Medical services for fetuses, neonates and infants with congenital heart disease
- We offer specialised Clinics for fetal scanning with options of early intervention in the heart of the fetus in utero (where appropriate), such as in cases of resistant arrhythmias to medical therapy or aortic/pulmonary stenosis with small and dysfunctional ventricles.
- Specialist Neonatologists look after the prenatally diagnosed newborn and a group of pediatric cadiologists take over his care immediately and start the appropriate treatment.
- Specialised examinations are performed, such as cardiac MRI, CT with low radiation, cardiac catheterisation and treatment by either cardiac catheterisation or open heart surgery follows in the appropriate cases.
- In our Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at MITERA Children’s Hospital, the frequency of neonatal infections is extremely small, with nearly zero mortality secondary to infections and absence of multidrug resistant organisms during the examined six year period (2011-2016).
In order to achieve the best possible results, MITERA Children’s Hospital has the last generation of relevant equipment, so that diagnostic and interventional procedures can be performed quickly and safely.
The successful clinical outcome of each case is attributed to multiple factors:
- Early and thorough prenatal diagnosis that has a direct effect on the optimal outcome of the newborn after birth.
- The most modern and documented imaging and its analysis before any trancatheter or surgical operation.
- Adhesion to protocols and guidelines of the European Pediatric Cardiology Society and the American Heart Association.
- Excellent collaboration and team work between all involved sub-specialities (Children’s Intensive Care Units, pediatric anesthetists and highly specialized nurses) as well as paediatric sub-specialties that create a safety net for each child.
The Pediatric Cardiology & Adult Congenital Heart Disease Departments are leading Units in Greece in the following fields:
- Performance of cardiac MRIs in premature and low birth weight babies
- Hybrid cardiac catheterisations under magnetic resonance guidance to avoid the use of ionizing radiation.
- Specialist transcatheter interventional techniques, such as stent implantation, recanalization of occluded vessels and transcatheter implantation of heart valves to avoid open surgery.