Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) recently opened a new Fetal Cardiac Clinic for expectant mothers to diagnose and treat congenital heart defects and heart diseases before birth. This is part of a growing trend where expert congenital heart hospitals look to intervene earlier in some patients to improve outcomes after birth.

“Children’s Hospital Los Angeles takes care of the most high-level, complex cardiac patients in Southern California, and that includes babies still in utero,” explained Paul Kantor, MBBCh, MSc, FRCPC, chief of the Division of Cardiology and co-director of the Heart Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in a statement. “With the launch of our new Fetal Cardiac Clinic, we now have a dedicated space that can serve as a one-stop shop for families in need of comprehensive prenatal diagnostic testing and counseling for cardiac anomalies.”

Imaging and diagnostics of fetal heart patients 

The state-of-the-art, 3,000 square-foot Fetal Cardiac Clinic features three fetal 3D/4D ultrasound scanning rooms. CHLA also uses fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to help diagnose more complex prenatal conditions and tailor treatments that can lead to improved outcomes, the hospital said. 

The clinic provides testing with maternal hyperoxygenation (MHO) to predict potential problems with prenatal to postnatal transition of the heart and lungs in patients with the highest risk forms of fetal heart disease. Because fetuses do not use their lungs to breathe, the extent to which a heart defect will impact flow through the lungs can be difficult to determine before birth. CHLA said MHO testing allows the medical team to better predict outcomes and risk-stratify pregnancies to the appropriate delivery and postnatal care plans.

“We recognize that learning your unborn baby might have a heart condition can be one of the most stressful, trying times in a parent’s life,” Jodie Votava-Smith, MD, director of the Fetal Cardiology Program, said in a statement. “As a leader in complex prenatal diagnosis, CHLA’s team of specialists is uniquely equipped to provide families with exceptional medical care and emotional support for every step of the journey, as well as cutting-edge research programs and clinical trials aimed at supporting pregnant mothers and improving neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with congenital heart disease.”

Services provided at the fetal clinic include congenital heart disease diagnosis and counseling, congestive heart failure evaluation and management, arrhythmia diagnosis and management, cardiac interventions, cardiothoracic surgery consultations and prenatal to postnatal care integration.

The Fetal Cardiology Program is part of the nationally ranked Heart Institute at CHLA. Its staff includes a congenital heart team composed of fetal cardiologists, fetal nurse care managers, fetal sonographers, cardiothoracic surgeons, interventional cardiologists, social workers and psychologists. 

High-volume congenital heart surgical center

If a child requires surgical intervention post-delivery, CHLA’s cardiothoracic surgery program has one of the highest volume programs in the U.S., performing about 850 surgeries a year. More than 20% of CHLA’s heart surgery patients are neonates, and more than 50% of CHLA’s neonatal heart surgeries are high-complexity cases.

CHLA is recognized in U.S. News & World Report’s Honor Roll of Best Children’s Hospitals.