Pediatric Heart Failure and Transplantation Program

If your child is at risk of heart failure, our team is ready to provide the best possible care.

Overview

Our multidisciplinary team at the Miami Transplant Institute focuses on saving the lives of children, and restoring their hearts to the best possible functioning. Since 1986, our team has performed hundreds of heart transplants with outcomes that exceed national averages.

We can also do multi-organ transplants, such as heart and liver, and heart-lung-liver procedures, as well as coronary artery bypass surgery at the same time as a transplant.

Heart transplants are not the only therapy for advanced heart failure, which claims thousands of lives every year. Children who have been hospitalized several times for heart failure may be better served by a ventricular assist device. In the past, VADs have been used on a temporary basis until a donor heart becomes available.

However, our team now offers this mechanical support option as a long-term alternative to transplantation for children who may not qualify for a heart transplant or face a long waiting time for a donor organ.

We have been in the forefront of advancing the clinical use of VADs in pediatric patients with advanced heart failure, and our outcomes are comparable with transplant results. Many patients with VADs also have a higher quality of life and fewer complications compared with traditional medical therapy.

If your child has a failing heart or lungs, our team can provide life-saving support until the underlying problem is corrected or until a transplant can be performed. We are experts in Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) – a short-term therapy that provides mechanical support for your child’s heart and other essential organs.

Our multidisciplinary pediatric team can also help you address any underlying chronic conditions that can damage these vital organs and affect your child’s development and overall quality of life.

One Team, Many Specialties

Working hand-in-hand with the Miami Transplant Institute, the Congenital Heart Center is the only university-based pediatric heart transplant program in South Florida that is able to provide mechanical circulatory support to children as a bridge to heart transplant.

The pediatric heart transplant team includes a large number of dedicated specialists, including pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, pediatric transplant cardiologists, heart failure specialists, pediatric transplant and heart failure nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, nutritionists, immunologists, pulmonologists, and psychologists.

Our specialties include:

  • Heart transplants – To treat end-stage heart failure
  • Heart and lung transplants – For end-stage diseases
  • Ventricular assist devices – For stabilizing heart conditions
  • Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) – For short-term mechanical support of the heart

Overview

Our multidisciplinary team at the Miami Transplant Institute focuses on saving the lives of children, and restoring their hearts to the best possible functioning. Since 1986, our team has performed hundreds of heart transplants with outcomes that exceed national averages.

We can also do multi-organ transplants, such as heart and liver, and heart-lung-liver procedures, as well as coronary artery bypass surgery at the same time as a transplant.

Heart transplants are not the only therapy for advanced heart failure, which claims thousands of lives every year. Children who have been hospitalized several times for heart failure may be better served by a ventricular assist device. In the past, VADs have been used on a temporary basis until a donor heart becomes available.

However, our team now offers this mechanical support option as a long-term alternative to transplantation for children who may not qualify for a heart transplant or face a long waiting time for a donor organ.

We have been in the forefront of advancing the clinical use of VADs in pediatric patients with advanced heart failure, and our outcomes are comparable with transplant results. Many patients with VADs also have a higher quality of life and fewer complications compared with traditional medical therapy.

If your child has a failing heart or lungs, our team can provide life-saving support until the underlying problem is corrected or until a transplant can be performed. We are experts in Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) – a short-term therapy that provides mechanical support for your child’s heart and other essential organs.

Our multidisciplinary pediatric team can also help you address any underlying chronic conditions that can damage these vital organs and affect your child’s development and overall quality of life.

One Team, Many Specialties

Working hand-in-hand with the Miami Transplant Institute, the Congenital Heart Center is the only university-based pediatric heart transplant program in South Florida that is able to provide mechanical circulatory support to children as a bridge to heart transplant.

The pediatric heart transplant team includes a large number of dedicated specialists, including pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, pediatric transplant cardiologists, heart failure specialists, pediatric transplant and heart failure nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, nutritionists, immunologists, pulmonologists, and psychologists.

Our specialties include:

  • Heart transplants – To treat end-stage heart failure
  • Heart and lung transplants – For end-stage diseases
  • Ventricular assist devices – For stabilizing heart conditions
  • Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) – For short-term mechanical support of the heart

Get more information at the Miami Transplant Institute.

Our Team of Miami Heart Leaders

Big Miracles for Little Patients