Heart Failure/Cardiomyopathy Program

The heart failure/cardiomyopathy program, established under the umbrella of our nationally renowned heart transplantation program here at Arkansas Children's Hospital, is an interdisciplinary team dedicated to the care of this unique subset of patients. Excellence in the heart transplant program has provided a strong foundation on which to build a heart failure/cardiomyopathy program; this includes the ability to offer state of the art care with life-saving mechanical circulatory support options as well as outstanding mobile ECMO services.

With quality pediatric cardiac care as the main goal, care provided results in prolongation of and improved quality of life. Dedicated to providing the highest quality care for children with potential life-threatening congenital or acquired heart disease and giving them the best chance for survival, the teams primary areas of strength include:

• Multidisciplinary team approach which includes cardiologists, surgeons, cardiac intensive care specialists, nurse practitioners, nurses, dieticians, pharmacists, and social support.
• Evidence-based practice, outcomes-based care and advanced research for increasing survival and quality of life in these patient populations.

Innovative measures and quality initiatives in diagnosis and management of heart failure and cardiomyopathy patients, such as improving care with mechanical support devices in heart failure and genetic testing for identifying familial disease in cardiomyopathy.

Possible Conditions

The heart failure/cardiomyopathy team consists of UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) certified pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, pediatric cardiologists, cardiac specialty nurse practitioners and other professionals who are skilled experts in the field of pediatric cardiology. Inpatient and outpatient consultation is provided for diagnosis, management and prognosis of all types of heart failure/cardiomyopathy.

Some of the more common forms include:

• Failed palliation of congenital heart disease
• Primary and secondary dilated cardiomyopathy
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
• Restrictive cardiomyopathy
• Left ventricular non-compaction
• Cardiomyopathy associated with neurologic/genetic disorders.

The heart failure/cardiomyopathy team has the best in non-invasive cardiac assessment available for evaluating patients, including:

• Cardiac echocardiography with 3D and strain modalities
• Cardiac CT scan
• Cardiac MRI

Locations