麻豆果冻传媒

Saving more lives and treating more complex cases

When Your Child Needs a Heart Procedure

鈥淭here鈥檚 something wrong with your child鈥檚 heart.鈥 Those words are hard to hear, but finding the right pediatric heart center for a heart surgery or other heart procedure goes a long way in giving your child the best chance for a healthy life.

How to choose a heart care team that鈥檚 right for you and your child

  • Talk to people you trust.听Start by asking your child鈥檚 doctor where he or she recommends you seek heart treatment. Ask family members about where they鈥檝e had good care. Connect with other families who鈥檝e been on this journey.
  • Find the medical center that has the most experienced pediatric heart surgeons and interventional cardiologists.听The volume of heart surgeries, cardiac catheterizations, and/or electrophysiology (EP)/arrhythmia procedures performed is a good measure of predicting results.
  • Review the hospital鈥檚 track record. Looking at the overall success rates for pediatric heart procedures can be helpful in deciding where you want to get care for your child.

罢丑别听pediatric heart surgeons听补迟听Betty Irene Moore Children鈥檚 Heart Center at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford听蝉耻肠肠别蝉蝉蹿耻濒濒测听treat some of the most critically ill children鈥攊ncluding unborn infants, premature infants, and teens鈥攊n the country and the world. Performing more than 500 heart surgeries each year (significantly more than at other children鈥檚 hospitals in the country), our subspecialty programs and renowned experts draw families seeking the best possible care for their children.

Our pediatric heart surgeons at 麻豆果冻传媒 Children鈥檚 Health have more than听300 combined years听of experience and are听specialized听in a range of heart conditions and treatments, from routine to complex, including听pulmonary artery reconstruction, coronary anomalies repairs (e.g. AAOCA),听heart transplantation, and听single ventricle management. And even though our pediatric heart surgeons treat the most complex cases,听our听patients鈥 lengths of stay are shorter听for the majority of benchmark heart surgeries than of other peer hospitals nationwide, and our overall survival rate is impressive, higher than 95%.

If your child requires a different type of heart procedure, such as a cardiac catheterization and/or arrhythmia procedure, he or she will be in good hands with our听interventional cardiologists听补苍诲听electrophysiologists. They treat a high volume of patients with a variety of heart conditions, many very complex, which helps them to deepen their expertise and provide our young patients with great outcomes.

The Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital cardiology and heart surgery programs have been nationally ranked by听U.S. News & World Report听consistently over the last 10 years. In addition, we鈥檙e proud to share our hospital鈥檚 results in surgery and related areas with respected听health care organizations.

Learn more听about why thousands of families choose us for the advanced heart care their children need and what we can do for your family.

Stanford Children鈥檚 pediatric heart surgery volumes and outcomes

The graphics below provide a good understanding of our most recent听pediatric heart surgery听achievements and outcomes as reported and validated by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), the organization that tracks the heart care outcomes of all key pediatric hospitals nationwide.

Our heart surgery team is nationally and internationally recognized for treating pediatric patients who are affected by some of the rarest and most complex heart conditions. These types of heart surgeries are not performed at many other hospitals nationwide/not in the same way or in the volumes we do at Moore Children's Heart Center. For this reason, these outcomes may not be entirely reflected in the data below. We are known for performing听complex and successful heart procedures such as unifocalization听for ToF with pulmonary atresia and , repairs of , , heart transplantation,听and more.

Families travel to Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital from all over the country and the world听to seek care for their children鈥檚 heart needs.

Patients traveling to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford for pediatric heart care 2021-2025

View larger image >

From 2021 through 2025, the Betty Irene Moore鈥檚 Children鈥檚 Heart Center at Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford performed听more than 2,800 pediatric heart surgeries. At other hospitals across the country, that number was an average of 1,226.

Medical teams who perform a higher number of pediatric heart surgeries are better equipped to care for your child, as they see a wider range of heart problems, and they are more experienced than pediatric heart surgeons who perform only a handful of procedures per year.

Volume of heart surgeries performed 2021-2025

听Higher is better

Inclusive of Packard Children's heart transplantation volume

View larger image >

Additionally, we've performed 78 heart transplants between July 2021-June 2025.

At Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital, we鈥檝e performed a听significant number听辞蹿听heart surgeries听for these 10 childhood heart conditions. These procedures are referred to as听benchmark operations, meaning that surgical centers use them for making comparisons.

Volume of heart surgery by specific surgery type 2021鈥2025

听Higher is better

View larger image >

The听overall听pediatric heart surgery survival rate听at Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford was听close to the national average听for听2021鈥2025.

While this may not seem impressive at first glance, it truly is when you consider that we tackle the hardest, most complex, and rarest heart cases sent to us by other pediatric heart centers across the nation and the world. Our focus isn鈥檛 on taking only those children for whom we know we can achieve an excellent heart outcome; it is on giving every child a chance at life or a better life, no matter how impossible their heart condition seems.

Overall survival rate following heart surgery 2021鈥2025

听Higher is better

Includes the overall survival rate for heart transplantation

View larger image >

And in the chart below, you can see that the Packard Children鈥檚 pediatric heart surgery survival rates were in general听comparable to the national averages听for the 10 benchmark pediatric heart surgeries.

Survival rate for types of heart surgery 2021鈥2025

听Higher is better

View larger image >

Our survival rate for heart transplantation was 97.44% between June 2021-July 2025.

At Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford, we treat some of the most complex and rarest forms of pediatric heart disease. According to the STAT (Society of Thoracic Surgery Congenital Heart Surgery Database) score, 38% of cardiac procedures performed at Packard Children's from July 2021 through June 2025 were classified as having a mortality risk in category 3 or higher.

View larger image >

The mortality risk categories range from 1 to 5. Procedures associated with lowest mortality rates are in Category 1, and procedures associated with highest mortality rates are in Category 5.

Stanford Children鈥檚 arrhythmia procedures volumes

The following graphics provide a good understanding of our recent achievements in treating arrhythmia in children.

At Packard Children鈥檚, we perform听arrhythmia听diagnostics and procedures for children of all ages who come to us with various types of arrhythmia.

As shown in the chart below, we consistently perform听a high number of electrophysiology studies (arrhythmia diagnostics)听补苍诲听arrhythmia procedures鈥攁blations and device implantations鈥攅ach year.

Arrhythmia procedures volume by type 2021鈥2025

View larger image >

Stanford Children鈥檚 cardiac catheterization volumes

At 麻豆果冻传媒 Children鈥檚 Health鈥檚 Betty Irene Moore Children鈥檚 Heart Center, we perform an extremely听high volume of cardiac catheterizations,听establishing us as one of the leading pediatric heart centers in the country.

We perform听cardiac catheterizations听in children of all ages, including premature infants and teens, for a wide range of heart conditions.

We are pleased to offer all types of catheter interventions at our听Betty Irene Moore Children鈥檚 Heart Center. We use the latest interventional cardiology devices鈥攊ncluding new innovations discovered through research, clinical trials, and/or collaborations with other organizations鈥攖o provide your child with the most advanced heart care and best possible outcome.

Catheterizations volume 2025

View larger image >

Getting treatment

  • Plan for your child鈥檚 birth. If you are expecting a baby who requires heart care, an interdisciplinary team will partner with you and your obstetrician to ensure that your child starts strong. Members of this team include pediatric cardiologists, pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, high-risk obstetricians, neonatologists and genetic counselors. If your child will require a procedure shortly after birth, we recommend you deliver your baby at our hospital so that every necessary resource is available.
  • Learn about the procedure your child will have in advance, so you鈥檒l know what to expect afterward. Activity level, appetite, and growth should eventually return to normal after surgery. While rare, the most common complications after surgery include bleeding, irregular heartbeat, difficulty with feeding, and infection. We have processes and tools in place to help address these complications.
  • Follow your child's heart through the hospital. Every child is different. Don鈥檛 be alarmed if your child skips one of these steps or spends the entire stay in one unit.
  • Ask questions at every stage and participate in the medical team鈥檚 daily rounds, at which time your child鈥檚 progress is reviewed. In addition to the medical team, numerous staff members can offer information, support, and advice. They include case managers, chaplains, child life specialists, child psychiatrists, dietitians, financial counselors, interpreters, rehab specialists, schoolteachers and social workers.
  • Bond with your child. For all children but especially for babies, holding, cuddling, and stroking them are vital to creating a relationship with them. We will do our best to enable you to provide comforting touch, and to speak to your child often, when holding is not possible. Some children will be too fragile to be held before or immediately after surgery.

Going home

Your care team will work with you to decide when is the right time for your child to go home, based on his or her health. There鈥檚 no one magic number for that date, but at Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital we鈥檙e proud of our efforts to get your child home as quickly as possible.

Our patients spend fewer days in the hospital from the time of surgery until discharge for the majority of benchmark pediatric heart surgeries听than the national average. This chart shows the median number of days spent in the hospital听from the time of surgery until discharge for these surgical procedures. Since interventional cardiology procedures are less invasive, they typically do not require a significant hospital stay.

Typical days spent in the hospital following heart surgery 2021-2025

Lower is better听

View larger image >

Our length of stay for pediatric heart transplant patients was 33 days between July 2021-June 2025.

Follow-up care and beyond

After your child鈥檚 surgery, your physician will give a听progress report听to your听child's cardiologist.

  • The team will arrange for an听office visit听with your child鈥檚 doctor to occur after you take her home.
  • As your child gets older, we鈥檒l work with you to ensure a听smooth transition听from childhood to adult heart care.
  • Our听Adult Congenital Heart Program provides a unique approach to care with a team of doctors who specialize in caring for adolescents and adults with congenital heart disease.

Learn more

Find out about some of the advanced pediatric heart treatments and/or procedures we perform at Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford, and why we may be the best place for care for your child. Our pediatric heart surgeons and cardiologists are standing by to answer your questions.

Pulmonary artery reconstruction听|听Heart transplant听|听Single ventricle treatment听| Congenital coronary anomalies