Pediatric Heart Transplant Program
Decades of experience in mending children's hearts stands behind our heart transplant program. Herma Heart Center at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin is one of the country's top pediatric cardiothoracic surgery centers and handles more than 725 cases per year.
Dr. Tweddell discusses congenital heart surgery
Our surgical programs have consistently demonstrated one of the lowest mortality rates in the country for children with complex congenital heart disease and have been leading the world in staged repair strategies for hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Our 23 board-certified pediatric cardiologists have more experience with congenital heart defects and heart disease in children than any other pediatric group in the region.
The Heart Transplant Program at Children's Hospital draws on this wealth of knowledge and experience. Our transplant program is ranked No. 8 in the nation for pediatric heart transplant volume according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. In fact, we have been ranked in the top 10 for pediatric heart volumes the past six years.
Total heart transplants: 82 (2007-2012)
| 2007 | 8 |
| 2008 | 9 |
| 2009 | 13 |
| 2010 | 16 |
| 2011 | 13 |
| 2012 | 23 |
Our pediatric heart transplant program continues to grow with tremendous success. Here are some of our accomplishments since Jan. 2005:
- Performed 87 cardiac transplants with 88 percent overall survival.
- Performed 10 ABO incompatible transplants.
- Bridged 18 recipients to transplant with use of the Berlin Heart ventricular assist device.
- Performed two multi-organ transplants including heart/kidney and heart/liver.
- Pioneered the use of the Virtual Crossmatch to decrease wait times in highly sensitized patients.
A team of pediatric cardiology and transplant experts
Everyone involved in the care of transplant patients, from pharmacy to consultants, is experienced in managing complex heart cases. This experienced team approach optimizes outcomes. The heart transplant team members include specialists in:
- Cardiothoracic Surgeons.
- Cardiology.
- Critical Care Intensivists.
- Infectious Disease.
- Pathology.
- Immunology.
- Anesthesiology.
- Pulmonary Medicine.
- Nephrology.
- Pharmacy.
- Dialysis.
- Nursing.
- Child Life specialists.
- Psychology.
- Social Work.
- Nutrition.
The team is dedicated to ensuring open lines of communication as well as consistent and compassionate care. Referring physicians and family members have easy access to the entire transplant team.