Pediatric Cardiac Surgery
Rotation: PED 403-1
Length: 4 weeks
Goals: You are exposed to the entire range of congenital and acquired heart disease in fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. The main goal of the elective rotation is to provide you with a basic understanding of pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of common forms of congenital and pediatric heart disease.
Objectives: You are expected to learn: (1) Essentials of cardiovascular development including applied cardiac physiology of fetal, transitional, neonatal, and adult circulation; (2) Pediatric cardiovascular examination, including appropriate diagnostic evaluation of children with murmurs (innocent versus pathological); (3) Common congenital heart defects that result in left-to-right shunts. These include ventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, atrial septal defect, and AV canal/AV septal defect (endocardial cushion defect); (4) Common cyanotic congenital heart defects. These include tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of the great arteries, tricuspid atresia, truncus arteriosus, pulmonary atresia, total anomalous pulmonary venous connection and hypoplastic left heart syndrome; (5) Common obstructive cardiac lesions such as aortic stenosis, coarctation of the aortic, interrupted aortic arch, and pulmonary stenosis; (6) Pathophysiology and basic principles of cardiac failure; (7) Common acquired pediatric heart diseases, including Kawasaki disease, rheumatic heart disease, viral myocarditis, infectious endocarditis, the cardiomyopathies, and systemic hypertension; (8) Interpretation of pediatric ECG's, and diagnostic and therapeutic approach to common pediatric dysrhythmias (including genetic ion channelopathies); (9) Common surgical procedures for congenital heart disease and the basic principles of pre-and post-operative care; (10) Basic principles of echocardiography and its uses and limitations. Acquisition of clinical skills and medical knowledge is emphasized.
Additional Information and Description: You will participate in daily work rounds, attend pediatric cardiology outpatient clinics, and observe procedures such as diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterization, invasive electrophysiology testing, echocardiography, and scrub on cardiac surgical procedures. Weekly conferences include a heart failure/transplant management conference, and an interdisciplinary cardiac catheterization-surgical conference every Thursday morning at 8am. The pediatric cardiac program at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is run entirely by faculty and there are no residents or fellows on the service thus creating an opportunity to learn from our senior level faculty in a direct one on one capacity.
