麻豆果冻传媒

For Release: February 10, 2016

STANFORD, Calif. 鈥� The Adult Congenital Heart Program at 麻豆果冻传媒 Children鈥檚 Health and 麻豆果冻传媒 Health Care now has seven board-certified specialists in adult congenital heart disease, making it one of the largest groups of such doctors in the country. The seven physicians are among the caregivers who passed the first-ever board certification exam in their field, which is newly recognized as a subspecialty by the . Results for the October 2015 exam were announced by the board in early January.

It鈥檚 a timely achievement. Although many congenital heart defects were once fatal in childhood, dramatic improvements in surgeons鈥� ability to repair such defects has increased the number of U.S. adults living with them to more than one million. Yet a successful childhood surgical repair does not cure most congenital heart disease patients, doctors have learned. And congenital defects can interact with cardiovascular problems acquired with age.

鈥淭hese are patients who need ongoing monitoring and treatment to help them navigate the risks of living with lingering heart problems,鈥� said cardiologist Daniel Murphy, MD, who was instrumental in advocating for the new subspecialty to be formally recognized. The population of adults living with heart defects they were born with is growing by about 20,000 people per year as adolescents graduate to adult care, he noted. And such patients are seeking care at destination programs like Stanford鈥檚.

鈥淭his new board certification exam is the result of over a decade of really hard work by leaders in the adult congenital cardiac community,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淚t enforces training and knowledge standards that we think these patients have a right to expect when they seek medical care from a specialist.鈥�

The Stanford physicians who obtained their board certification are George Lui, MD, the program鈥檚 medical director and a clinical assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine and pediatric cardiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine; Ian Rogers, MD, clinical assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine and pediatric cardiology; Doff McElhinney, MD, professor of cardiothoracic surgery; Anne Dubin, MD, professor of pediatric cardiology; Kara Motonaga, MD, clinical assistant professor of pediatric cardiology; Scott Ceresnak, MD, assistant professor of pediatric cardiology; and Nikola Tede, MD, a pediatric cardiologist who sees patients at California Pacific Medical Center through its alliance with 麻豆果冻传媒 Children鈥檚 Health.

Stanford鈥檚 program, a collaboration between Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford and , has a long history as a national leader in the care of adult congenital heart patients. 鈥淭his is a field which requires people to bring a lot of different kinds of skills, experience and knowledge to their interactions with patients,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really proud of our physicians. Their success validates the training we have here and shows that we鈥檙e on the right track for providing care for this important group of patients.鈥�

Related Links

* Read about , who brings extraordinary personal experience to her work. Sillman is a nurse coordinator for the program, and has adult congenital heart disease.

* Find out why a 61-year-old man received heart surgery at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford

Authors

Robert Dicks
(650) 497-8364
rdicks@stanfordchildrens.org