After performing Illinois' first-ever infant heart transplant in 1988, Children's Memorial rapidly became an international resource for pediatric heart transplants. Since 1988, members of the hospital's pediatric heart transplant program have performed nearly 130 heart transplants on infants and children with complex congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathies and life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. The program boasts an excellent first-year survival rate of more than 90 percent and a five-year rate of more than 70 percent. Longer-term recovery is also impressive, with most patients experiencing no limitations to normal childhood activity three years after their surgery.
The team behind the program
The surgeons and the cardiologists work closely together in the placement of the Berlin Heart, a device used as a “bridge” to recovery or to heart transplantation.
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Credited for developing a technique that reduces the length of time surgical patients need to be connected to a heart-lung machine, program director and chief of cardiovascular-thoracic surgery Constantine Mavroudis, MD, directs this highly advanced program. Medical director and pediatric cardiologist Elfriede Pahl, MD, is recognized for her investigation of post-transplant complications, such as transplant coronary artery disease. Together, with surgical director Carl Backer, MD, the team is taking this already-advanced program into new areas of pediatric cardiac medicine.
Children's Memorial's innovative "Back to School" program was created to help smooth the transition for transplant patients to return to the classroom.
The program is also notable for its approach to comprehensive follow-up care. For example, “Back to School” educates patients, teachers, school staff and peers on heart transplantation, paving the way for a smoother return to the classroom. This program — the first of its kind in the United States — was developed by one of the team's advanced practice nurses who saw its need and created a solution. Today, “Back to School” stands as just one example of nursing dedication and innovation at Children's Memorial.
For more information about the heart transplant program, please email us at SiragusaTransplantWeb@childrensmemorial.org.*
Background on heart transplantation
- Approximately eight out of every 1,000 babies born every year in the U.S. have a heart defect. Children with forms of congenital heart disease previously considered untreatable are now undergoing corrective operations with increasing success; however, in some cases, heart transplantation is the only option.
- Acquired heart disease, such as cardiomyopathy, and congenital defects are the leading causes for most pediatric heart transplants.
- Although they must take medications each day for the rest of their lives to prevent rejection and infection, children have no physical restrictions after heart transplants.
- A heart transplant support group and monthly newsletter help support the parents and families of heart transplant patients at Children's Memorial Hospital.
* PLEASE NOTE: To protect your privacy, it is the policy of Children's Memorial Hospital to discourage the sending of protected health information via e-mail. For questions about possible referrals, please contact the nurses and other staff members at 1.800.KIDS DOC. (1.800.543.7362)