Heart Center

The WVU Medicine Children’s Heart Center brings together specialists who can provide answers and solutions to ease parents’ fears and create positive outcomes for their kids.

Modern pediatric heart treatments are safer and more effective than ever before, and you’ll find them right here in West Virginia at WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital.

We have leading heart specialists with experience fixing or managing even the most serious conditions. Thanks to the technology, tools, and talent available within our Heart Center, we can diagnose and treat heart problems early — giving children the best chance to live long, healthy lives.

Heart Care for Kids of All Ages (and Kids at Heart)

Our Heart Center has all the medical, surgical, and support services your child may need — all under one roof. Our pediatric and adult subspecialty programs include:

• Adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) care: Our ACHD specialists care for adults who were born with heart defects and need lifelong follow-up care to maintain their heart health.
• Cardiac catheterization: Doctors called interventional cardiologists use thin, hollow tubes (catheters) to diagnose and treat heart problems without surgery.
• Cardiac imaging: We offer the latest noninvasive procedures to diagnose heart problems. These include fetal echocardiograms, cardiac CT, and cardiac MRI.
• Cardiogenetic services: Our cardiogenetic clinic serves children and families who have (or are at risk) for hereditary heart problems such as inherited arrhythmias. Knowing your child’s family history and genetic profile helps us customize their care.
• Cardiology: Our general cardiologists provide routine heart care, including prescribing medications and can coordinate referrals for advanced treatments.
• Cardiopulmonary exercise testing: This diagnostic procedure helps us assess how well your child’s heart and lungs function during physical activity.
• Electrophysiology (arrhythmia care): Our arrhythmia specialists, also known as electrophysiologists, offer services ranging from Holter monitoring and stress tests to pacemaker placement and monitoring.
• Heart surgery: Our cardiac surgeons operate on children of all ages, including tiny, high-risk newborns.
• Single ventricle care: We offer highly specialized care for babies born with “single ventricle heart defects” such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Children with these abnormalities often need to undergo a series of heart surgeries, and require critical care and support to keep them healthy between procedures.

Conditions We Treat

Whether your child was born with a hole in their heart or needs help lowering their cholesterol, you can count on our team for expert care. We treat most congenital and acquired heart problems, including:

• Aortic stenosis
• Arrhythmias
• Atrial and ventricular septal defects
• Ebstein’s anomaly
• Heart muscle problems (cardiomyopathy)
• High cholesterol (hyperlipidemia)
• Hypoplastic left heart syndrome
• Inflammation in the heart muscle (myocarditis)
• Kawasaki disease
• Patent ductus arteriosus
• Patent foramen ovale
• Tetralogy of Fallot

Why Choose the WVU Medicine Children’s Heart Center

Without proper treatment, heart problems can affect a child’s health, development, and long-term quality of life. That’s why it’s important to seek care and advice from experts who have a deep understanding of these conditions — and the best ways to manage them.

Families across the region turn to us for care because we offer:

• Less invasive treatment options: We are the first in the state to offer a new, nonsurgical treatment for babies born with a heart defect called a patent ductus arteriosus, or PDA. Using catheters and a tiny mesh device, we can close PDAs in premature infants who weigh as little as 700 grams (roughly 1.5 pounds).
• Pacemaker care: In addition to performing pacemaker implantation, we offer in-person and remote monitoring through our pediatric pacemaker clinic.
• Specialized intensive care: Our six-bed cardiac intensive care unit supports children recovering from heart surgery or a serious heart-related illness. It’s staffed by doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants with advanced training in cardiac critical care.
• Advanced heart and lung support: We offer extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for children who need cardiac or respiratory support after surgery or a life-threatening illness. Blood is pumped from the body into a machine, mixed with oxygen, and pumped back into the body. The machine takes over for the heart and lungs, giving them time to rest and recover.
• Complete cholesterol care: Specialists in our lipid clinic coordinate testing and tailored treatments for children with high cholesterol or triglycerides. We see patients at our main location in Morgantown and several satellite clinics throughout the state.
• Access to research: Families who want to give their child the opportunity to test promising new treatments for heart conditions have access to clinical trials.

Resources

When a child has a heart problem, it affects the whole family. We do everything we can to help your child cope with their condition and treatments. We also offer services to help make your visit or stay as comfortable and convenient as possible.

Our child and family resources include:

• Child-life specialists who guide your child through the emotional and psychological challenges of medical treatment.
• Transportation services for families facing challenges that make it hard to travel to Morgantown.
• Access to overnight or extended-stay lodging at the nearby Ronald McDonald House.