At the Cardiac Center, children with complex heart conditions who require surgery are cared for by the experts in our Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. The members of this world-renowned surgical team are pioneers in developing innovative surgical techniques, including improvements in heart-lung bypass and heart surgery.

Some of our patients will require pediatric heart surgery within the first hours of life. Others will undergo carefully orchestrated medical therapy for weeks or months before surgery. No matter when your child requires care — from infancy through young adulthood — our pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons work with cardiologists, anesthesiologists, cardiac nurses and other team members to plan your child's surgery according to his unique circumstances.

Our team is also leading research in the field of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, from exploring how congenital heart disease develops to studying the long-term effects of surgery on physiologic development and neurodevelopment in children. Improvement and refinement of surgical techniques is also one of our ongoing goals.

Patient outcomes at the Cardiac Center

Please view the annual surgery volumes and outcomes for the Cardiac Center. Studies have shown that programs with more experience have better patient outcomes. Our division performs more than 1,000 cardiac and thoracic operations per year, making it one of the largest programs in the world, and our outcomes are among the best.

The chart below shows our annual volume and outcomes for all open heart procedures, to give you a clear understanding of our overall pediatric heart surgery survival.