The paediatric cardiology department carries out the diagnosis and treatment of all kinds of children’s heart problems including:
- Those present from birth – known as congenital heart disease
- Those that develop after birth – known as acquired heart disease
- Rhythm disturbances
We will treat your child before they are born, through childhood, adolescence and into adulthood. During this time, you will be transferred to our adult congenital heart disease service.
Our facilities
Our paediatric and adult services are all on one site, so there can be a seamless transition from children’s to adult treatment.
We offer outpatient and inpatient services for planned and urgent treatment and have a dedicated Paediatric (Children’s) Intensive Care Unit.
Expert services
Echocardiography
The diagnosis of congenital (from birth) heart disease is usually made by echocardiography, which is an ultrasound of the heart. Our excellent facilities allow diagnosis to be made in all age groups, from the fetus through to fully grown adolescents and adults.
Cardiac catheterisation
The purpose of cardiac catheterisation is to gather evidence to diagnose and manage cardiac or pulmonary disease, and to carry out procedures for the non-surgical repair of congenital heart defects.
We offer the full range of interventional procedures, including:
- the use of devices to close holes in the heart
- catheter-delivered valve replacements
- valvuloplasty (balloon inflation to enlarge narrow valves)
- stenting (to enlarge narrow vessels).
Electrophysiology (EP)
The EP Service offers a full range of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for heart rhythm disturbance in children, some of which may be inherited or associated with congenital heart disease.
Diagnostic EP includes non-invasive testing, such as continuous ambulatory monitoring. This is heart monitoring during normal daily activities, exercise testing, and pharmacological assessment testing. Invasive diagnostic tests provided include catheter-based EP testing, and implantable loop recorders
Interventional EP treatments provided includes catheter-directed radiofrequency or cryoablation for cardiac arrhythmias.
Advanced mapping and ablation technologies are available for more complex heart rate problems (arrhythmias), including ventricular tachycardia and post-operative scar-related arrhythmias.
Implantable device therapies are also available, including implantation of pacemakers as well as defibrillators.
Fetal Cardiac Service
The Fetal Cardiology Service provides detailed fetal heart scans for families at increased risk of having a baby with congenital heart disease. This often gives valuable reassurance for parents who have had first-hand experience of congenital heart disease.
Fetal echocardiography allows us to accurately diagnose congenital heart disease from early in pregnancy.
We work closely with the fetal medicine department to offer detailed fetal assessment, genetic testing and planning the safe delivery of babies with heart disease.
We need your help
We want you to have the very best experience when you change from paediatric congenital heart services to adult services and our transformation project is in full swing.
This is your chance to have your say!
Please take part in our survey by following this link https://nenc-chdn.uk/patient-feedback-form
