Celebrating 50 years of excellence in pediatric heart transplantation!

The Stanford pediatric heart transplantation program is one of the oldest and largest programs in the world

Learn more about our milestones

Virtual visits available

Consult with your provider conveniently from home

Seeking a better way to match donor hearts

Leveraging 3D imaging software to expand the potential donor pool

Learn more about this software

Santana receives groundbreaking heart-lung procedure

Novel heart-lung procedure gives toddler a chance at a full life

Heart team combines two highly complex specialties in a unique surgical procedure

Learn more about Santana's story

Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Therapies (PACT) Program

Having a child with a serious heart condition that may require heart transplant can feel scary and overwhelming. It’s important to find a heart center that is well equipped to care for your child’s unique needs and yours, as a family. As one of the first heart centers in the nation to innovatively combine heart failure and heart transplantation into a single program, we provide world-class, highly individualized care to children of all ages. We care for children along all stages of the treatment spectrum, from diagnostic evaluations to heart failure treatment, ventricular assist device implantation, and heart transplantation.

Why choose us for your child’s advanced heart care needs

Learn more about the PACT program at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and how we can help provide the best care for your child’s advanced heart needs.

Our large, comprehensive team of pediatric heart experts at the renowned Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center (cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, heart transplant specialists, fetal cardiologists, cardiovascular intensive care specialists) empowers us to care for children with the highest level of complex congenital heart conditions and heart failure. As part of a top children’s hospital, we also have access to experts in liver, kidneys, and lungs to support all organs that may be affected by a heart condition, as well as cardiac genetic counselors, cardiac psychologists, transplant coordinators, and social workers to support your family through the transplant process.

Despite treating some of the most difficult and highly complex heart failure cases, including multi-organ heart transplants, and transplanting an extraordinary number of babies younger than 1 year old, we achieve outstanding outcomes. Our achievements include attaining one-year survival rates of over 94% for heart transplant, exceeding the national average. We do not hesitate to take on the smallest and sickest patients, even those who could not be treated elsewhere.

Our many clinical firsts and research-driven approach enable us to improve patient care and outcomes. We offer our patients novel, leading-edge treatment options, backed by our respected research university, including therapies for transplant immunosuppression and a unique donor-matching technique with computerized tomography (CT) scans that ensures the best donor match and reduces wait times for heart transplant.

Mackenzie, Stanford Medicine Children's Health 500th Heart Transplant

Meet Mackenzie, our 500th heart transplant patient

Stanford Medicine Children’s Health achieves rare milestone in pediatric heart transplantation. Tiffany Collins never would have guessed that her healthy, active daughter, Mackenzie, would be the 500th heart transplant patient.

Read Mackenzie's story >

Patient Stories

Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Therapies Program (PACT) Care Team

David Rosenthal, MD

Director, PACT Program | Director, Thoracic Organ Transplantation Program

Cardiology

Christopher Almond, MD

Director, Cardiac Anticoagulation Services

Cardiology

Daniel Bernstein, MD

Alfred Woodley Salter and Mabel G. Salter Endowed Professor in Pediatrics

Cardiology

Chiu-Yu Chen, MD

Pediatric Cardiology

John Dykes, MD

Pediatric Cardiology

Seth Hollander, MD

Medical Director of Heart Transplantation

Cardiology

Beth Kaufman, MD

Director, Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Program

Cardiology

Michael Ma, MD

Division Chief, Pediatric Cardiac Surgery | Surgical Director, Complex Biventricular Reconstruction Program | Surgical Director, Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Therapies (PACT) Program

Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery

Elisabeth Martin, MD

Surgical Director, Pulmonary Artery Reconstruction | Surgical Director, Bloodless Cardiac Surgery | Surgical Director, Pediatric Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant | Surgical Co-Director, Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program | Surgical Director, Center for Advanced Lung (CEAL) Therapies

Cardiac Surgery