Driscoll Children’s Hospital established Cardiothoracic Surgery Services soon after it opened its doors in 1953. In 1984, Driscoll’s Dr. James Duff performed the first successful neonatal arterial switch in Texas.
Services
- Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO)
- Valve replacement surgery
- Pacemaker and defibrillator implants
The Heart Center at Driscoll Children’s Hospital began a renewed pursuit of excellence in late 2019 under the new leadership of Dr. Stephen Langley, Medical Director and Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery. We believe that low mortality and complication rates, and a short length of stay are cornerstones of program quality.
Outcomes for patients with congenital heart disease across the country are collected by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). Data is subdivided into five different groups depending on the level of risk. STAT 1 includes lower risk conditions and STAT 5 the highest. This allows us to benchmark our outcomes with national data.
Mortality/Survival Rates - December 2019 to October 2021
| Category | STS/National Mortality | Driscoll Mortality | Driscoll Survival Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| STAT 1 (low risk) | 0.4% | 0.0% | 100% |
| STAT 2 | 1.4% | 0.0% | 100% |
| STAT 3 | 2.2% | 2.9% | 97.1% |
| STAT 4 | 6.1% | 4.2% | 95.8% |
| STAT 5 (high risk) | 13.3% | 0.0% | 100% |
| All Patients | 2.7% | 1.6% | 98.4% |
Post-surgical length of stay (LOS) in hospital is expressed as a median in days. The Heart Center at Driscoll Children's Hospital has a notably shorter length of stay than the national average. This is the result of highly specialized diagnosis, collaborative presurgical planning, a quality technical repair and exceptional post-op care. We believe the length of time it takes a child to recover after cardiac surgery is a surrogate marker for the quality of the entire Heart Center.
Length of Stay
| Category | National LOS | Driscoll LOS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| STAT 1 (low risk) | 7 | 3 | 4 days less |
| STAT 2 | 20 | 4 | 16 days less |
| STAT 3 | 15 | 6 | 9 days less |
| STAT 4 | 28 | 8.5 | 19.5 days less |
| STAT 5 (high risk) | 46 | 23 | 23 days less |
Meet the Heart Team
The cardiothoracic program is comprised of some of the nation’s most sophisticated surgeons, cardiologists, intensivists and anesthesiologists that are dedicated exclusively to the care of children with congenital heart disease. The team has performed more than 500 procedures over the last two years, including newborns with complex heart lesions, single ventricle abnormalities, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, truncus arteriosus, interrupted aortic arch and transposition of the great arteries.
Visit all your child's specialists in one trip to Driscoll Children's Hospital.
For your convenience, please ask any of our specialty clinics to coordinate all of your child's appointments in one day.
You can contact us at (361) 694-5000 or call your specialty clinic directly for further assistance.