Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health Enhances Pediatric Cardiovascular Services

In an effort to help pediatric specialists provide the most advanced cardiac care to their patients, the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center team has announced the opening of a state-of-the-art hybrid suite facility.

The new facility will provide a diverse range of interventional cardiology, electrophysiology and cardiovascular surgical services for infants, children and adults with simple to complex congenital heart defects and disease.

Arshid M. Mir, M.D., Oklahoma Children’s Hospital section chief of pediatric cardiology, explained that catheter-based procedures are associated with lower risks. They may be performed on the heart as well as great vessels. “Patients realize tremendous benefits with catheter-based interventions, including shorter hospital stays, reduced recovery time, less pain and no scarring.”

Today, congenital heart defects occur in approximately nine of every 1,000 babies born in the United States. As a result, it is a priority for the dedicated multi-disciplinary team of physicians, nurses, technologists and support staff at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital to be able to offer the latest and most advanced care and treatment services available.

Oklahoma Children’s Hospital is now home to the only hybrid suite in Oklahoma to offer this level of comprehensive cardiovascular care and treatment for congenital cardiac conditions in a single care setting. In the near future, the facility will also have the potential to offer highly specialized care and treatment applications in pediatric vascular interventional radiology and interventional neuro-radiology.

The next-generation biplane image-guided therapy system installed in the hybrid suite is equipped to provide low-dose x-ray exposure while providing superior image quality. Additionally, it provides a host of clinically significant functional enhancements, time-saving workflow efficiencies and numerous quality control improvements. It is also equipped to perform fusion imaging, which allows superimposition of images from CT/MRI on angiographic images, thus further lowering the radiation dose and amount of contrast administered during any given case.

To optimize functional capabilities of the hybrid suite, the biplane imaging system is integrated with an impressive array of state-of-the-art operating room equipment, as well as:

• Data and image integration software
• Ambient lighting features
• Patient-focused audio-video enhancements for calming and relaxation
• Specialized anesthesia, hemodynamic, electrophysiology, cardiac mapping, cardiac ablation, cardiac perfusion, cardiovascular ultrasound and cardiovascular surgical systems

These specialized systems are designed to provide patients and their families with the level of superior service experiences, and high-quality clinical outcomes they should expect and deserve.

“Our patients, physicians and staff alike can benefit from the low-dose x-ray levels, superior imaging, and the unparalleled set of enhanced clinical technologies and operational improvements this hybrid facility provides,” said Phil Farley, administrative director of the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center. “It will also provide our Heart Center team with the ability to perform a variety of complex diagnostic, interventional and surgical procedures more safely and efficiently, which translates to our patients spending less time under anesthesia, and on their way to recovery and going home to their families much sooner.”