A large team of people from across the cardiothoracic department work with the children's congenital cardiac services. There are 4 paediatric cardiologists:
Dr James Gnanapragasam
Dr Joseph Vettukattil
Dr Kevin Roman
Dr Tony Salmon
And 7 cardiac surgery consultants / surgeons:
Clifford Barlow
Markku Kaarne
Michael Lavrsen
Michael Lavrsen
Steve Livesey
Suni Ohri
Geoffrey Tsang
Nicola Viola
If your child is being treated by the congenital cardiac service, you are also likely to meet:
Consultant Cardiac Anaesthetist - Dr David Smith
Paediatric Nurse Specialists /
Cardiac Liaison Nurses (CLN) - Collette Cochran and Gill Harte
Paediatric Liaison Nurses - Doreen McPail and Katie Stimson
(they are the link between the children and their families and the consultants)
Cardiographer - Bonnie Woodhouse
Senior Ward Sister - Margaret Porter
Ward Clerk - Caroline Groszewski
Staff Nurse - Mike Baker and Natasha Coombes
Adult Cardiac Liaison Nurses - Lynda Tellet and Melanie Finch
Children who come under the care of congenital cardiac services, stay on the hospital's purpose built paediatric ward, E1 - known as Ocean Ward. They see babies and children who are referred to them following outpatient appointments as well as emergency patients. The department carries out diagnostic tests to establish the cause of any suspected heart problems and these tests may include:
ECG
Chest X-Ray
Echo-cardiogram
MRI Scan
Cardiac Catheter
Southampton General Hospital has one of the best 3D echo-cardiography service in the world. It helps them to visualise and analyse cardiac defects in three dimensions. There is a dedicated 3D echolab situated in the cardiac department.
The cardiac department also performs highly complex surgery on patients who only have one main pumping chamber (ventricle) in their heart. Single ventricle surgery is about re-routing the patient's blood supply to ensure that they can pump blood around their body effectively. Southampton is the leading unit in the country for performing this type of operation and takes single ventricle patient referrals from all over the UK.
If there is an abnormality, your child may undergo treatment, which may include:
Minor - such as surgery to correct a heart valve abnormality or small holes in the heart
Major - including catheter (or keyhole) procedures and open heart surgery
The department performs around 200 catheter operations a year and 300 surgical operations a year on people with congenital heart problems.
A catheter is a fine, hollow, plastic tube. It can be inserted via a vein or artery in either the groin or arm and is guided through the blood vessels. It can be used to take pictures of the blood vessels, look at the structure of the heart or as treatment to widen arteries that have become narrow and clogged.
The congenital cardiac services department is able to carry out very complex catheter procedures due to its state of the art equipment, computer software and imaging facilities.
Common heart surgeries include closing holes in the heart, opening up and restoring or repairing heart valves or opening up arteries. This are just a few examples of the heart surgery undertaken.
