Our consultants at Evelina London Children’s Hospital and Royal Brompton Hospital work together to deliver our paediatric cardiac surgery service. Both hospitals are ranked as some of the world’s best – Evelina London for paediatric care and Royal Brompton for heart surgery.
World-class children's heart surgery
Our consultants are internationally renowned and have pioneered many procedures, including the:
- UK’s first cardiac operation on a child with congenital heart disease
- world’s first children’s MRI-guided catheter intervention
- world’s first fetal cardiac intervention
We perform over 500 operations on children and babies for congenital heart disease each year across our state-of-the-art facilities.
Learn about our facilities on Sky Ward at Evelina London where we treat children with heart conditions.
Expertise in every type of heart procedure
We offer a range of specialist and complex heart procedures for children, with patients referred to us from across the globe. Our procedures include:
- atrial septal defect correction
- extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) respiratory and cardiac treatment
- Fontan procedure
- Glenn procedure
- hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) surgery
- Nikaidoh procedure
- Norwood procedure
- patent ductus arteriosus correction
- patent foramen ovale correction
- personalised external aortic root support (PEARS) procedure
- Ross procedure
- Ross-PEARS procedure
- surgery for aortic stenosis
- univentricular heart surgery
- ventricular septal defect correction
Learn about our expertise in children's heart procedures.
Life-long specialist heart care
We also specialise in adult heart care at Royal Brompton, ensuring we can support children as they transition to adulthood. We established Europe’s first adult congenital heart disease unit, and it is currently the largest.
Our multidisciplinary team of specialists work across diagnostics and surgery at our hospitals, allowing us to provide the highest standards of care for our patients.
Inpatient wards
Children’s cardiology inpatient services are provided on Sky Ward at Evelina London and Rose Ward at Royal Brompton.
We use innovative imaging techniques to diagnose and monitor our patients, as well as the latest technologies to carry out advanced heart treatments and surgical procedures.
Both wards are equipped with critical care and high dependency facilities, essential for managing children’s health in the crucial hours and days following their heart surgery.
Paediatric intensive care units (PICU)
We have paediatric intensive care units (PICU) at both our hospitals, offering specialist care for critically ill babies and children. We can support patients that require intensive care following emergency or planned heart surgery.
We also provide multidisciplinary support for the sickest children with severe cardiorespiratory failure. This includes our cardiorespiratory centre that provides extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
In addition, we have high-dependency bays designed for children recovering from heart surgery that may require extra physical support or close monitoring.
Neonatal unit
We care for over 1,000 babies each year at our neonatal unit at Evelina London, which is one of the largest in England. It includes a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), special care baby unit (SCBU), and high dependency unit (HDU), allowing us to provide 24-hour care for premature and critically ill babies with high dependency needs. This includes those with cardiac, respiratory, and neurological conditions.
Our unit is also a leading centre for neonatal research, in collaboration with King’s College London, enabling us to pioneer innovative treatments for babies.
Clinical genetics and genomics laboratory
At Royal Brompton Hospital, we can provide advanced genetic testing for families and individuals at risk of inherited heart and lung conditions.
Our service offers next-generation sequencing (NGS), including copy number variant analysis, covering the full range of heart and lung conditions. This enhances diagnosis for patients and their families.
Our multidisciplinary team of specialists, including clinical geneticists, genetic counsellors, and specialist physicians, work closely together to support our patients. This ensures that patients receive expert guidance both before and after testing.
Conditions
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Aortic aneurysm
Aortic aneurysm occurs when a part of the aorta becomes weak and becomes enlarged.
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Aortic regurgitation
Aortic regurgitation is when the valve blood leaks back into the heart through the valve.
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Aortic stenosis
Aortic stenosis is a disease that affects the main outlet valve of the heart and is the third most common cardiovascular disease.
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Arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm)
Arrhythmia is an abnormal heart rhythm, where the heart’s normal rhythm is disrupted.
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Atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is a heart rhythm disorder where your heart beats irregularly, either too fast or too slow. Learn about how our cardiology specialists can treat it.
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Congenital heart disease
Congenital heart disease is a collective term for a range of birth defects that affect the heart. Learn more about how it is diagnosed and treated.
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Heart failure
Heart failure occurs when the heart stops being able to pump blood around the body in an efficient way.
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Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common form of genetic heart disease, where unusual thickness of the heart muscle makes it harder for the heart to pump blood.
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Inherited cardiac conditions
Inherited cardiac conditions are a group of genetic disorders that affect the heart and major vessels.
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Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO)
Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) is a recognised feature of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
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Mitral regurgitation
Mitral regurgitation is the most common heart valve problem worldwide. It is a dysfunction of the heart’s mitral valve.
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Tricuspid regurgitation
Tricuspid regurgitation is when the tricuspid valve of the heart doesn't close properly.
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Valvular heart disease
Heart valve disease occurs when the valves of the heart become diseased or damaged.
Treatments
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Aortic valve repair and replacement
An aortic valve repair or replacement procedure treats a damaged aortic valve in your heart to enhance blood flow.
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Cardiac ablation
Cardiac ablation is an advanced procedure used to treat irregular and fast heart rhythms.
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Coronary angioplasty
Coronary angioplasty is a procedure that improves blood flow to your heart.
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Heart valve repair or replacement
Heart valve surgery can repair or replace a damaged valve.
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Mitral valve repair and replacement
Mitral valve repair and replacement surgeries are used to fix problems with your mitral valve. Discover more about these surgeries.
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Pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs)
Pacemakers and ICDs are different types of implanted electronic devices that are capable of regulating heart rhythm disturbances.
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Personalised external aortic root support (PEARS)
Personalised external aortic root support treats and manages aortic dilation and dissection in patients with Marfan syndrome.
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Tricuspid valve repair and replacement
Damaged tricuspid valves are treated using either a tricuspid valve repair or replacement procedure. Discover more about these innovative treatments.
Investigations
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Cardiac imaging in children
Children's cardiac imaging helps diagnose heart diseases and defects. Diagnostics include echocardiography, cardiac MRI, CT and ECG.
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Cardiac MRI scan (CMR)
A cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) scan is non-invasive and shows detailed images of your heart.
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CT coronary angiography scan
A CT (computerised tomography) coronary angiography is a type of scan that shows the structure of the heart and the arteries which supply blood to the heart.
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Diagnostic tests for heart conditions
We offer a range of diagnostic tests at our state-of-the-art facilities.
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Echocardiogram
An echocardiogram – also known as an echo – is a scan that examines the heart and surrounding blood vessels.
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Electrocardiogram (ECG)
An electrocardiogram (also known as an ECG) is a test which is used to check your heart’s rhythm and electrical activity.
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Electrophysiology testing for arrhythmias
By recording and studying the electrical activity of the heart, we are able to determine the underlying cause of a heart rhythm problem.
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Exercise stress test
An exercise stress test assesses how the heart is working during physical activity.
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PET-CT and nuclear medicine
PET-CT and nuclear medicine scans use small amounts of radioactive material to diagnose a variety of diseases.
Locations
Our experts offer cardiac surgery for children at the following locations:
Discover our children's cardiac surgery specialists
Our cardiac surgeons are leaders in their field and world-renowned for pioneering new techniques and providing evidence-based care.