Adult Congenital Heart Service
Living with congenital heart disease (CHD) requires special attention to even the most ordinary life events and medical procedures, such as a pregnancy or dental visit. We offer adults with congenital heart disease comprehensive diagnostics, lifestyle counseling, medical management and interventional and surgical treatment for the full spectrum of conditions related to CHD.
Adults who were born with heart defects have different medical concerns than adults who acquire heart disease as they age. They may have holes in their heart, narrow or absent blood vessels, malformed heart valves, or a reversal or absence of important heart structures.
Akron Children's's team of experts specializes in the complex anatomy and heart function of adults with CHD. We provide this specialized care in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic Adult Congenital Heart team. The combined program is known as the Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Center.
Our focus on education and counseling will also help empower patients to monitor their own health as they deal with the non-cardiac issues that often accompany congenital heart disease, such as participation in sports and exercise, reproductive issues, and psychosocial issues.
In addition, women with congenital heart disease have unique needs in terms of contraception, pregnancy and monitoring. They’re also at higher risk of having children born with heart disease.
Our team of adult congenital cardiologists, fetal cardiologists, high-risk obstetricians and other specialists provide the surveillance, prenatal care and treatment needed to ensure the healthiest pregnancy possible. We have experience in congenital heart imaging, electrophysiology, minimally invasive catheterization and cardiovascular surgery.
We also provide pre-pregnancy counseling, as well as contraception and genetic counseling.
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Schedule on MyChart
Log in to MyChart at mychart.akronchildrens.org. Select the patient you are scheduling for and click "Schedule an Appointment." Don't have MyChart?
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Speak with a scheduler
330-543-2778 (KID-APPT)
Locations
Akron Children's Pediatric Cardiology, Akron
Considine Professional Building
215 West Bowery Street
Level 5
Akron, Ohio 44308
Fax: 330-543-3850
More about this location...
Map & directions
Our Doctors/Providers
Director, Pediatric Cardiology and Adult Congenital Heart Service; Pediatric Cardiologist; Sunrise Endowed Chair in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery
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Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Center
In 2014, Akron Children’s and Cleveland Clinic signed an affiliation agreement that allowed our pediatric cardiovascular surgeons and adult congenital cardiologists to collaborate on patient cases, share best practices and combine outcome data. That affiliation agreement has been expanded to include both organizations’ pediatric and adult congenital heart programs, giving your family access to the very best pediatric cardiac care close to home, including surgical care for the most serious and complex congenital heart defects.
The program, known as the Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Center, brings together a combined 30 pediatric cardiologists and surgeons who specialize in children and adults with congenital heart disease. This includes specialists from clinical cardiology, imaging, interventional cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery.
Your family will benefit from the collaboration between our teams – one based at a health care system ranked No. 1 in the world for adult cardiac care and one based at a nationally ranked freestanding, independent children’s hospital. The entire team meets weekly to discuss cases, giving you access to a broader range of experience and expertise.
Living with congenital heart disease.
Congenital heart disease, a type of defect in one or more structures of the heart or blood vessels, occurs in eight out of every 1,000 births. They range from simple defects that require no treatment to those requiring multiple surgeries. Thanks to continued advances in fetal imaging and surgical interventions, more children born with congenital heart defects are not only surviving but thriving into adulthood.
If your child has a congenital heart defect, their needs are much different than those with heart disease associated with the aging process. The Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Center has the expertise to provide your child with lifelong care and follow-up, including special attention to even the most ordinary life events and medical procedures, such as pregnancy or a dental visit. The center offers comprehensive diagnostics, lifestyle counseling, medical management, and interventional and surgical treatment for the full spectrum of conditions related to congenital heart disease.
Your child may receive care at the location of your choice. Heart surgeries are performed at the Akron Children’s Akron campus and Cleveland Clinic’s main campus in downtown Cleveland. Clinics are offered as far south as Mansfield, as far north as Ashtabula, as far west as Norwalk and as far east as Youngstown, making affiliated pediatric cardiologists easily accessible to your family.
