Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery

You wouldn’t trust just any doctor to do heart surgery on your child. Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Heart Institute has some of the best survival rates for pediatric heart surgery in the nation. We keep the family in the center, and the focus on your child.

Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital has been named among the top 50 best children's hospitals in the nation for Cardiology & Heart surgery in U.S. News & World Report 2022-23 Best Children’s Hospitals.

When Does a Child Need Heart Surgery?

Advancements in nonsurgical cardiac catheterization mean that we can treat many congenital heart conditions without surgery. This is good news for both children and parents.

For certain congenital conditions, however, surgery is still the best treatment.

We try to delay surgery for newborns if possible, but some congenital heart disease requires that we do surgery right after your baby is born. Some congenital conditions require a series of surgeries in the first few years of life, such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS).

We’ll discuss your child’s care openly and transparently throughout their treatment. Together, we will discuss all the surgical options and involve you in the care plan at each turn. For helpful information before surgery, download our Preparing for Your Child's Cardiac Surgery guide.

Why Choose Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital for Heart Surgery?

As with everything we do, we take a family-centered approach to surgical care at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. We offer:

• Excellent outcomes: Our surgical outcomes rival those of the top programs in the country, making us an exceptional place for congenital heart care in Florida. See more about our outcomes.
• Full range of surgeries: We care for all ages, from fragile newborns to adults with a history of pediatric heart disease. Here, you’ll have access to a full repertoire of surgeries, treating conditions including congenital heart disease and HLHS. We are also one of the state’s most active programs for heart transplant, and we have an active surgical program for heart failure and VAD.
• Focus on patient safety: Keeping your child safe before, during and after surgery is our top focus. We have many initiatives in place in both the operating room and the cardiac ICU centered around safety:
  • Every team member is empowered to speak up concerning anything to do with patient safety.
  • For babies younger than 6 months, the entire team meets ahead of time for a “dry run” of the entire surgery. Together, we review imaging of your baby’s heart and then plan out each movement and step. Although we cannot predict every event, we try to anticipate potential medical and surgical challenges and how we will handle them before we touch your child.
  • Each week, the team meets to review all surgeries and cases, discussing outcomes and how we managed any complications. This helps us continually learn and improve.
• Outstanding care team: Our pediatric specialists and surgeons don’t work in silos. Rather, we all interact with and support each other, because it’s about your child – not about us. Every specialty comes together, and all cardiac support services work together. The team includes perfusionists, surgeons, cardiologists, nurses, respiratory therapists (specialists who run the heart-lung machine we use during surgery), anesthesiologists, heart imaging and cardiac ICU.

Contact Us

To schedule an appointment or learn about our award-winning pediatric heart team, call 954-265-3437.