Tachycardia, syncopes, intraventricular communications and persistent ductus arteriosus in premature newborns, are among the conditions treated most frequently by the Clínica Alemana cardiopediatric team. 

This group of professionals, formed in 2004, comprises pediatric cardiologists and cardiosurgeons that are available 24/7 offering diagnostic services, interventional procedures and surgeries.

Dr. Valeria Acevedo, Head of the Child Cardiology Unit, explains that Clínica Alemana is staffed with a multidisciplinary cardiac team; and is, therefore, able to successfully address the cardiac problems found in area children.  Among the services the team provides are prenatal diagnosis, in utero treatment of some conditions (e.g., intrauterine arrhythmias), electrophysiological study and radiofrequency ablation (using conventional techniques and electro-anatomical mapping), as well as the clinical diagnosis and cardiosurgical handling of structural cardiopathies.  The team also treats cardiac defects such as interauricular and interventricular communication and persistent ductus with interventional catheterism.

Dr. Valeria Acevedo Electrophysiologist Cardiologist

Many of these cases are resolved thanks to the combined efforts of Clínica Alemana's Perinatal Medicine Area, Neonatology Area and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Cardiac Surgery: Positive Results
Dr. Rodrigo Soto, Head of the Pediatric Cardiosurgery Unit, indicates that approximately 30 surgeries of this type are performed each year at Clínica Alemana. These range from highly complex interventions (e.g., the arterial switch to effect the anatomical repair of transposition of the great arteries), to the closures of the persistent ductus arteriosus in premature, low-weight newborns (the smallest baby weighing 580 grams), and extending to single ventricle palliation. "Our results have been excellent with a mortality rate of less than 5%, an acceptable level by world standards", he notes.