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.

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Heart Institute Outcomes

Arkansas Children's Heart Institute was founded in 1985. Over the decades that followed, we've improved the lives of countless families, children and adults across the region. Our consistently high diagnostic, interventional and electrophysiology case volumes fuel our team toward exceptional outcomes.

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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.

Research and Innovation

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.

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Learn More About The Heart Institute Programs

Our 3D Heart Model Printing Center houses several 3D printers and design tools that generate colorful and tangible replicas of our patients' hearts that surgeons can hold in their hands. By visualizing the heart defect before surgery begins, patients often spend less time in the OR and less time recovering from major heart surgery.
The Arkansas Children's Adult Congenital Heart Disease program provides assists in the transition of patients from pediatric CHD programs to ensure there is no lapse in care. Learn More
Interventional cardiologists diagnose and treat pediatric heart conditions in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Arkansas Children's Hospital. Learn More
Cardiac imaging services include chest X-ray, computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), transesophageal echocardiography and ultrafast/electron beam CT scan. These non-invasive techniques provide pictures of the heart and information about how the heart is working to help diagnose and treat heart conditions.
The cardiology clinic at Arkansas Children's helps diagnose unknown pediatric heart conditions with: holter monitoring, transtelephonic ECG recording, 2- and 3-dimensional echocardiography and exercise stress testing. Learn More
Arkansas Children's Heart Institute is nationally ranked in cardiology and heart surgery and offers a full spectrum of pediatric heart surgeries including complete repairs, palliative surgeries and heart transplantation. Cardiac surgery plays a key role in repairing the effects of congenital heart diseases as well as conditions acquired later in life. Surgeries vary in severity depending on the patient's condition but may include issues of the heart or blood vessels. Some patients may require multiple surgeries to correct heart problems. Learn More
The Electrophysiology Program offers specialized care for children who may have heart rhythm problems, such as arrhythmias, or children with pacemakers or other implantable devices. Learn More
Fetal conditions, including cardiac arrhythmias, fetal hydrops, abnormal karyotype and other abnormalities, may warrant a fetal echocardiogram test at Arkansas Children's. Learn More
The Fontan procedure is an open-heart surgery generally performed on children between 18 and 36 months old. The surgical technique results in a systemic venous blood flow to the lungs without passing through a ventricle. This is an effective way to treat complex congenital heart disease in patients who have single ventricle physiology—and a more predictable way to ensure the child will thrive after the procedure. Learn More
Arkansas Children's offers more than 30 years of history in heart transplantation and a continued commitment to advanced technologies for heart failure and transplant patients. Congenital or acquired heart disease may result in heart failure and the need for transplantation. Heart failure occurs when the heart muscles become weak and can't pump the necessary amount of blood and oxygen to the rest of the body. In some patients, heart failure will require a heart transplant to replace the patient's heart with a healthy donor heart. Learn More
The Heart Station offers state-of-the-art noninvasive cardiac diagnostic studies. Our cardiac evaluation includes cardiac rhythm assessment, echocardiography, and cardiac stress testing. Learn More
Heart transplantation is a critical component of the cardiology and cardiac surgery program at the Heart Institute at Arkansas Children's. As one of the busiest pediatric and congenital heart transplant programs in North America, patients in Arkansas and the southeast region look to Arkansas Children’s for this complex service. Learn More
Project ADAM (Automated Defibrillators in Adam's Memory) is a national, non-profit organization committed to saving lives through advocacy, education, preparedness and collaboration to prevent sudden cardiac death. Learn More
Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute, the only program in the state dedicated to pediatric cardiac care, is dedicated to diagnosing and treating conditions in infants, children, adolescents and young adults. The heart of what we do is provide unprecedented care from fetal echocardiograms before birth to ongoing support for adult congenital heart disease. Children throughout the state, region and world are cared for in pediatric cardiology programs at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW) in Springdale and Arkansas Children’s Hospital Jonesboro Clinic. Learn More
The pumping chambers of the heart are called ventricles. When a baby is born with one of the two chambers smaller than the other or not working properly, this results in a single ventricle defect. Children experiencing a single ventricle defect usually require surgical intervention. While these conditions are rare, Arkansas Children's Heart Institute is well-equipped to care for all types of single ventricle defects. With access to the latest technologies in our hybrid catheterization labs and cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU), our team of experts provide high-quality care for each patient and their families.
A Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) is used as a cardiac support system by circulating oxygenated blood throughout their bodies. VADs are designed to support pediatric patients of all age groups from newborns to teenagers and are often used to bridge patients awaiting heart transplantation or for long-term support. The Arkansas Children's Heart Institute uses the most advanced and appropriate VAD for each patient's needs. VADs can support the left ventricle (LVAD), the right ventricle (RVAD) or both (BiVAD) for days up to several months. Learn More

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