Cardiac Surgery

At the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital, our mission is to relentlessly raise the standards of care for patients with congenital heart disease.

Our group of 12 cardiac surgeons is dedicated to treating patients with congenital heart disease and other rare heart conditions. Each year, our surgeons perform more than 1,000 surgeries, on both children and adults. This depth of experience translates to better outcomes. It also means that our surgeons can specialize in different areas of cardiac surgery and push the boundaries of what was previously possible in each of their areas.

The Department of Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children’s has been at the forefront of pediatric heart surgery since 1938, when our department performed the first operation to correct a congenital heart defect.

In the years since that groundbreaking procedure, our department has grown to become the largest in the United States, and includes 11 specific surgical programs. We routinely operate on children that are deemed too complex for other heart centers, while still achieving some of the best success rates in the world.

Collaborating with every expert to deliver the best care

From your first visit through surgery, you’ll work with a team of professionals who are committed to supporting you child’s medical, physical and emotional needs — making your family’s experience as manageable as possible.

We work in collaboration with other specialists and programs within the Benderson Family Heart Center as well as other departments throughout Boston Children’s. We also coordinate with each patient’s local pediatrician or heart specialist to ensure continuity of care for even the most complex cases.

Our depth of experience in cardiac surgery