CVICU Services and Outcomes

The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) has the facility, team and expertise to treat children with the most complex heart problems.

Our services include:

Care after heart surgery
Preoperative, postoperative and posttransplant critical care
Advanced therapies for children with heart failure, arrhythmias and pulmonary hypertension
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)

We are available at all times to assist our Children’s Heart Center colleagues with:

Cardiovascular imaging
Cardiac catheterization
Evaluation and management of patients with complex electrophysiologic, heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, or heart transplantation issues

An attending doctor is in the hospital and available to care for your child 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Research shows that this on-site availability has been shown to improve care and decrease complications and hospital length of stay.

Bridge to heart transplantation. We care for many children with severe heart failure to prepare them for a procedure known as a “bridge to transplantation”.

The “bridge” is a mechanical heart pump, usually a ventricular assist device (VAD). The VAD is surgically implanted until a donor heart can be obtained. Packard Children’s Hospital was the first program in the western United States for VAD implantation.

Excellent Outcomes for Children with the Most Complex Heart Conditions

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital cares for some children with the most complex diagnoses and illnesses in the United States and maintains very positive patient outcomes. In fact, Children’s Heart Center patients – including those with the most complex cardiac conditions – have unsurpassed survival rates.

We invite you to learn more about our Children’s Heart Center outcomes and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital’s quality data.

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Information for Parents of Children in the CVICU >>