Our services include evaluation and treatment of suspected heart disease in the fetus, infant, child, and teenager. We also see adults with a wide variety of congenital heart defects. We offer evaluations for patients with concerns raised prior to participation in sports. We also collaborate with local pediatric oncologists to monitor and treat children with cancer for heart problems that sometimes occur during therapy for malignancies. We perform a variety of diagnostic procedure’s which include exercise testing, electrocardiograms, 24 hour Holter monitoring, event recorders, and transesophageal echocardiography.

All of our physicians care for infants, children and young adults with all types of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Tawfik and Dr. Park specialize in diagnostic and interventional catheterization for babies, children, and adults with congenital heart disease. Dr. Karr, Dr. Escalera, Dr. Ansong and Dr. Sadr specialize in the evaluation of the fetal heart during pregnancy. In addition to his pediatric patients, Dr. Hepner has developed a special interest in caring for adults with congenital heart disease.

We are proud to be the first private practice pediatric echocardiography laboratory in Northern Virginia to be accredited by ICAEL (Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories). ICAEL certification is given only to facilities meeting the highest, most stringent quality standards. Our lab is also one of the first one thousand echocardiography labs in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico to be awarded this certification.

The ICAEL was established with the support of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the Society of Pediatric Echocardiography (SOPE) to provide a peer review mechanism to encourage and recognize centers providing quality echocardiographic diagnostic evaluations by a process of voluntary accreditation. A non-profit organization, the ICAEL is dedicated to ensuring high quality patient care and to promoting health care.

We are also pleased to acknowledge that our highly trained echo lab technicians are all registered diagnostic cardiac sonographers. They have all been registered through A.R.D.M.S. (American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonographers).

FETAL CARDIOLOGY
Dr. Sharon S. Karr, Dr. Robert B. Escalera II, Dr. Annette K. Ansong and Dr. Irene M. Sadr are specialists in fetal cardiology with Pediatric Cardiology Associates, P.C. We offer these services at each of our office locations.

Our highly skilled fetal cardiology physicians offer specialized evaluations and quality care for our families and patients.
 
Today, most congenital heart defects can be diagnosed before birth. While it can be overwhelming for a family to receive the news that the baby’s heart is less than perfect, prenatal diagnosis allows valuable time to consider options, make informed choices and plan intelligently for the future. Recognizing the difficulty of taking in the complicated new information, we allow dedicated time with the fetal cardiologist to explain the findings and answer questions. Our physicians can also help the family decide if the cardiac findings would suggest that other diagnostic studies, such as amniocentesis, are indicated.

Fetal heart anomalies can usually be diagnosed at about 16 to 18 weeks gestation, using fetal echocardiography. This safe, noninvasive ultrasound procedure enables the cardiologist to assess the structure, function and heart rhythm of the fetal heart. Only a small number of pediatric cardiologists in the United States are trained to perform and interpret fetal echocardiograms. Our fetal cardiology service offers the skills of experienced physicians who have performed over 2,000 fetal echocardiograms.
 
If the cardiologist identifies a heart problem, our team works with the family and obstetrician to develop a plan of care, beginning with options for delivery. When appropriate, we also facilitate a consultation with a cardiothoracic surgeon to discuss surgical options and outcomes. We can also arrange an opportunity to meet other members of the pediatric cardiac team, as needed.

Consultations can be scheduled by calling, 703-573-0504.

CARDIAC CATHETERIZATIONS & CATHETER BASED PROCEDURES
Catheter procedures have replaced open-heart surgery in the correction of many congenital heart defects. These procedures are performed by our interventional cardiologists in the cardiac catheterization lab, without the need for a heart-lung machine or even a surgical incision to open the chest. Instead, a long thin tube called a catheter is inserted into a blood vessel (usually in the leg) and guided to the heart. Through this catheter, a variety of interventions can be performed to open or close passageways for blood. In most cases, the patient returns home in less than 24 hours. Examples of these transcatheter procedures include device closure of atrial septal defect, patent foramen ovale, patent ductus arteriosus, and ventricular septal defects. Abnormal blood vessel connections can also be closed with these techniques. In other cases, blocked or narrowed blood vessels and valves can be opened using special dilating catheters. In some cases, blood vessels are propped open with stents, cylinder-shaped metallic frames that are inserted through catheters.

Adult and pediatric patients are often found to have a patent foramen ovale (PFO) after a specific type of stroke. The PFO is a congenital passageway between the two upper atrium chambers in the heart. Closing the PFO with a device catheter can reduce the risk of additional strokes.

New advances are taking place with hybrid procedures. These are a new class of procedures combining catheter and surgical techniques to achieve optimal outcomes in cases that are not easily managed by either catheter or surgical techniques alone. During hybrid procedures, our intervention cardiologists collaborate with a pediatric cardiac surgeon to work together to correct the abnormality. Hybrid procedures are ideal in difficult cases that are challenging to approach through the usual surgical or catheter approaches.