Stanford Medicine Children’s Heart Center

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Stanford Medicine Children’s Heart Center

From performing our first pediatric heart transplant 35+ years ago, to pioneering lifesaving surgery. and the world, our outcomes are outstanding.

Our world-renowned physicians at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health’s Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center have performed more than 2x the number of pediatric heart surgeries in recent years, when compared with the national average. When it comes to heart transplantation, we have performed our first successful pediatric heart transplant more than 35 years ago, and since then we have performed over 440 heart transplants in children of all ages. We’ve been the highest pediatric heart transplant volume center in California for nine consecutive years. And despite treating some of the most complex young patients in the U.S. Specialties:

• Pediatric cardiology
• Pediatric heart surgery
• Fetal cardiology
• Pulmonary artery reconstruction
• Heart transplantation
• Cardiovascular tissue disorders care
• Single ventricle care
• Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries care
• Pulmonary hypertension care
• Alagille syndrome care
• Congenital heart disease care
• Coronary anomalies care
• Bloodless cardiac surgery

To learn more or schedule an appointment, visit heart.stanfordchildrens.org. You can also reach our Heart Center by calling (650)-721-2121. Pediatric Cardiology - (650)-721-2121

Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery - (650)-724-2925

Heart Failure/Heart Transplant Care (PACT)- (650)-721 2598

International Referrals - (650)-709-3546

Please get involved by sharing your inspiring patient milestones with us. Submit your story ideas to social@stanfordchildrens.org. Digital Media Policy: http://bit.ly/digitalpolicy

Notice of Nondiscrimination: http://bit.ly/2e3UkCb

12/05/2025

After receiving lifesaving treatment at Stanford Medicine Children's Health, 17-year-old Rishi Radhakrishna is giving back in the form of music, turning his heart condition into hope for others.

Rishi was born with pulmonary stenosis—a congenital heart defect in which the pulmonary valve between the heart and lungs is abnormally thickened, increasing pressure within the heart’s right ventricle and making it harder for blood to flow from the heart to the lungs.

Now an intern in the lab of Casey Gifford, PhD, a Stanford School of Medicine scientist, Rishi was inspired to play at a piano concert to help raise funds for congenital heart disease research at Stanford Medicine. He played a set featuring classic rock hits from Billy Joel and Led Zeppelin, combining his passion for music with his hope of uncovering the underlying genetic causes of congenital heart disease.

Read more about Rishi’s story: https://bit.ly/4rdq1wH

11/27/2025

Today, we’re giving thanks to our resilient heart patients and their families, our compassionate and dedicated care teams, and the Stanford Medicine Children's Health community. We wish you all a warm and wonderful holiday. From all of us at the Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center, have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. ❤️

11/20/2025

During a routine newborn checkup at 6 days old, Penelope’s pediatrician identified hypothermia (a low body temperature) and referred her to their community hospital, El Camino Hospital, for further evaluation. Upon arrival, Penelope’s parents learned that her condition required advanced testing and specialized care, which led to her referral to the nationally ranked Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

After thorough testing by multiple teams and specialists, the team at Stanford Medicine Children's Health confirmed that many of Penelope’s health issues were related to her heart. Specifically, her ductus arteriosus, which connects the aorta and pulmonary artery, did not close after birth and was so large that it posed a risk of heart failure.

Shaun Setty, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon and surgical director of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit and director of Global Cardiac Care at Stanford Children’s, performed what he describes as a straightforward surgical procedure to address Penelope’s patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).

“When assessing Penelope prior to surgery, she exhibited rapid breathing, expending energy at high levels, and was not able to feed by mouth or do the typical things that other babies of her age are able to do,” recalls Dr. Setty.

Learn about how Penelope has been doing after her heart surgery. (Link in comments).

10/31/2025

Happy Halloween from our Outpatient Heart Center and PCU 200! 🎃 We wish you a very spooky holiday 👻

10/24/2025

Shiraz Maskatia, MD, is the director of the Congenital Coronary Artery Anomalies Program at Stanford Medicine Children's Health. Along with the other Coronary Artery Anomalies Program care team members, he provides comprehensive care for children and young adults with congenital coronary artery anomalies.

Our highly specialized pediatric Coronary Artery Anomalies Program is one of a few in the country and one of the largest, and has gained a national reputation for offering expert care and achieving exceptional outcomes.

Under Dr. Maskatia’s leadership, our cardiac imaging experts have a proactive approach to care and use advanced technology, sophisticated protocols, and the latest tests, including cardiac CT angiography, stress echocardiography, and stress cardiac MRIs, to offer a high caliber of care that’s unmatched in the region. Our entire program care team collaborates to analyze the risk for sudden cardiac arrest in children with congenital coronary anomalies and achieve a successful outcome.

Learn more about Dr. Maskatia: https://bit.ly/42POb5H

10/21/2025

When your child with heart disease needs a heart surgery or other type of heart procedure, knowing they are being cared for by an anesthesiologist who specializes in pediatric heart care brings peace of mind. Our Stanford Medicine Children's Health cardiac anesthesia team cares for infants, children, teens, and young adults with all types of heart conditions. Since anesthesia can impact heart function during a heart procedure, our focus is making sure your child receives tailored, expert cardiac anesthesia support before, during, and after, to ensure safe surgeries and contribute to your child’s best outcome.

Only large pediatric heart centers, like our Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center, are likely to have anesthesiologists who specialize in pediatric cardiac anesthesia and have experience caring for the most complicated patients and supporting highly complex surgeries. Our pediatric cardiac anesthesiologists at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health dedicate themselves to giving exceptional patient care and are national leaders in their field.

Learn more about our cardiac anesthesia team: https://bit.ly/3VfdXwc

10/08/2025

In recent years, Stanford Medicine Children's Health has been partnering with the Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation to round up our mental health and emotional support for Stanford Medicine Children’s Health pediatric heart patients and their families—at no cost.

At Stanford Children’s, our own Thrive Program team provides Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center patients and their families with emotional and social support and mental health care. Thrive Program is one of a handful of such programs in the nation.

For us, emotional, social, and mental health care are not extras, they are a part of your child’s heart care and an essential standard of care for our Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center patients and families. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4n1CxN6

09/29/2025

Twenty-five years ago, World Heart Day was created to raise awareness on heart disease around the world. Understanding risk factors, recognizing warning signs, and learning preventive measures are key steps in safeguarding heart health. At Stanford Medicine Children's Health, our deeply experienced Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center teams are deeply committed to keeping children’s hearts as healthy as possible. ❤️

09/25/2025

Marcus Li was only about 1 day old when he was diagnosed with a rare form of congenital heart disease. After he failed a standard newborn congenital heart disease test, Nikola Tede, MD, a Stanford Medicine Children's Health pediatric cardiologist, ordered an echocardiogram, which revealed that Marcus had total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR). With TAPVR, the pulmonary veins that carry blood to the heart from the lungs do not connect in the right spot during fetal development. The only treatment is urgent neonatal heart surgery.

Marcus was transported by the Stanford Children’s Critical Care Transport team to Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center for urgent heart surgery. Dr. Tede had put in a call to Michael Ma, MD, chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Stanford Children’s, and the two had discussed Marcus and the heart surgery, which involves moving the pulmonary veins to their correct location in the back of the heart.

The heart surgery went just as planned. “The first hour after the heart surgery, Marcus was on a bunch of wires, but each day he overcame another obstacle,” Lena says. “It was pretty magical for a baby to have open-heart surgery and be back home within 10 days.”

Learn more about Marcus’s surgery and recovery: https://bit.ly/4gJURIz

09/17/2025

Meet George Lui, MD, medical director of the Adult Congenital Heart Program at Stanford Medicine. Thanks to heart care advancements in the last 20 years, children with congenital heart disease are growing up, reaching adulthood, and leading fulfilling lives. This amazing medical achievement has created a need for a new medical specialty called adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) care.

The Adult Congenital Heart Program is a partnership between Stanford Medicine Children's Health and Stanford Health Care (our adult hospital) and extends to children of all ages, as well as adults with congenital heart disease. The aim of our collaborative program is to ensure a smooth transition to adult congenital heart care and continuity of care for the highest possible quality of life.

“One of the amazing parts about coming to Stanford is the collaboration that we have amongst all our providers,” says Dr. Lui.

Learn more about the Adult Congenital Heart Program: https://bit.ly/45NxsAQ

09/08/2025

Beth Kaufman, MD, is a highly specialized cardiologist at Stanford Medicine Children's Health who leads the Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Program for children with cardiomyopathy (where the heart becomes unusually weak or stiff, making it hard for it to pump blood efficiently to the rest of the body). A small group of children with cardiomyopathy may have symptoms of advanced heart failure or serious arrhythmias, or abnormal heartbeats. Childhood cardiomyopathy can occur at any age, but it’s most likely to present itself in a child’s first year of life or during the teen years.

As the director of the Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Program, Dr. Kaufman works diligently to catch and treat cardiomyopathy early, control her patients’ symptoms, slow or stop its progress, and avoid complications. The program’s ultimate goal is to help children live well with cardiomyopathy, and under Dr. Kaufman’s leadership, our multidisciplinary team of experts are able to provide care for children with all types of cardiomyopathies, from infancy to age 18 and into early adulthood.

Dr. Kaufman also lends her extensive knowledge to the Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Therapies (PACT) program to help pediatric patients who are experiencing heart failure and would be candidates for a heart transplant. In the PACT program, which is one of the first heart centers in the nation to innovatively combine heart failure and heart transplantation into a single program, we provide world-class, highly individualized care to children of all ages with heart failure and heart transplantation needs.

Discover more about Dr. Kaufman and the programs in which she’s providing expert care at Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center: https://bit.ly/4kujmdR

08/26/2025

In Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center’s Fetal Cardiology Program, we’re helping parents understand exactly how their baby’s heart is developing. Our expert team of fetal cardiologists uses advanced diagnostic procedures and technology—including fetal echocardiograms and fetal MRIs—to accurately diagnose heart disease and works closely with other specialists at Stanford Medicine Children's Health, including obstetricians, to ensure the best possible care plan for babies with congenital heart disease.

Learn more about the Fetal Cardiology Program at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and how we can help provide the best care before, during, and after the baby’s arrival: https://bit.ly/44Bytvc

Address

725 Welch Road
Palo Alto, CA
94304

Telephone

+16507212121

Website

http://heart.stanfordchildrens.org/

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