Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital — Leading the Way in Pediatric Cardiac Care
Most Children With a Heart Defect Can Now Expect a Bright Future
One of every 125 families in the United States will hear the startling news that their child has a heart defect. These young patients will need the care of a pediatric cardiologist, a highly trained, skilled physician who specializes in heart problems in children.
Whether these conditions are present at birth or develop during childhood, pediatric cardiologists affiliated with Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital offer some of the most advanced diagnostic and treatment options available for cardiac abnormalities such as a heart murmur, abnormal heart rhythm, heart valve problems, arterial blockage, an opening between the heart chambers, or more complex conditions that involve multiple defects.
Medical Advances
Significant progress in medical technology, such as sophisticated ultrasound imaging and heart monitoring equipment, enable pediatric cardiologists to accurately pinpoint heart problems and recommend appropriate treatment plans. While treatment options vary based on each individual patient, the pediatric cardiologists have developed a collaborative approach to care. Working closely with a multidisciplinary team comprised of heart surgeons, intensivists, echocardiographic technicians, nurses and others, they meet regularly to develop a comprehensive treatment plan customized for each patient.
An advanced catheterization lab provides a convenient, centralized location for interventionalists to use minimally invasive procedures to get a closer look at the heart and blood vessels to locate and remove blockages or make cardiac repairs.
The Cardiac Center at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital
For more complex cases, the Cardiac Center at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital offers leading-edge technology and is staffed with some of the most experienced pediatric cardiac physicians in the nation. Additionally, it is supported by a full complement of dedicated sub-specialists trained in neonatal and pediatric medicine. Together, their goal is to provide the highest-quality patient care.
Leading the way in pediatric cardiac care, Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital is the only children's hospital in Broward and Palm Beach Counties performing cardiac catheterization and open heart surgery. Over the past year, the Cardiac Center has experienced rapid growth and performed hundreds of surgeries and catheterizations.
Regularly listed in "America's Top Doctors" and a physician who has performed pediatric cardiac surgery for more than 25 years, Richard A. Perryman, MD, Chief of Cardiac Surgical Services, says, "The level of medical expertise coupled with the family-friendly atmosphere are among the reasons that more parents throughout Florida and the nation are choosing Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital for pediatric heart care."
Detection methods are so technologically advanced now that congenital heart defects are routinely identified before children are born. "The sophisticated equipment available now for non-invasive imaging of the heart has changed the manner in which infants and children with heart disease are cared for," says Lilliam M. Valdes-Cruz, MD, Director of Non-Invasive Pediatric Cardiology. "Primarily, it reduces the number of invasive procedures required for diagnosis and treatment."
Continuing the tradition of medical excellence, the Cardiac Center implemented the first "hybrid" laboratory in the region. The new laboratory combines a cardiac catheterization lab and an operating room, allowing patients to undergo surgical procedures and minimally invasive catheterizations simultaneously.
"This has the benefit of allowing us to perform stenting and bypass surgery at the same time, if necessary, rather than on two separate days," Kak-Chen Chan, MD, Director of Inpatient Pediatric Cardiology Services, explains. "It is less stressful for our young patients, safer, and with fewer side effects."
"Our cohesive team philosophy, along with our collective experience, enables a culture of innovation and a willingness to continually explore new treatment options," says Frank G. Scholl, MD, Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery.
Bright Future
Years ago, children diagnosed with serious heart defects had limited treatment options and life expectancy. Today medical innovations for young cardiac patients have progressed so much that pediatric cardiologists are not only measuring success by survival rates, but also by the quality of life a child will have. Most children with a heart defect can now expect a bright future.
To learn more about the Pediatric Cardiac Program at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, please call
(954) 985-6939.
For referral to a physician for your child, please call Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Physician Referral Service toll-free at (866) JDCH-DOC. We're available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
