Heart Institute

Expert care. Expert caring.

At Arkansas Children's Heart Institute, your care team is in your corner. From state-of-the-art technology to the art of caring, everything we do is centered around providing the best possible outcome for your family.


Your healthier-ever-after story begins here

World of cardiovascular care options - backed by world-class care. As the only program in the state dedicated to pediatric cardiac care, we diagnose and treat a comprehensive list of both acquired and congenital heart diseases and conditions in infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

Higher is better

The more operations we do, the more experience we have, and experience is the key to good outcomes. STS considers ACH a high-volume surgical center with a large enough volume to ensure experience in treating all congenital cardiac lesions.

Lower is better

Cross-clamp time is the time in minutes during which the aorta is occluded (closed off) to allow surgical repair. During this time, oxygenated blood flow is stopped to the tissues being repaired. The lower the cross-clamp time, the lower the risk of complication.

Arkansas Children's cross-clamp times are consistently shorter than the industry benchmark. This means our team has the skill to quickly and safely complete the surgical repair.

Lower is better

Less time in the hospital means more time at home with family. On average, our patient's post-operative total length of stay across all categories is shorter at ACH compared to other national sites.

We get to know the child—not just the patient

Meet some of our favorite people

They're more than our patients-they're our heroes. Our care teams get to know everyone we treat, and we're privileged to share a few of their incredible stories.

View All Patient Stories
600+

The 600+ cases we treat in state-of-the-art catheterization labs result in less time under anesthesia and faster recovery.

Learn more about our Cath Lab

Partners on every level

We understand that many congenital defects require a lifetime of care, and our multidisciplinary teams have a singular focus: improving the whole health of the child. We believe the very best pediatric heart care begins before birth and extends well into adulthood - and we provide access to all the resources they need-all within one health system.

We get to know you

When it comes to treating your child, you are the biggest expert in the room. As a parent, you know your child best, and your experience and perspective are invaluable to the treatment plan.

Our interdisciplinary care team has a singular goal-doing what's best for your child. We'll coordinate all the details, from diagnosis to imaging to treatment to aftercare to follow-up monitoring-all to get your child home sooner.

Meet the team 

Less invasive procedures

At Arkansas Children's Heart Institute, we've built our reputation on performing less-invasive procedures. We treat more than 600 cases each year in our Cath Lab, and our outcomes include one of the lowest mortality rates among cardiac centers of comparable size, and shorter length of stay than other national sites.

Source: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) National Database

Learn About Our Cath Lab 

Communication is critical

Pediatricians deeply invest in the well-being of the children under their care. We understand how much trust they're putting in our hands when they make a referral. That's why we believe so strongly in thoughtful collaboration and frequent communication. We discuss the patient's care before, during and after the procedure.

Always raising the bar

Because cardiovascular science never stops evolving, neither will we. Our researchers constantly monitor and study data from the people we care for and their insights fuel discoveries. With each innovation or lesson learned, our best practices keep getting better-and so does our ability to do more for your child.

Explore Heart Research and Innovation 

Here for all of life's moments

Services

Congenital heart disease is often a bigger challenge than just the heart itself. That's why our approach to cardiac care includes everything from social workers to nutritionists to neurologists.

These additional resources are often critical to supporting the patient in every aspect of their lives—and we offer them all under one roof at the Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute.


Surgery

From diagnostic to interventional to electrophysiology tests and procedures, our specially trained team performs more than 600 cardiac catheterization procedures each year.

This consistently high volume of cases has given our team the best possible experience to provide exceptional outcomes.


Adult Program

Because some forms of congenital heart disease (CHD) often require lifelong medical attention—and other forms don’t show symptoms until adulthood— Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute provides personalized care to patients of all ages.

Serving the entire region, the ACHD Program currently cares for more than 1,100 patients—many of whom have been treated at Arkansas Children’s since childhood.


Heart Resources