multi-organ transplants People who live with heart failure have a high likelihood of also having kidney dysfunction from a variety of causes, and this can be a limiting factor in being able to get a heart transplant. For these patients, our heart specialists collaborate with Yale Medicine’s world-class abdominal transplant team and have achieved a robust volume and successful track record in performing heart-kidney transplants. Pioneers in LVAD Yale Medicine helped to pioneer the use of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), providing patients whose hearts are too weak to function on their own with implantable devices that can pump blood for them. Yale Medicine is one of the leaders in the Northeast in volume and outcomes with LVADs and is certified by the Joint Commission, the nation’s predominant standard-setting and accrediting body in health care. Each one of our patients is treated by a team that includes cardiologists, transplant surgeons, infectious disease specialists, nephrologists, critical care doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, nutritionists, and transplant coordinators, among others. Transplant doctors at Yale are national leaders in the field. Currently, the presidents of United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and the American Society of Transplantation are at Yale, and they have helped to write the guidelines for how to treat patients after solid organ transplants as the field advances. Outcomes above average Patients whose future once seemed difficult have survived for decades after a heart transplant or LVAD implant. The average one-year survival after a Yale Medicine heart transplant is 93%, which is higher than the national average. This is partly due to meticulous follow-up care that includes treatment with immunosu