Boston Children’s Division of Outpatient Cardiology is one of the world’s oldest, largest, and most experienced pediatric programs.
Our clinic provides comprehensive evaluation and coordinated care for infants, children, and adults with various heart and heart-related illnesses, diseases, and conditions. We care for patients who have congenital heart disease and the congenital heart defects (CHDs) that it causes, conditions such as septal defects and tetralogy of Fallot. We also care for those who have acquired heart disease — conditions such as cardiomyopathy and hypertension.
Located on Boston Children’s main campus and at seven satellite clinics throughout Eastern Massachusetts, we ensure our patients can benefit from high-level outpatient care and not miss a beat with their lives.
Personalized care by a team of experts
Because of our program’s size, most of our cardiologists have the opportunity to subspecialize and focus on specific areas of heart care. Your cardiologist will understand your condition inside and out and recognize which treatment works best for you. And if your condition affects other aspects of your health, your cardiologist will include on your care team experts from other Boston Children’s specialty areas.
Our clinic is staffed by a team of highly-trained cardiologists, nurse practitioners, physician-assistants, registered nurses, technicians, echocardiography sonographers, fellows-in-training, and support personnel. Our specialized training and extensive years of collective experience in cardiac care means that we understand the many unique challenges of heart disease and know how to prepare and carry out the most appropriate individualized care plans.
How we care for our patients
When you come to one of our clinics, you will be assigned a primary cardiologist who will oversee your cardiovascular care. You may also see subspecialists who treat conditions and illnesses that are related to your heart condition.
First, to understand your heart, we might have you undergo one or more non-invasive diagnostic tests. They could include an electrocardiogram (EKG), echocardiogram (echo), Holter and event monitoring, exercise stress testing, or a stress-echocardiogram. Our world-class cross-sectional imaging technologies — two- and three-dimensional CT scans and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) — are another approach to providing an understanding of your cardiac health.
From there, you may participate in one or more of the following programs that offer specialized care for specific heart conditions and diseases:
- Advanced Cardiac Therapies uses innovative medical and surgical therapies to treat children whose hearts are failing from conditions such as cardiomyopathy and not responding to traditional treatments. The program’s staff also helps children who are awaiting a heart transplant get in the best possible health.
- Cardiac Fitness offers a supervised, individually tailored exercise and education program that improves cardiac health, confidence, and overall quality of life.
- The Center for Cardiovascular Genetics conducts genetic testing, examinations, and monitoring of children and adults to diagnose cardiovascular genetic conditions. The center also offers counseling and helps manage long-term clinical care.
- Electrophysiology specializes in the treatment of arrythmias. Specialists perform catheter-based procedures for all types of arrhythmias, and they implant devices such as pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), and implantable loop recorders (ILRs).
- The Preventive Cardiology Clinic aims to reduce the risk of acquiring or furthering heart disease by helping patients with their diet, exercise, and other lifestyle routines.
- The Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic helps manage and lessen the symptoms of pulmonary hypertension with individualized care that may include advanced treatments.
We also care for adults
Thanks to advances in medical and surgical care, many children born with congenital heart disease are now surviving and thriving into adulthood. Because so few CHDs are cured, these adults require lifelong follow-up care. In our Boston Adult Congenital Heart (BACH) and Pulmonary Hypertension program, we provide comprehensive diagnostic testing and, if needed, complete therapeutic interventions. We also coordinate patient care with other Boston Children's specialty services or at one of our affiliated hospitals.
My Hospital Story resources
These visual narratives are designed for children of a wide variety of ages and developmental levels to help prepare them for every step of their visit or procedure.
