Total anomalous pulmonary venous return. Hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Truncus arteriosus. Terms like these speak volumes to the parents of children with severe congenital heart defects.
Heart defects occur in about 1 in 100 babies, or about 40,000 U.S. newborns per year. While any such problem can be terrifying, the surgeries required for the most severe defects are particularly risky, and the road to a healthy childhood is especially long.
Some hospitals have more experience than others in treating the most severe forms of congenital heart disease, and those are where many parents turn if their child needs a high-risk operation. Studies show the more experience a hospital and its surgical team have in performing high-risk operations, the better outcomes tend to be.
To help this subset of CHD parents identify a hospital that may be best for their child, U.S. News compiled a list of 33 hospitals that meet the following two criteria.
Each medical center listed:
— Earned a top-50 ranking in the 2023-2024 Best Hospitals for Pediatric Cardiology & Heart Surgery rankings.
— And scored high or very high for the number of high-risk pediatric heart surgeries it has handled, which means it performed at least 150 such operations.
Each hospital’s corresponding ranking among the top 50 Best Hospitals for Pediatric Cardiology & Heart Surgery is also shown in the left-hand column below to provide parents with context.
33 Best Hospitals for Children With Severe Congenital Heart Disease
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Best Hospitals for Children With Severe Congenital Heart Disease 2023-2024 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 06/21/23: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new ranking results.