Seattle Children’s Heart Center
With 28 clinic locations across Washington, Alaska and Montana, our heart program continues to expand our reach to provide top pediatric care close to home to more kids in our region.
Contact the Heart Center
The most experienced pediatric cardiologists and heart surgeons in the Pacific Northwest
At Seattle Children’s Heart Center, we diagnose and treat every kind of heart problem, from before birth through childhood and into young adulthood. Whether a condition is mild or life-threatening, we offer world-class, family-centered heart care, from fetal diagnosis to repair of the most complex congenital heart defects.
Our pediatric cardiologists and cardiac surgeons have more advanced training and experience treating babies, children and teens than at any other children’s hospital in the Pacific Northwest.
For more than a decade, U.S. News & World Report has consistently ranked our Heart Center among the top pediatric cardiology and heart surgery programs in the country, which means your child will be cared for by the very best.
Why Choose Us
At Seattle Children’s Heart Center, our outcomes are among the best in the nation for simple to complex heart procedures and transplants for children. Our heart surgeons perform more pediatric cardiac procedures than any other providers in the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho (WWAMI) region. Expert care starts even before birth through our Fetal Center.
Our Heart Center Services
Heart Surgery and Heart Transplant Program
Seattle Children’s pediatric heart surgeons are experts in all procedures from simple, like closing a hole in the heart, to complex, like switching the placement of major blood vessels. We performed a successful transplant for a baby the day he was born, making him the youngest infant in the Pacific Northwest to receive a new heart.
Blood Conservation and Bloodless Surgery
We have the most advanced program in the country to limit or avoid the need for blood products or blood transfusions in children with cardiac conditions. Limiting blood loss during surgery is the standard of care for all Heart Center patients. We’re a national leader in bloodless heart surgery, done without using any stored or donated blood products.
Heart Failure Program
Our Heart Failure Program is the only one in the Pacific Northwest with the depth of medical and surgical expertise to offer every type of therapy for heart failure in children. We use the latest technology, including advanced mechanical support, like ventricular assist devices. Often we can improve a child’s heart function and quality of life and avoid or delay a heart transplant.
Enhanced Cross-Sectional Imaging
To diagnose your child’s condition and design an intervention, like catheterization or surgery, that matches their needs, we use state-of-the-art imaging. With cardiac , cardiac and other advanced technologies, we can create detailed pictures of your child’s heart and blood vessels noninvasively.
Ventricular Assist Devices
A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a mechanical pump that can be used for patients waiting for a heart transplant or whose heart muscle needs to rest. Seattle Children’s is a leader in VAD care for children with complex congenital heart disease. Our growing VAD program offers many types of VADs, including newer options not available at every hospital.
Heart Conditions We Treat
We offer treatment from birth through young adulthood for the whole range of heart diseases, including these:
Single-ventricle defects
Septal defects (hole in the heart)
Valve defects
More heart conditions
Meet Shirley
Shortly after birth, Shirley underwent open-heart surgery at Seattle Children’s to treat a rare congenital heart defect called truncus arteriosus. After returning home to Tacoma, Shirley’s family quickly established care with Josiah Penalver, MD, a pediatric cardiologist at Seattle Children’s South Sound Cardiology Clinic — just a short drive from their home.
“It’s such a relief to have Shirley’s heart team nearby,” says Shirley’s mom, Brianna. “Seattle Children's South Sound Cardiology is like having Seattle Children's Hospital in Tacoma.”
Meet Hermann
Newborn Hermann Ntuadi needed surgery for heart failure. For his family, getting the best care meant finding a team that would respect their faith. As Jehovah’s Witnesses, they abstain from accepting blood transfusions, once thought to be essential during heart operations.
Thankfully, they found Seattle Children’s, home to the nation’s largest blood conservation program. Hermann is doing great after our experts repaired his heart in a transfusion-free procedure.
Learn more about your child's treatment options
If you have a referral, please call us at 206-987-2515. For a Heart Surgery second opinion, please fill out this form. A second opinion is a chance to confirm the features of your child's disease and get advice on the best treatment options.
Paying for Care
Learn about paying for care at Seattle Children's, such as insurance coverage, billing and financial assistance.
Contact the Heart Center at 206-987-2515 for an appointment, a second opinion or more information.