Cardiology

Contents

• About the Division
• Clinical Programs
• Research Programs
• Training Programs
• Related Links
• Contact List

About the Division

The Division of Cardiology is based at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center (CHRMC) and provides both outpatient and inpatient consultation and management services for pediatric patients with cardiovascular disorders. Basic research in our laboratory continues to improve understanding of how the immature heart uses oxygen and other fuels.

Clinical Programs

The Division of Cardiology is based at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center (CHRMC) and provides both outpatient and inpatient consultation and management services for pediatric patients with cardiovascular disorders. Cardiovascular services at CHRMC operate under the umbrella of Children's Heart Center and include:

Outpatient Services

Diagnostic and follow-up care
Seattle Clinic - based at CHRMC
Regional Clinics - Bellevue, Everett, Federal Way, Olympia
Outreach Clinics - Multiple sites in Washington and Alaska

Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories

Advanced non-surgical treatment
Diagnostic Catheterization
Interventional (Therapeutic) Catheterization Procedures

Electrophysiology

Arrhythmia diagnosis and treatment
Electrocardiograms (ECG's)
24 Hour Holter Monitoring
Cardiac Event Monitoring
Tilt testing
Stress testing
Pacemaker Implantation and Monitoring
Transcatheter Ablation Therapy
Cardio-Pulmonary Exercise Testing

Echocardiography

Comprehensive ultrasound evaluation
Transthoracic Echocardiography
Transesophogeal Echocardiography
Fetal Echocardiography (within the Prenatal Diagnosis and Treatment Program)
Stress Echocardiography
Echocardiographic Telemedicine

Cardiac Intensive Care

Pediatric cardiac intensive care team
24 Hour intensive care for cardiac surgical and cardiology patients

Cardiovascular Surgical Services

Early, one-stage corrective surgery
Neonatal Open and Closed Heart Procedures
Pediatric Open and Closed Heart Procedures

Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program

CHRMC Outpatient Services
UWMC Outpatient Services
UWMC Inpatient Consultation

Research Programs

Basic research in our laboratory continues to improve understanding of how the immature heart uses oxygen and other fuels. This knowledge will help us to develop strategies to protect the heart during and after surgery for congenital heart disease.

Myocardial energy metabolism and myocardial protection continue as the primary research endeavors within the Cardiology Division. In 1998 Dr. Michael Portman was awarded a four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, Heart Lung and Blood Institute. These funds continue to support research in "Thyroid Regulation in the Developing Heart". Research in our laboratory focuses on the signals, which communicate to the cell's energy factory, the mitochondrion, during increases in heart work. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) remains a primary tool for examining these relationships. In 1999 we added a new research MRS technique. This method used substrates tagged with 13Carbon isotope. Thyroid hormone levels decrease after artificially induced stresses such as cardiac surgery. Protocols involving supplementation of thyroid hormones after cardiac surgery in infants have begun to show the importance thyroid hormone balance after cardiopulmonary bypass. Thus, research in our experimental laboratory now complements clinical research at CHRMC.

We also have a number of outcomes research projects, including a multicenter study of adult congenital heart disease. In addition, we are studying the post-natal outcomes after the prenatal diagnosis of specific cardiac anomalies.

Training Programs

The pediatric cardiology fellowship program currently consists of one fellow per year.

Related Links

• American Heart Association
• American College of Cardiology
• Children's Heart Center

Contact List