The Boston Children's Hospital Heart Center's Congenital Heart Valve Program is dedicated to the care of children and adults with congenital heart defects that involve absent or poorly functioning heart valves. Our care is driven by our research. To offer new and improved treatments to our patients, our scientists investigate many aspects of the heart and the conditions that affect it.Our cardiologists and surgeons have a strong record of excellence in caring for patients with heart valve disease. We focus on surgical valve repair rather than replacement, and whenever possible we take the most minimally invasive approach to treatment. Using innovative three-dimensional imaging, we determine the right approach for treating heart valve disease. With our new catheter techniques, we can improve the function of heart valves that were once considered untreatable. Through clinical trials and evaluations of different techniques, we are determining the safety and effectiveness of new surgical valve therapies. Innovations: When patients come to Boston Children's with severe forms of congenital heart valve disease, it is critically important for us to create an accurate "roadmap" to determine what kind of treatment is needed. To guide us, cardiologists and surgeons from Boston Children's have been working with our colleagues in industry to develop the methods and techniques that provide the most "real-life" in-depth view of heart valves. While the results of these efforts continue to evolve, our patients are already benefiting from these advanced imaging techniques. http://www.childrenshospital.org/centers-and-services/programs/a-_-e/congenital-heart-valve-program/congenital-heart-valve-program

• published: 25 Sep 2013
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