In some cases, open heart surgery is not the only option for treating children with congenital heart disease. Some congenital heart defects can be treated in our cardiac catheterization lab (cath lab) without surgery and with minimal sedation, and provide the same outcomes as open heart surgery.
In the cardiac cath labs, pediatric interventional cardiologists insert a small tube called a catheter into to the heart chamber to either diagnose a congenital heart defect or correct the defect. To diagnose, pediatric interventional cardiologists place catheters into the heart chamber and inject dyes in order to clearly see the pathways of the heart, and photograph them for further planning.
Cardiac cath lab procedures can also correct blood flow, repair a hole in the heart or place a stent. This allows for a much quicker recovery than open heart surgery.
Hybrid Catheterization Lab
Our Heart Institute offers the only hybrid catheterization labs in the region. If our specialists believe your child needs surgery during a cath procedure, the rooms also serve as operating rooms, providing Le Bonheur pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons with a sterile environment for operation.
The Heart Institute also holds a hybrid MRI and cardiac cath suite - one of only 10 centers in the country to have a hybrid MRI/cardiac cath lab and the first in Tennessee and the region. Le Bonheur physicians are partnering with vendors to lead the way in developing cardiac catheterization procedures, devices and protocols that can be used for cath procedures inside the MRI suite. Using MRI-guided catheterization reduces radiation exposure and provides more detailed images for complex procedures.
This suite will also be a dedicated MRI for Heart Institute patients, which avoids transferring patients to another floor for heart imaging.
Our electrophysiologists use the cath labs to diagnose and correct heart rhythm disorders.
For more information, contact us at cardiac@lebonheur.org or 1-866-870-5570.
