Conditions We Treat - Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center

No matter what your age, you or your child can find expert treatment for a wide range of heart conditions either present at birth or that develop after birth when you choose Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center in Oklahoma City or OU Health Physicians Pediatric Cardiology in Tulsa.

Diagnosing Pediatric & Adult Heart Conditions

At Oklahoma Children's Hospital, you’ll find Oklahoma’s most comprehensive services to diagnose, care for and treat even the most complex congenital or acquired heart conditions in children and adults. Generally, heart conditions fall into three groups:

• Congenital heart defects – Conditions caused by structural problems in the heart present before birth; may be detected in the womb; depending on type and severity, corrective procedures can begin shortly after birth

• Acquired heart disease – Conditions caused by health problems occurring after birth

• Heart murmurs and arrhythmias – Irregularities in heart rhythm that may or may not relate to a heart condition

Take advantage of Oklahoma Children's Hospital cardiovascular experts who treat a wide range of heart and vascular conditions, with a primary focus on diagnosing and treating all types of pediatric congenital heart defects at the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center.

Discover what’s involved in pediatric cardiovascular diagnostic tests and visits at the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center and explore additional imaging and radiology services at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital.

Heart Conditions Treated at Oklahoma Children's Hospital

You and your child can get expert care from cardiologists and cardiovascular specialists who treat a wide range of heart conditions, including:

• Aortic stenosis (AS) – Malformed or fused heart valves that block blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body

• Arrhythmias – Abnormal change in rate or pattern of heartbeats (fast, slow, irregular) that causes blood to pump less efficiently

• Atrial septal defect – Hole in the dividing wall between two upper heart chambers (atria)

• Atrioventricular septal defect – Large hole in the center of the heart

• Bacterial endocarditis – Infection in the lining of the heart (endocardium) and heart valves

• Cardiomyopathy – Disease of the heart muscle that reduces blood flow to the body

• Coarctation of the aorta – Narrowing of the main blood vessel that carries blood to the body, which makes the heart work harder than usual

• Double outlet right ventricle – Malformation of main blood vessels leaving the heart

• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – Thickening of the heart muscle that affects its ability to pump blood normally

• Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) – Left ventricle either too small or missing

• Hypoplastic right heart syndrome – Right ventricle either too small or missing; also known as tricuspid atresia

• Kawasaki disease – Inflammation of blood vessels that can affect the entire body, including blood vessels of the heart (coronary arteries)

• Marfan syndrome – Genetic disorder affecting connective tissues including heart valves, aortic root and others

• Mitral stenosis – Stiffening of the mitral valve that keeps it from opening completely

• Mitral insufficiency (mitral valve regurgitation) – Leak in the heart that allows some blood to flow backward

• Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) – Incomplete closing after birth of fetal bypass around the lungs

• Pulmonary atresia – Malformation of the pulmonary valve opening that stops blood flow to the lungs

• Pulmonary stenosis (PS) – Malformation of pulmonary valve between right ventricle and pulmonary artery that controls blood flow to the lungs

• Rheumatic heart disease – Damage to heart valves after rheumatic fever

• Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) – Complex set of four structural heart problems affecting heart ventricles, pulmonary valves and aorta that reduces oxygen in the blood and blood flow to the lungs

• Total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR) – Malformation of blood vessel connections to the heart; occurs during first eight weeks of pregnancy

• Transposition of the great arteries (TGA) – Misplacement of the two main blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart

• Tricuspid atresia – Right ventricle either too small or missing; also known as hypoplastic right heart syndrome

• Truncus arteriosus (TA) – Abnormal connection between the aorta and pulmonary artery that reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood

• Ventricular septal defect (VSD) – Hole in dividing wall between the two lower heart chambers (ventricles)

Heart Treatments & Programs

Review information about our heart treatments and programs, including pediatric cardiac and vascular surgery, pediatric heart transplant program and critical care services, that can help your child live well with a heart condition.

Ask your Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center team about innovative developments in treatment and care that result from scientific research – such as the Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) Consortium – and clinical trials conducted at Oklahoma Children's Hospital with our academic health system partner, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences and experts around the nation.

Heart Patient & Family Support

When you choose Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center, you also benefit from extensive heart patient and family support services, including links to many online resources to assist cardiac kids and families.

Your Child’s Pediatric Heart Care Team

Your child’s pediatric heart care team may include pediatric cardiologists, pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, pediatric cardiac anesthesiologists, pediatric critical care specialists and pediatric cardiac nurses, as well as child life specialists, social workers, therapists and healthcare professionals from many disciplines.

You benefit from collaborating with an experienced pediatric cardiovascular team that directly involves you and your family in treatment decisions, also pays close attention to your family’s nonmedical needs and:

• Performs more than 500 complex cardiothoracic surgeries each year
• Uses the latest advanced technologies, including minimally invasive procedures that help speed healing and recovery
• Brings together specialists from all departments to coordinate and implement new and innovative treatments for children’s heart and vascular conditions
• Cares for the tiniest hearts through our extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program, a nationally designated ECMO Center of Excellence
• Conducts groundbreaking research on hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) with nationally renowned colleagues from across the United States and brings new methods for prevention, diagnosis and treatment to your care through participation in locally available clinical trials
• Teaches the physicians of tomorrow for the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, which also gives you access to benchmark practice standards, innovative care and treatment methods, advanced technology and world-class research
• Puts smiles on the faces of children and families during more than 10,000 outpatient visits each year