Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Program

If your child has been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy or carries a risk of developing cardiomyopathy, we are here to offer expert diagnosis, ongoing treatment, and support. By catching and treating cardiomyopathy early, we can control your child’s symptoms, slow or stop its progress, and avoid complications. Our ultimate goal is to help you and your child live well with cardiomyopathy. Our multidisciplinary team of experts provide care for children with all types of cardiomyopathy from infancy to age 18 and into early adulthood.  

What is cardiomyopathy?

Cardiomyopathy is a progressive chronic disease due to abnormalities of the heart muscle that cause the heart to become unusually weak or stiff, making it difficult for the heart to pump blood efficiently to the rest of the body. There are several types of cardiomyopathy, each with its own symptoms. In cases where the heart isn’t able to pump blood well, children with cardiomyopathy may have pale, sweaty skin and feel fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, irregular or rapid heartbeat, dizziness, or fainting, and may be irritable. Some children may feel just fine and have no symptoms despite having cardiomyopathy. Others may have a normal heart but be at risk of developing cardiomyopathy over time. A small group of children may have symptoms of advanced heart failure or serious arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms). Childhood cardiomyopathy can occur at any age, but it’s most likely to present itself in a child’s first year of life or during teenage years.

Why Stanford Children’s Health for pediatric cardiomyopathy

At Stanford Children’s Health, we offer the full spectrum of care for your child from a multidisciplinary team of pediatric doctors and professionals with extra training and knowledge in managing pediatric cardiomyopathy. By providing several holistic services and treatments, we empower your child and your family to live your best lives, despite this chronic disease.

Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Program highlights:

• Multidisciplinary care. We bring together pediatric cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, cardio-geneticists, pediatric psychologists, dietitians, nurses, and social workers to provide well-rounded care for your child and family. We also collaborate with specialists across our hospital to treat cardiomyopathy. With so many experts under one roof, we are more than prepared to provide your child with the highest-quality care available, from simple to highly complex.
• Proven, accredited experts in cardiomyopathy. We are a Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation Accredited Center of Care, meeting the highest standard of care for cardiomyopathy. Our program is also a Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association Center of Excellence. As the largest cardiomyopathy referral program in California, we follow 800+ children with cardiomyopathy from across the nation.
• Care for related medical conditions that affect the heart. We collaborate closely with our neuromuscular team, a certified Duchenne Care Center, to offer the very best care possible for children with muscular dystrophy, which can cause damage to the heart. We also treat damaged heart muscles due to cancer treatments and those with genetic or metabolic conditions that may cause cardiomyopathy.
• Treatment for advanced heart failure. If your child needs surgery or a transplant, it’s reassuring to know that we have performed more heart surgeries than most hospitals across the nation in recent years. All the resources of our Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Therapies (PACT) program are available for children with advanced cardiomyopathy who experience heart failure, including those who need a ventricular assist device (VAD) to sustain them as they await heart transplantation.
• National leaders in cardiomyopathy-related research. Our physician-scientists are performing cutting-edge research on cardiomyopathy and working with international research collaboratives so that your child may benefit from new treatments and access clinical trials.