The Pediatric Cardiology Unit treats fetuses, newborns, children and adults with congenital heart defects or specific acquired heart diseases.

OUTPATIENT CLINICS

Pediatric Cardiology Consultation.  A tertiary care clinic for newborns and children referred after a pediatrician, cardiologist or general practitioner suspects a cardiac disease. The most frequent reason for referral is due to the auscultatory finding of a murmur.

Cardiogenetics.  Established in 1998, this unique clinic is a joint project of the Pediatric Cardiology Unit and the Department of Genetics. A cardiologist and a geneticist examine the child and question the parents to offer specific genetic counseling to the family of the affected child or fetus. Explanations about the disease and its transmission are provided and the  risk of recurrence is discussed with the family. Pregnant women who carry a fetus with a cardiac defect are also referred to this clinic. In addition to a thorough explanation of the disease and planning of the birth, emphasis on postnatal care and prognosis is stressed.

NON-INVASIVE LABORATORIES

Fetal Echocardiography.  Pregnant women who carry a fetus with a suspected cardiac defect, with a history of cardiac defects in the family, and those with specific systemic diseases such as Diabetes Mellitus or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, are referred to this clinic to undergo fetal echocardiography. The examination is typically performed between the 17th and the 22nd week of gestation. However, in some cases where the development of a cardiac defect is highly suspected, fetal echocardiography will be performed at the 14th week of gestation. In rare cases, transvaginal fetal echocardiography will be performed even earlier, in the 11th week of gestation.

Pediatric Echocardiography. Newborns, infants and children who appear to suffer from heart disease are examined by echocardiography to determine if they carry a cardiac defect.

Pediatric Exercise Test.  Similar to the adult exercise test, this test is performed with an age-adjusted target heart rate. In contrast to adults, the indication to perform this test in children is usually not ischemic heart disease, but to assess the cardiac function after surgery or to investigate a cardiac arrhythmia during effort.

Pediatric Halter.  In children, 24-hour ECG monitoring is mainly used to assess a congenital or acquired arrhythmia.

INVASIVE LABORATORIES

Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization. Cardiac catheterization is rarely performed as a diagnostic procedure for children, since most of the structural and functional heart diseases are diagnosed by echocardiography. Some catheterizations are performed to assess hemodynamics before surgery. In the majority of cases, the baby or the child will be referred for a transcutaneous procedure such as coil closure of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), device closure of an atrial septal defect (ASD), or creating a communication through the interatrial septum in case the newborn has transposition of great arteries.

Intra-operative and Intra-catheterization Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE). TEE is performed during surgical or transcutaneous therapeutic intervention in the catheterization laboratory to provide on-line imaging of the heart.

IN-HOSPITAL SERVICES

The unit's pediatric cardiologists take care of children admitted to different departments of the Medical Center, namely: Pediatrics; Neonatology; Pediatric Surgery; and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.