Exceptional Outcomes Achieved for Complex Neonate Heart Procedure
At Orlando Health Children's Heart Institute, pediatric cardiac surgeons highly skilled in the Norwood procedure are driving some of the best patient outcomes nationwide for this complex open-heart surgery.
Performed in neonates born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome or other single ventricle physiology defects, the Norwood procedure is the first of three staged palliative heart surgeries designed to improve systemic and pulmonary circulation using a patient’s lone ventricle.
“The Norwood operation remains one of the highest mortality-risk operations in pediatric cardiac surgery,” says Tain-Yen “T-Y” Hsia, MD, a board-certified and fellowship-trained pediatric cardiac surgeon at Orlando Health Children's Heart Institute. Dr. Hsia specializes in all aspects of pediatric and congenital cardiac surgery and has been the primary investigator for more than $17 million in research grants. He is an internationally recognized speaker and has published more than 140 peer-reviewed articles, as well as numerous medical books and chapters.
“Hospitals are mandated to report outcomes to a national website, providing granular data as to each program's outcome,” says Dr. Hsia. “While we all strive for zero mortality, nationally the risk remains around 15%.”
Performing four to five Norwood procedures annually, the team at Orlando Health Children’s Heart Institute has achieved a mortality rate of 7%, less than half the average risk of other hospitals nationwide. “Larger centers may have far more volume than our program, but our Norwood procedure outcomes are some of the best in the country,” says Dr. Hsia.
“Over the last four years, we have performed consecutive 22 Norwood operations with zero mortality,” he says. “While an intensive conversation regarding surgical volume-to-outcome relationship is ongoing in the field of pediatric cardiac surgery, despite our low volume, our results spoke to the dedication and excellence of each member of our team in the caring of our patients.”
Orlando Health is dedicated to revolutionizing patient care with outcomes advanced by specialists skilled in the most leading-edge technologies and involved in advanced clinical research and training. Orlando Health Children's Heart Institute offers a full scope of both inpatient and outpatient services, with inpatient care provided at Orlando Health Children's Arnold Palmer Hospital. The institute’s 20-bed Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit is one of the only ICUs in the nation dedicated exclusively to pediatric congenital heart care, with an average of 375 admissions per year.
