Expert Heart Care at The Children’s Hospital

Certainly, one of the scariest things a parent can learn is that a child has a heart problem. But you can be confident that you are receiving the best possible care at The Children’s Hospital Heart Institute. While it is hard to relax when your child is ill, you can focus on his mental, emotional and spiritual needs, while we focus on your child’s physical care. Our patients are newborns, children, adolescents, teens and young adults with congenital heart defects or acquired heart disease. Our goal is to help your child lead a normal, happy and healthy life. Read why parents trust Children's Heart Institute.

The Children’s Hospital Heart Institute

Children’s Heart Institute is a leader in pediatric cardiac care, ranked among the top 20 pediatric hospitals in the nation for heart care and surgery by U.S. News & World Report. We are one of only eight stand-alone pediatric research centers in the nation and one of the fastest-growing pediatric cardiac programs in the country. The Children’s Hospital Heart Institute provides inpatient care and operating clinics on Children’s main campus, as well as in satellite clinics across metro Denver and throughout Colorado and Wyoming.

Led by cardiologist Dunbar Ivy, MD, The Heart Institute’s multidisciplinary team of pediatric cardiologists, surgeons, nurses, techs, social workers and others ensures that children throughout the Rocky Mountain region and beyond have access to excellent pediatric cardiac care. Our world-renowned leadership, expert teams, excellent outcomes, comprehensive capabilities and significant research are dedicated specifically to pediatric cardiac care. Plus, our partnership with the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine ensures cutting-edge research in pediatric heart care. Read how our researchers are discovering new ways to treat congenital heart disease.

Cardiology programs and areas of expertise

The Heart Institute is comprised of numerous programs and services for kids:

• The Arrhythmia Center has been internationally recognized since 1993 as a program for the treatment of children with cardiac arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat).
• The Adult Congenital Heart Clinic is held at the University of Colorado Hospital and staffed by pediatric and adult cardiologists. The clinic serves patients over 18 years old who have congenital heart disease.
• The Cardiac Catheterization Lab is a diagnostic and treatment facility. Heart catheterization can be used to help diagnose a heart problem, and it can also be used to treat heart problems (this is known as an interventional catheterization, of which we do more than 800 each year).
• The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) is dedicated to acutely ill heart patients.
• The Cardiac Transplant Program is one of the leaders in pediatric heart transplantation. Our patient survival rates and total procedures performed rank us among the top few programs in the country.
• Our Cardiopulmonary Exercise Laboratory provides testing to children and adults with congenital heart disease.
• The Echocardiogram (ECHO) Laboratory performs non-invasive imaging to create images of the heart and its functioning. This test is among the most commonly performed on our patients during the stage of initial diagnosis and throughout long-term follow up.
• The Lipid Clinic provides support for children and adolescents who are at risk for early onset of coronary artery disease and stroke.
• The Marfan Syndrome Clinic was deemed the regional referral center for the Rocky Mountain region by the National Marfan Foundation for children with this congenital disorder.
• The Pulmonary Hypertension Program is one of the premier programs in the world for patients with pulmonary hypertension or other heart and lung diseases.
• The Shapedown Clinic is the nation's leading weight loss program for adolescents and children, providing a family approach to childhood and adolescent obesity.
• The Complex Congenital Clinic treats heart conditions that are present at birth, from problems with the development of the heart, to defects causing obstruction of the blood vessels.
• The Fetal Cardiology Clinic offers advanced services to families who are expecting a baby diagnosed with congenital heart disease prior to birth.
• The Heart Failure Clinic specializes in the diagnosis and management of heart muscle diseases. A close working relationship with our Transplant Program allows efficient and timely referral for those patients in need of heart transplantation.
• The Prenatal Cardiac Diagnosis Program has the ability to detect congenital heart defects as early as 18 weeks of gestation.

The institute approach means better care

The Children’s Hospital Heart Institute was established to deliver an interdisciplinary method to pediatric cardiac care, which means all of the services your child needs are in one place. By combining the resources of some of the world’s most qualified and most experienced specialists, every patient receives a more complete level of care. From diagnosis to the treatments to aftercare, The Children’s Hospital Heart Institute brings together the best minds, hands and hearts together, working as a team on behalf of your child. The Institute is a collaboration of more than 15 departments (including Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Heart Transplantation, Cardiac Intensive Care, Cardiac Anesthesia, Cardiac Imaging, Cardiac Research and more).