Doctors from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are partnering with physicians from the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford to treat patients born with heart defects who require specialized care throughout their lives.

The partnership between Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford will provide new treatment options. (photo courtesy of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)

“Patients born with structural heart problems need the very best specialized care that modern cardiac medicine can offer. This collaboration between Stanford Children’s Health and Cedars-Sinai ensures that they will receive it,” said Dr. Eduardo Marbán, director of the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. “Joining together redoubles our dedication to serving the needs of congenital heart patients throughout California and beyond.”

Through the collaboration, patients with congenital heart disease will be treated by physicians widely regarded as among the best in their fields. For example, a Stanford Medicine pediatric heart surgeon is available to perform procedures on pediatric patients at Cedars-Sinai, and a Cedars-Sinai physician with expertise in developing catheter-based procedures can be consulted on minimally invasive techniques for repairing a defective heart valve at the Stanford hospital.

As recently as a decade ago, children born with structural heart defects were not expected to survive past late adolescence. Today, new technology and nonsurgical procedures have extended life expectancies and treatment options.

While some types of heart malformations require patients to undergo several surgical procedures throughout their lives, other heart defects can be treated or repaired during a single minimally invasive catheter-based procedure. Still, most infants born with a structural heart defect need ongoing specialized care throughout their lives.

Since the collaboration began earlier this year, congenital heart teams from both health systems have attended weekly teleconferences to determine how best to treat patients with complex congenital heart disease issues, share new techniques and develop comprehensive treatment plans. Teams of doctors and other caregivers provide tailored care as needed at both institutions.

“We are excited to collaborate with such an outstanding institution as Cedars-Sinai to care for patients with congenital heart disease,” said Dr. Frank Hanley, chief of pediatric cardiac surgery at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.

For information, visit cedars-sinai.org.