Texas Children’s Hospital recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of its heart transplant program. Since its inception in 1984, Texas Children’s Heart Center has performed more than 300 heart transplants, making the program one of the most active and largest in the nation.
A team of experts – including heart transplant surgeons, pediatric cardiologists, transplant coordinators and dietitians, child life specialists, social workers, pharmacists, physical and occupational therapists, infectious diseases experts, immunology physicians and dedicated nurses – focuses on each aspect of the patient’s care. The team’s experience, compassion and access to state-of-the-art facilities helps children in need of heart transplants survive and thrive.
“The true results of our team’s exceptional work over the past 30 years can be seen in the hundreds of success stories of our patient families,” said Texas Children’s Heart Failure, Cardiomyopathy and Cardiac Transplantation Medical Director Dr. Jeff Dreyer. “As one of the largest programs in the nation, our experience in treating patients with heart failure is leading the way in positive outcomes.”
The multidisciplinary team at Texas Children’s has transplanted hearts in newborns to young adults from across the United States. Due to the transplant team’s unique expertise, Texas Children’s Heart Transplant Program sees some of the rarest and most complex cases, resulting in the best possible outcome for each child.
“Texas Children’s has been a pioneer in all aspects of pediatric cardiovascular surgery, and our heart transplant program is a shining example of this,” said Heart and Lung Transplant Program Surgical Director Dr. Jeffrey Heinle. “Over the past 30 years, Texas Children’s has consistently led innovations in this field, bringing hope to children and adolescents from all over in need of a heart transplant.”
Texas Children’s Heart Center is on the cutting-edge of ventricular assist device (VAD) placement, which provides circulatory support until a transplant can be received. The center offers the best VAD tailored to each child’s size, diagnosis and needs for both short- and long-term assistance.
Texas Children’s Heart Center is ranked No. 2 nationally in cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report.
To learn more about Texas Children’s Heart Transplant Program, click here.