Expert, compassionate heart care close to home

Compassionate, internationally renowned experts are right around the corner at CHoR. Our team of pediatric cardiologists, fetal cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and nurses have the unrivaled expertise to make a diagnosis and develop a tailored treatment plan to help your child thrive. Our advanced diagnostic and surgical options range from minimally invasive procedures, such as catheterization, to open-heart surgery to mend even the most severe conditions. We provide the most advanced care for moms and babies, helping families navigate prenatal care, delivery and ongoing management for congenital heart conditions.   

Our Children’s Hospital Foundation Heart Center was established through the generosity of a $28 million gift from the Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Getting Henry's heart back on track

A team approach

With a legacy of comprehensive heart care, we offer the most experienced and trusted specialists in Virginia. Our team starts with our center’s co-directors.

• Dr. Thomas Yeh has performed thousands of successful surgeries over the past two decades – more than any other pediatric cardiac surgeon in Virginia. While his experience, technique and knowledge bring families to CHoR – his warm bedside manner is something families never forget.
• Dr. Jin Lee is an internationally renowned interventional cardiologist who has developed a stenting intervention that patients travel here to undergo.

Our multidisciplinary approach provides the best care for your child. Our broader team includes anesthesiologists, critical care specialists, geneticists, maternal-fetal medicine specialists and neonatologists – and we have 24/7 access to any other pediatric subspecialty that your child might need. Everyone is specially trained to deliver precision care for even the youngest and tiniest hearts. That same level of pediatric training and expertise extends to our support team of technicians and therapists in every discipline. Plus, our social workers and child life specialists help make the hospital and navigating heart care as seamless as possible.

Care for every condition

Whether your child is born with a congenital heart defect or problems develop in the following years, trust our expert cardiac specialists to develop the best care plan. We care for children with a range of conditions, including:

• Arrhythmias and conduction abnormalities, variations in heartbeats and electrical impulses
• Cardiomyopathy, where your heart muscle isn’t doing its job to pump blood through the body
• Chest pain
• Congenital heart diseases (pediatric and adult), which are present at birth
• Connective tissue diseases that can impact blood flow
• Dyslipidemias, or elevated cholesterol
• Heart murmur, signaled by a “whooshing” sound when listening to the heart
• Hypertension
• Kawasaki disease and other causes of myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle
• Obesity
• Syncope/palpitations, in which low blood pumping can cause fainting and other complications

Cutting-edge research

As part of an academic medical center, our doctors and surgeons are exploring and developing new procedures and protocols that enhance outcomes for young patients – publishing their findings in peer-reviewed journals. One example is Dr. Yeh’s fast-track, post-surgical approach: By weaning patients off the ventilator in the operating room, we’re able to improve their recovery. Depending on their case, many patients now can go home two days after heart surgery, which is a testament to the quality of both our surgeons and medical management. The Children’s Hospital Foundation Heart Center also trains fellows who represent the next generation of skilled practitioners.

Compassionate patient care

Our heart center team offers the best possible care for your child, right in your backyard. We coordinate with community hospitals around the region, using our pediatric transport system to bring the most critically ill children here for treatment. We have diagnostic tools and equipment that are right-sized for children of all ages.

For many children, heart health will be a lifelong responsibility. We prepare families for what to expect now and how their child’s condition or disease might evolve as they age. Our physicians are cross-trained to continue to care for adult patients with congenital heart disease. We give you the time you need to ask questions and understand what’s happening, so you can be the best advocate for your child.