Cardiothoracic Surgery Program

The Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery Program provides leading-edge care to children of all ages who require heart surgery, from newborns to teens. We're considered among the best in the U.S. for repairing complex birth defects of the heart, and our surgeons have expertise in procedures such as unifocalization and the Norwood, arterial switch and Ross procedures.

Together with experts in the Fetal Cardiovascular Program, we're able to diagnose heart conditions and begin planning treatment well before birth. Our surgeons are highly skilled at working with the smallest and most vulnerable patients, including premature infants and low-birth-weight newborns.

Whenever possible, we use minimally invasive techniques that make surgery easier on our young patients. Benefits of these techniques include shorter hospital stays, faster recoveries and less postoperative pain compared with traditional open-heart surgery.

Our care is based on the latest research, and many of our treatments were developed by experts here at UCSF.

In addition to our main locations on both sides of the bay, we provide care and consultation at Kaiser Permanente's Oakland Medical Center.