The Helen B. Taussig Congenital Heart Center at Johns Hopkins, a world leader in advancing pediatric cardiology care, continues to serve the needs of children from the mid-Atlantic region, around the country, and overseas. Considered the birthplace of modern pediatric cardiology, with milestones like development in 1944 of the first open-heart surgery to correct congenital heart defects in infants – known as the “blue baby operation” – the Helen B. Taussig Congenital Heart Center offers services unmatched by any hospital in the region.
Care for patients with congenital heart disease is provided by our clinical faculty and staff, including 13 board certified pediatric cardiologists who see more than 6,000 outpatient visits each year, and two pediatric cardiac surgeons who operate on more than 300 infants, children and adults with congenital heart disease each year. We provide services in the following areas:
- Congenital Heart Disease in Children
- Congenital Heart Disease in Adults
- Cardiac Surgery
- Cardiac Transplantation Evaluation
- Complex Heart Rhythm Problems
- Fetal Cardiology
- General Pediatric Cardiology
- Genetic Cardiology
- Interventional Cardiac Catheterization
Heartbeats: Catching Kawasaki Early
Kawasaki disease (KD), an acute inflammation of blood vessels, affecting at least 20 to 25 per 100,000 children under age 5 in this country (as well as infants and teens), can be fatal. If not detected and treated early with IV gamma globulin, it can lead to life-threatening coronary artery aneurysms, ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction. To complicate matters, the cause of this particular vasculitis is unknown, there is no one diagnostic test, and its signs and symptoms, which mirror those of a number of infectious diseases – including measles and scarlet fever – can be misleading.
Learn More About Heartbeats: Catching Kawasaki Early