Pediatric Heart Surgery at Wellstar Children's Hospital of Georgia
Pediatric heart surgeons at Wellstar Children’s Hospital of Georgia are experts in surgical care for young patients and their hearts. Wellstar is one of only three health systems across Georgia and South Carolina with a dedicated pediatric heart program.
Expert Heart Care for Kids
- Expert Heart Surgery
- Conditions We Treat
- Personalized Care
- Our Services
- Before Surgery
- Day of Surgery
- After Surgery
- Resources
Expert Heart Surgery
Children with congenital heart defects require the highest levels of care and monitoring. They usually need surgery early in life and then periodically as they grow. Our team performs hundreds of pediatric and congenital heart procedures at Wellstar Children’s Hospital of Georgia Heart Center each year. We operate on any heart defect, from the most straightforward to the most complex. We understand that parents have many questions and concerns about their child having heart surgery. Our team takes the time to interact with each family to address your questions and concerns. Babies and children who need heart surgery benefit from our:- Proactive planning: If we find a heart defect before your child is born, you will meet with a fetal cardiology expert. Our fetal cardiologists create a specialized care plan and go over everything you need to know for your child’s surgeries. Then parents tour our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), meet with your child's surgical team and pediatric cardiologist.
- Team approach: Our cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiologists, neonatologists, intensivists, anesthesiologists and post-operative support groups are all involved in treating your child's complex heart diseases.
- In-patient Pediatric Heart Unit: For pediatric patients who do not require intensive care, this unit is staffed by nurses who are trained to care for children with heart conditions.
Conditions We Treat
Our pediatric surgical team cares for children with a broad range of heart diseases and defects such as:- Atrial septal defects, ventricular septal defects, atrioventricular septal defects and all forms of tetralogy of Fallot
- Patent ductus arteriosus
- Hypoplastic left heart syndrome
- Transposition of the great arteries
- Single ventricle disease
- Coarctation of the aorta
- Aortic valve disease
- Aortic abnormalities
- Total anomalous pulmonary venous return
- Vascular rings
- Other congenital heart defects
- Acquired heart defects
Personalized Care
If your child has a known heart defect, pediatric cardiologists will follow their health progress and present their findings to a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon to determine the best time to perform surgery. Each child is unique and so is the best time to have their procedure. Sometimes surgical timing depends upon your child’s age, weight and medical status. Other times it can be more urgent, especially if the heart problem is life-threatening. The cardiologist and cardiothoracic surgeon will talk to you about the nature of their condition and the surgery timing. Then our team members will help you set up a surgery appointment. The entire experience is centered around the principles of patient- and family-centered care because we recognize you are the most important members of your child’s care team. We encourage family involvement during all phases of care.Our Services
Our surgical team is experienced at managing conditions of the heart, arteries and organs. We use the latest techniques in heart surgery including open heart surgery, minimally invasive surgery and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).Open heart surgery
Learning your child needs open heart surgery to correct a heart defect often brings with it anxiety and questions. Our pediatric heart surgery team plans for every detail before, during and after surgery, giving you the information you need so you’re able to focus on the most important person—your child. Open heart surgery is major surgery, and your child will be completely sedated for their procedure. Our team will discuss more with you about what to expect for surgery including how to prepare them.Cardiac catheterization
Minimally invasive surgical procedures are performed in our Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization Lab. We use a unique hybrid approach where cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons come together to perform delicate heart procedures on young patients.Cardiopulmonary bypass
During heart surgery, the child will be placed on cardiopulmonary bypass and monitored by a pediatric-trained perfusionist—a member of the cardiovascular surgical team who operates the bypass equipment.Before Surgery
You will bring your child in the day before their surgery to have the following tests and procedures done in preparation for surgery. You will go to the pre-op clinic on the third floor of Wellstar Children’s Hospital of Georgia to have:- Laboratory tests
- Chest X-ray
- Echocardiogram
- Health history review
- Physical exam
- Surgical consent
Day of Surgery
On the day of surgery, you will check in at Patient Access Services on the first floor of Wellstar Children’s and will be directed to the Operating Room main desk. Children are taken back with their parents to prepare for surgery where:- Clothes are changed.
- Pediatric anesthesia and surgical teams speak with you and your child.
- Often a pre-operative medication is given to your child to help decrease anxiety.
- We take your child back to the operating room where they will breathe an inhaled anesthetic agent, administered by a specially trained pediatric anesthesiologist, to go to sleep.
- Once your child is asleep, all procedures will be performed.
Post-op care
Following an open-heart procedure, children go directly to the PICU. Our young patients are cared for by a team of critical care intensivists, as well as cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and nurses with special pediatric heart training. Prior to discharge, your child may be transferred to the surgical unit where they will be cared for by the cardiology team with the close involvement of the surgical team.Follow-up care
Children usually have a follow-up visit with their cardiologist and cardiothoracic surgeon about two weeks after surgery and sometimes again at six weeks. If your family has traveled a long distance, you may receive your follow-up care in one of our outreach clinics. Your child will then follow up with their cardiologist at least annually.Resources
- Camp Strong Heart is a special summer camp for pediatric heart patients held at Camp Lakeside in Lincoln County, Georgia.
- Child Life Specialists will help children understand and cope with their diagnosis and treatment.
- Ronald McDonald House is a place for out-of-town patients and their families. You don’t have to worry about finding an affordable place to stay. The Ronald McDonald House, located steps from our front entrance, provides a home away from home for pediatric heart patients and their families coming from long distances.
Our Services
Top heart procedures
These 10 benchmark procedures represent the national standards of care (as recognized by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons) and illustrate the types of high-in-demand procedures performed at Wellstar Children’s:
- Aortic arch repair/aortic coarctation repair
- Arterial switch operation for transposition of great arteries
- Atrial septal defect
- Atrioventricular canal repair
- Norwood procedure for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (including hybrid stage I procedure)
- Tetralogy of Fallot repair
- Total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR)
- Truncus arteriosus repair
- Univentricular palliative procedures (systemic-to-pulmonary shunt, bidirectional Glenn and Fontan operation)
- Ventricular septal defect
Other procedures we offer
Neonatal and infant surgical procedures
- Aortic valve repair
- Subaortic and supra-aortic stenosis repair
- Mitral valve repair
- Ebstein’s anomaly repair
- Congenitally corrected transposition of great arteries repair
- Damus-Kaye-Stansel procedure
- Double outlet right ventricle repair
- Hybrid procedure
- Unifocalization of major aortopulmonary collateral vessels
- Interrupted aortic arch repair
- Konno procedure
- Aortopulmonary window repair
- Patent ductus arteriosus closure
Arrhythmia surgery
- Maze operation
- Pacemaker implantation
Re-operative heart surgery
- Valve repair or replacement
- Ross procedure
- Konno or Ross-Konno procedure
- Conduit reoperation
- Rastelli procedure
- Fontan conversion operation for failing Fontan
Valve surgery
- Valve repair or replacement
- Ross procedure
- Aortic root replacement
- Left ventricular outflow tract procedure
- Right ventricular outflow tract procedure
- Conduit reoperation
Vascular and coronary artery anomaly surgery
- Anomalous origin of coronary artery from opposite sinus of valsalva operation(s)
- Anomalous origin of coronary artery from pulmonary artery (ALCAPA or ARCAPA) operation(s)
- Coronary repair and bypass for Kawashaki disease
- Vascular ring and sling repair
- Partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection repair
Adult surgery
- Valve(s) repair and replacement
- Conduit reoperation
- Fontan conversion for failing Fontan
- Aortic root and arch reconstructive procedures
- Arrhythmia operation(s)
- Blood conservation
- Mediastinal tumor resection
- Valve-sparing aortic root surgery for connective tissue disorders (Marfan, Loeys-Dietz, Ehlers Danlos syndrome)
- Adult congenital heart surgery
- Biventricular repair in complex heart disease
- Slide tracheoplasty for tracheal stenosis/malacia
- Septal myectomy for HOCM