Children’s Heart Institute

Chandler Cruises with Heart

During an ultrasound, it was discovered that Danielle’s unborn baby had a congenital heart defect. Her unborn daughter Chandler would need three planned heart surgeries, heart catheterizations and life-long specialized cardiac care.

The Right Way to Josue's Heart

An ultrasound revealed that one of the four chambers in unborn Josue's heart had not developed.

Congenital Heart Defects

Congenital heart defects are America’s most common birth defect. Each year, approximately 40,000 babies are born in the United States with a congenital heart defect.

Lucy Hosts Parties Full of Heart

At 2-years-old, a cardiac MRI confirmed that Lucy had partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (PAPVR), which is when the pulmonary veins do not connect normally to the left atrium.

Our Children’s Heart Institute provides total prenatal, infant, pediatric and young adult heart care for patients with congenital or acquired heart disease, patients who have a family history of heart problems, or kids and teens who are diagnosed with a congenital heart defect later in life.

We diagnose pediatric heart disease using non-invasive or minimally invasive tests and procedures, such as electrocardiograms, echocardiograms, exercise stress test, 24-hour holter monitor and heart catheterization. We have a state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization laboratory, which includes bi-plane imaging, enhancing a doctor’s vision to see the smallest vessels – which is especially important for infants and kids with such tiny hearts – throughout the body and create a "roadmap" for treating each patient's unique condition.

For children with heart disease that require cardiac surgery, our care team works closely with surgeons from the start of the procedure, follows the patient through discharge from the hospital, and into post-operative follow-up care at the Cardiology Center (CCS) in Long Beach. There also is a satellite center in Torrance for cardiology care for South Bay residents, along with the Healthy Kids Program.