Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Program
We're focused on the future of pediatric cardiology, and that future includes you.
The Heart Center at Children's Hospital New Orleans partners with LSU Health New Orleans to provide the only pediatric cardiology fellowship training program in Louisiana. We love working with passionate general pediatricians to give them specialized training needed to become the successful pediatric cardiologists of tomorrow.
“Ultimately, the legacy we leave as clinicians and professors is not only excellent, life-long medical care to our patients but also excellent teaching and career development to our trainees” says Dr. Thomas Kimball, the Chief of Pediatric Cardiology for LSU and Co-Director of the Children’s Hospital New Orleans Heart Center.
The program’s Fellowship Director, Dr. Kelly Gajewski, shares, “Our entire pediatric cardiology faculty is dedicated to providing excellent education, in not only the clinical science of pediatric cardiology but also in clinical research, quality improvement and in leadership skills.”
Learn more about the fellowship program
Heart Health Services for Children & Adolescents
The Cardiology Department of The Heart Center at Children’s Hospital provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment of children and adults with a full range of cardiovascular conditions, from clinic consultations for innocent heart murmurs to intensive care of critically ill patients with complex congenital heart disease.
Common conditions treated in the heart center:
- Heart murmurs
- Syncope (fainting)
- Chest pain
- Palpitations or irregular heart rhythms
- Heart failure and cardiomyopathies
- Congenital heart defects
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
In addition to the services provided at Children’s Hospital, the cardiologists travel to off-site clinics in Covington, Metairie, Marrero, Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Gulfport, and Thibodaux. They also provide expert interpretations of echocardiograms and electrocardiograms (EKGs) from a number of referral centers around the state and provide telemedicine consultations for patients in remote locations.
Cardiology fellowship program
Through The Heart Center’s partnership with LSU Health New Orleans, Children’s Hospital has the only pediatric cardiology fellowship training program in Louisiana. This provides interested general pediatricians the specialized training needed to become successful pediatric cardiologists. In addition, LSU Health medical students and residents receive training in the diagnosis and management of heart disease in children.
Learn More About the Fellowship Program
The Children’s Hospital Department of Cardiology is proud to provide the following services to its patients:
Cardiac Catheterization
Advanced, invasive diagnostic and interventional procedures are performed in a specialized digital biplane Cardiovascular Catheterization Laboratory. Two pediatric and congenital interventional cardiologists provide expertise in every available form of diagnostic and interventional procedures, including:
- Device closure of Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA), and Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD)
- Transcatheter valve replacements
- Balloon or stent angioplasty for revascularization of narrowed blood vessels
- Embolization of abnormal collateral vessels or AVMs
- Atrial septostomy for infants born with transposition of the great arteries, or other severe congenital heart defects
- Valvuloplasty for narrowed heart valves
- They also work collaboratively with our surgeons to provide “hybrid” procedures when clinically indicated.
Follow our friend Willie and his dad as they give you a behind the scenes look at our Cardiac Catheterization Lab and the admission process prior to your scheduled procedure. With the growing involvement of digital media into healthcare, our extraordinary Cath Lab team of doctors and nurses want to offer patients and families this video to help you learn what to expect before visiting Children’s Hospital New Orleans. Partnering with The Association for Medical Imaging Management/Canon Medical systems "Putting Patients First" Program, we are proud to introduce you to our team and give you an inside look at a day in the life of a cardiac catheterization patient.
Electrophysiology
The Heart Center has an electrophysiologist that provides comprehensive diagnostic and interventional procedures for patients with heart rhythm abnormalities, including Holter and event monitoring, implantable loop recorders, exercise stress testing, implantation and monitoring of pacemakers and defibrillators (AICDs), as well as electrophysiology studies and ablation procedures. The center also provides an in-depth evaluation of patients with a family history of sudden cardiac death or familial dysrhythmias.
Heart Failure/Cardiomyopathy Program
The heart failure/cardiomyopathy program is part of an interdisciplinary team under our well-established cardiology program at Children's Hospital New Orleans. Our team consists of board-certified pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, pediatric cardiologists, and cardiac specialty nurse practitioners who are skilled experts in the field of pediatric cardiology. We provide both inpatient and outpatient consultation for diagnosis, management, and prognosis of all types of heart failure/cardiomyopathy, some of the more common forms include failed congenital heart disease repair, primary and secondary dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, restrictive cardiomyopathy, left ventricular non-compaction, and cardiomyopathy associated with neurologic/genetic disorders.
Fetal Cardiology
The growing Fetal Cardiology Clinic provides expert anatomic and functional assessments of the tiniest of hearts – particularly the fetuses of new mothers with family or personal histories of cardiac defects, rhythm disturbances, or other abnormal findings detected by their obstetrician. Detailed consultations help diagnose cardiac abnormalities in utero, and if necessary, prepare the family, the obstetric providers, and The Heart Center team with a delivery and transport plan, hospital tour, information about the baby’s cardiac diagnosis and a meeting with the cardiac surgeons, when necessary.
The fetal cardiologists work closely with the perinatologists, neonatologists and congenital heart surgeons to provide the highest level of care for babies with a cardiac abnormality during pregnancy, labor and delivery and in the neonatal period.
Adult congenital heart disease
The mission of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program within The Heart Center at Children’s Hospital New Orleans is to provide comprehensive care for the adolescent and adult with congenital heart disease regardless of age or illness severity. Our clinic offers a complete range of diagnostic and treatment services for patients with adult congenital heart disease, including minimally-invasive procedures. Children's is one of only 44 programs nationwide to receive this accreditation and is the only hospital in Louisiana and the Gulf South to earn this distinction from the Adult Congenital Heart Association. Learn more.
Pediatric coronary artery disease
The Pediatric Coronary Artery Clinic of the Heart Center is one of only a few pediatric coronary programs in the country and the only program of its kind in the Southeast. The Clinic provides special expertise in the diagnosis and management of pediatric coronary artery disease. Specific conditions that we treat include Kawasaki Disease and congenital problems of the coronary arteries such as abnormal origins or courses of the arteries. The team consists of specialists in pediatric cardiology, preventive cardiology, pediatric cardiovascular surgery, and adult congenital heart disease. Visits consist of a comprehensive evaluation including a thorough history and physical examination, electrocardiogram, and echocardiogram. In many instances, the visit will also included imaging with a CT scan and stress testing. This information is reviewed by the team to arrive at a detailed and comprehensive management plan developed specifically for your child and family.
High Risk Home Monitoring Program
The Heart Center at Children’s Hospital New Orleans has a dedicated Home Monitoring Program for babies and infants with high-risk heart problems to decrease morbidity and mortality for these particularly vulnerable patients. The mission of the Children’s Hospital Heart Center Home Monitoring Program is to provide comprehensive care for all high-risk single ventricle patients between their first and second stages of surgical palliation as well as for those complex two ventricle patients requiring neonatal palliation prior to their definitive surgical repair. The interstage period for single ventricle patients is known to carry a higher mortality than any other timeframe during these patients’ lives, and careful monitoring has been shown to significantly decrease both their morbidity and mortality during this phase. Our goal is to decrease the number of re-admissions and interstage mortality, giving our single ventricle population the best quality of life. Learn more.
Non-invasive Imaging
The echocardiography laboratory performs over 5,500 echocardiograms each year for patients with congenital and acquired heart disease from fetal life and infancy through adulthood. The 5 pediatric cardiology imaging specialists and 9 trained pediatric cardiac sonographers provide transthoracic echocardiography services for both the inpatient and outpatient pediatric population, as well as transesophageal and epicardial imaging support in both the cardiac operating room and cardiac catheterization laboratory. Stress echocardiograms are offered as well as advanced analysis using 3-dimensional imaging.
The echocardiography laboratory is fully accredited by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) in transthoracic, transesophageal, and fetal echocardiography. Children’s Hospital also provides diagnostic imaging through our Radiology division, including cardiac MRI and CT angiography.
Neurodevelopment
Children with congenital heart disease are known to be at higher risk for neurodevelopmental impairment than the general population. These issues can affect multiple areas of development including intelligence, academic achievement, motor skills, language, psychosocial adjustment, attention, and executive functioning. The Heart Center at Children’s Hospital is dedicated to providing comprehensive care to all of our patients, including monitoring and treatment for any neurodevelopmental disabilities. We provide easy access to screening for all of our complex patients, with direct involvement of neurodevelopmental pediatricians.