Programs & Labs
Adult Congenital Heart Program
In 2004, the Yale-New Haven Adult Congenital Heart Program was initiated as the first integrated program in the State of Connecticut dedicated to the care of adult patients with complex congenital heart disease. This multidisciplinary program encompasses the full spectrum of care. The program provides regular inpatient and outpatient services to the most complex adult congenital heart patients, offering a full spectrum of imaging, exercise testing, and surgical as well as less-invasive catheterization therapies. The program is directed by Dr. Robert Elder, who holds joint appointments in Pediatric Cardiology and Adult Cardiology, along with Dr. Sarah Goldstein. The team also includes Dr. Jeffrey Vinocur who directs the ACHD Electrophysiology program. The program is supported by nursing staff led by Kinga Sneig, RN and Jessica Santora, R-MA.
As participants in the Yale Adult Congenital Heart Program, adolescents and adults can expect to have detailed education about their underlying congenital heart defect, its management, and the implications on future functioning. Participation in this program ensures that their pediatric congenital heart disease will be managed in the context of adult medicine with a multidisciplinary team that includes pediatric and adult cardiologists, adult pulmonologists, genetic counselors, and social work. This center provides state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging, including echocardiography and MRI. The program works closely with Yale High Risk Obstetric and Maternal-Fetal Medicine Programs to provide obstetrics and perinatology service to women with congenital heart disease, and referral for fetal echocardiography as indicated.
The multidisciplinary team includes interventional experts in congenital cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology who have a combined experience of over forty years in the field. Our cardiothoracic surgical team has extensive expertise in congenital heart disease and adult cardiac surgery with an experience that spans three decades. Other members of the team include experts from the Yale Congestive Heart Failure and Transplant programs as well as a wide array of sub-specialists in related areas including liver and kidney disease.
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Cardiac Catheterization Lab
The Congenital Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Yale is directed by Dr. Jeremy Asnes and includes a dedicated team trained in advanced interventional techniques including Dr. Britton Keeshan . It has a long history of innovation and continues to be a pioneer in minimally invasive therapies for congenital heart disease. The laboratory performs diagnostic and interventional catheterization procedures in children and adults with congenital heart disease across the age spectrum. Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital uses a digital pediatric catheterization suite with state-of-the-art equipment that allows for a multidisciplinary approach to patient care. Procedures commonly performed include closure of atrial septal defect (ASD) and patent foramen ovale (PFO), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and more complex procedures including placement of transcather pulmomary valves. Our lab offers a full spectrum of minimally invasive pulmonary valve implants including Melody, Harmony, and Edwards valves. Our team has expertise in non-surgical transcatheter treatment of aortic and pulmonary valve stenosis, coarctation of the aorta, intravascular stent placement for narrowed arteries and vessels and blood vessel coil occlusion. Our interventional team also works collaboratively with our pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons to deliver the most innovative hybrid procedures that are intended to minimize operative time and difficulty while improving patient safety.
Members of the congenital cardiac catheterization lab are actively involved in a number of clinical trials to push the non-invasive boundaries to replace pulmonary valves and close atrial septal defects. We participate in pediatric interventional catheterization consortiums and lead efforts to advance the understanding of congenital heart disease and provide the best possible care for patients.
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Cardiogenetics Program
The Cardiogenetics program brings together strengths at the Yale School of Medicine by combining into one clinic the fields of cardiology and medical genetics. This busy and growing clinic is directed by Dr. Martina Brueckner with support from Jessica Sweeney, genetic counselor, and meets regularly to care for complex patients and families with congenital heart disease. The target patient population includes patients with a known syndrome that has cardiovascular involvement such as structural congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathies, and vascular disease, including (but are not limited to) William, Marfan, DiGeroge, Down, Noonan and Turner syndromes. Additionally, the clinic sees patients with diagnosed or suspected cardiovascular disease and additional signs or symptoms suggestive of a syndrome. Examples are associated birth defects, growth failure not explained by the cardiovascular disease, developmental delay or dystrophic features. The clinic provides comprehensive care and state-of-the-art genetic testing including chromosomal microarray and whole exome sequencing. Patients and families will receive dedicated counseling for the cardiovascular manifestations as well as the important genetic implications.
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Congenital Cardiac Cross-Sectional Imaging
The Congenital Cardiac Cross-Sectional Imaging program at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital performs nearly 500 cross sectional studies (cardiac MRI and CT) yearly. The program is directed by Dr. Jeremy Steele and uses state of the art MRI and CT technology to perform cutting edge image reconstruction and complex flow assessments (including 4D flow) providing our surgeons and interventionalists information never previously available to them. We are involved in several national and international trials and a principal investigating site for the Fontan Outcomes by CMR registry (FORCE). We continue to advance our program with our dedication to advancing the field and the education of our fellows.
Echocardiography Lab
The Pediatric Echocardiography Laboratory at the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital provides state-of-the-art non-invasive assessment of cardiac anatomy and physiology in an environment that is designed for the comfort and ease of children and their families. The Pediatric Echo Lab recently underwent a major renovation that created additional imaging suites, a redesigned digital echo reading area and improved access and space for our patients and their families. Each imaging suite is equipped with Television and DVD players to make children more comfortable during their evaluation. The Pediatric echo service performs more than 7,000 studies per year, which encompass transthoracic, transesophageal, 3-dimensional and intracardiac approaches. The Pediatric echo service plays an important role in pre- and intraoperative surgical assessment and planning as well as in the interventional cardiac catheterization laboratory. We offer sedated echocardiograms for children who are unable to be cooperative with standard imaging approaches.
The Yale Fetal Cardiovascular Center was one of the first Centers of its kind, founded by pioneer Dr. Charles Kleinman. Each year, more than 1,000 fetal echocardiograms are performed in women whose pregnancy may be affected by congenital heart disease or arrhythmia. The Center provides a multidisciplinary approach to comprehensive care with physicians from Maternal - Fetal Medicine, Pediatric Cardiology and Perinatal Medicine as well as Genetic Counselors. See below for more details.
Electrophysiology and Pacing Service
The Pediatric and Adult Congenital Electrophysiology Program at Yale New Haven Hospital offers comprehensive care for patients with the full spectrum of arrhythmia or conduction problems. A multidisciplinary team led by Dr. Cheyenne Beach and Dr. Jeffrey Vinocur, cares for patients from infancy to adulthood with heart rhythm abnormalities. Our group offers transcatheter electrophysiology studies and ablations using radiofrequency, cryoablation, 3D mapping and minimal radiation techniques; pacemaker and defibrillator placement and management; and implantable cardiac monitor placement and management. We provide comprehensive inpatient and outpatient consultations of children and adults from across the State of Connecticut and beyond with congenital heart disease and heart rhythm disorders. In addition, we provide care for the growing number of families identified with genetically inherited diseases related to heart rhythm problems and offer comprehensive genetic counseling.
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Fetal Cardiology Program
The Fetal Cardiology Program at Yale New Haven Hospital provides comprehensive care for women whose pregnancy may be affected by congenital heart disease or arrhythmia in the fetus. This program is directed by Dr. Katya Kosiv, and offers expertise in fetal echocardiography imaging and counseling by one of our experts including Dr. Kosiv, Dr. Dina Ferdman, Dr. Ruchika Karnik or Dr. Meredith Leslie.
The fetal echocardiography service performs several hundred fetal echocardiograms a year including at sites in New Haven, Trumbull, Norwalk, and Greenwich. The consultations are provided to any woman suspected of carrying a fetus with a cardiac anomaly, or at risk of carrying a fetus with a cardiac anomaly. The visit entails a detailed discussion of the fetal cardiac diagnosis, explanation of its implications on the fetus and after birth for the baby and counseling on treatment options. We work closely with physicians from Maternal Fetal Medicine and Neonatology in the Yale Fetal Care Center and with our Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery team to provide comprehensive, seamless care from the time of diagnosis, throughout pregnancy and including after delivery
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Pediatric Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Heart Assistance
We are proud to be the first and only children’s hospital in Connecticut to provide pediatric heart transplant and mechanical cardiac assist device program for children with end stage heart failure. By delivering expert evaluation, management and treatment at one location, our Children’s Heart Center offers children and their families access to a full range of medical and surgical care for heart failure closer to home. The program is co-directed by Dr. Kevin Hall, who is the Director of Pediatric Heart Failure.
For more information about this program, please click here to visit Yale Medicine