Advanced Cardiac Therapies and Heart Transplant Program

When a child’s heart needs extra help, families deserve care that is both advanced and compassionate. Heart failure means the heart isn’t pumping blood as well as it should, and while this can be serious, your child is not alone. Our Advanced Cardiac Therapies and Heart Transplant Program is here to support children and adolescents with heart failure every step of the way. We offer the most up-to-date treatments, including ventricular assist devices (VADs) and, when needed, heart transplantation—always with a focus on your child’s well-being and your family’s peace of mind.

Our Providers

Our pediatric specialists provide personalized care for your child’s physical, mental and emotional health needs.

Meet the Team

Contact Information

For appointments, please call 202-476-2090, and for information, call 202-476-1518.

Appointments Information

What conditions are treated by the Advanced Cardiac Therapies and Heart Transplant Program?

Our Advanced Cardiac Therapies and Heart Transplant Program cares for children and adolescents with a wide range of heart conditions—many of which can lead to or result from heart failure. Each child’s situation is unique, and our team provides expert, personalized care no matter the cause.

Conditions we commonly treat include:

Heart muscle abnormalities, known as pediatric cardiomyopathy – a frequent cause of heart failure in children
Heart failure
Congenital heart disease – certain defects can affect heart function over time
Valve disease
Infection, such as viral myocarditis – this condition can cause heart failure if the heart muscle is not strong enough to pump blood
Genetic defects
Abnormal heartbeat, known as arrythmia

Some of these conditions are primary causes of heart failure, while others require specialized care because they impact how the heart works. Whatever the diagnosis, our team is here to provide advanced therapies and compassionate support for your child and family.

Frequently Asked Questions About Heart Failure

What are symptoms of heart failure in babies or children?

Abdominal pain, poor appetite, nausea and vomiting
Fast breathing, heavy breathing or shortness of breath
Cough or congestion in the lungs
Fatigue and weakness
Needing to take frequent rest breaks
Falling asleep during feedings
Poor growth
Weight gain due to fluid retention
Swelling of the legs, ankles, eyelids, face or abdomen
Sweating during normal activity

How is pediatric heart failure diagnosed?

The Advanced Cardiac Therapies Team at Children’s National is experienced in evaluating and diagnosing children with heart failure. A clinic visit with the Advanced Cardiac Therapies team is comprehensive – you will meet team members from the medical team, nursing team, nutrition, pharmacy, social work and psychology team.

A typical clinic visit will include:

Physical examination
Health history
Laboratory tests
Echocardiogram
Electrocardiogram (EKG)

If necessary, more advanced diagnostic testing will include:

Cardiac stress test
Cardiac MRI
Cardiac catheterization
Radiographs or x-rays
Ultrasounds

Why Families Choose Children's National for Advanced Cardiac Care

Each child in our Advanced Cardiac Therapies and Heart Transplant Program benefits from the experience and expertise of our cardiologists and heart team, many of whom are nationally renowned heart failure specialists. Here's what that means for your child and your family:

Personalized Care

There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to treatment for heart failure.

We work intimately with each family to create an individualized treatment plan that offers your child the best long-term outcome.

We are constantly monitoring the effectiveness of the available treatments and making changes as necessary.

In addition, we offer resources and emotional support to the entire family during this time.

Full Range of Treatment

We use the latest advances in heart failure therapy to provide comprehensive, effective care for your child.

This includes:

Medical management: Our heart failure specialists can prescribe medications that help the heart pump, decrease fluid collection and relieve congestion, and control blood pressure and heart rate. These medications may be given by mouth or intravenously.
Interventional therapy: Our interventional cardiology team can treat some forms of heart failure caused by congenital heart defects, for example by closing or opening abnormal blood vessels, or repairing or replacing heart valves that are not working properly.
Pacemaker placement: Implanting a pacemaker can help patients with abnormal heartbeats have their heart beat normally. Learn more about cardiac electrophysiology at Children’s National.
Surgery: surgical procedures for heart failure can include repair or replacement of leaking valves, or removal of scar tissue.
Mechanical circulatory support: For patients who are very sick and unable to pump blood to their body, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a lifesaving emergency treatment. The ECMO machine will pump blood into all the necessary parts of the body when the heart cannot.
Ventricular assist devices (VADs): These devices also help the heart muscle pump blood and are surgically implanted. They are a type of mechanical circulatory support. These devices can be used in long or short-term cases depending on what the body needs.
Heart transplantation: Replacing the failing heart with a healthy donor heart may be discussed if there are no other options to treat heart failure. A partial heart transplant, or living root replacement, may also be considered as an option for treatment. Instead of replacing the whole heart, doctors only use parts of a donated heart—like the valves and blood vessels—and add them to the child’s own heart.

Dedicated Heart Failure Team

The members of our heart failure team have devoted their careers to understanding, managing and treating heart failure in children. Your child’s team will consist of:

Physicians
Nurses and nurse practitioners
Social workers
Pharmacists
Speech, occupational and physical therapists
Child life specialists
Dieticians
Psychologists
Palliative care team
Respiratory therapists

Renowned Heart Transplant Program

Care for All of Your Childs Needs

Washington Adult Congenital Heart (WACH) program

Referring Providers

For more information or to refer a patient to the Advanced Cardiac Therapies team, please email us.

Email us

Heart Transplant Outcomes

When other treatments are not successful, our team provides heart transplantation as an option. To get a better understanding, take a look at our outcomes data, broken down by age and treatments per year.

View Outcomes Data

Locations

Main Hospital

111 Michigan Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20010

1-888-884-2327

Emergency Department Info

Specialty Care
Emergency Care

Division of Cardiac Surgery

If a child needs heart surgery, our Division of Cardiac Surgery at Children’s National Hospital is there to provide compassionate, world-class expertise. Our dedicated team of heart surgeons uses groundbreaking innovation and state-of-the-art technology to make sure your child gets the best possible care.

Learn more about the Division of Cardiac Surgery

Patient Stories

Living Life to the Fullest
In 2020, Brendan and his family and celebrated the 15th anniversary of his heart transplant.