Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery

The Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery service provides world-class surgical care and support to the children and adults of Connecticut born with congenital heart disease.

Led by nationally renowned congenital heart surgeon, Dennis Mello, MD, our program provides state-of-the-art management of complex congenital heart defects across the entire age spectrum from newborns to adults.

EXPANSION

Raina Sinha, MD, congenital heart surgeon, joined our team in February 2020.

NEONATAL AND PEDIATRIC HEART SURGERY

Our team has regularly been performing numerous complex congenital heart surgeries, including a Norwood operation for hypoplastic left heart syndrome, with excellent outcomes. Despite Covid-19, the surgical volumes have remained constant. Our program performed the most congenital heart surgeries of any program within the state last year. With our state-of-theart cardiac MRI services, we have utilized cardiac MRI for assessment prior to stage II palliation in place of cardiac catheterization. Jill Sullivan, PA-C, and Kathleen Kellerman, PA-C, support the operative and postoperative care, respectively, of our patients.

The Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery service strives for discovery, teamwork, integrity and excellence in cardiac surgical care. Cardiothoracic Surgery, Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), and Pediatric Cardiology work together in a strong collaborative effort to provide a uniform standard of care to patients with congenital heart disease who are seeking surgery.

ADULT CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE SURGERY

We strive to attain excellence in our surgical care of adults with congenital heart disease, in collaboration with adult congenital cardiology. In 2020, we operated on a 66-year-old patient for congenital heart disease at Connecticut Children’s with an excellent result. We also perform surgical repair of complex coronary artery anomalies in children and adults with excellent outcomes. Hartford Hospital has partnered with us in the surgical management of adults with congenital heart disease. Kenneth Warner, MD, an experienced adult congenital heart surgeon, is credentialed for congenital heart surgeries at Connecticut Children’s. Dr. Warner operates alongside Drs. Mello and Sinha, further strengthening our congenital heart surgery program and regional collaborations.

MINIMALLY INVASIVE CARDIAC SURGERY

In partnership with Pediatric Surgery, we have developed options for minimally invasive video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for repair of vascular rings, sternal cleft and severe pectus.

QUALITY, OUTCOMES AND EDUCATION

Our surgical data and operative outcomes are periodically submitted to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Congenital Cardiac Surgery Database (www.sts.org). The STS Database includes more than 94 percent of the congenital cardiac surgery programs in North America and helps establish outcome and quality benchmarks. We continue to rank very well within these objective benchmarks.

In order to improve communications and care, we started early morning surgery ICU rounds. Monthly mortality and morbidity presentation and quality STS reviews are performed on a quarterly basis. We continue to provide ongoing educational support to PICU nursing staff.

RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

Raina Sinha, MD, is well published, has performed oral presentations at international platforms, and has been involved with several research projects.

PUBLICATIONS

Sinha R, Knod J, Dukleska K, Mello D. Congenital sternal cleft with absence of anterior pericardium. Ctsnet.org. 2020 Nov. doi: 10.25373/ctsnet. 13249931.

Davey B, Sinha R, Lee JH, Gauthier M, Flores G. Social determinants of health and outcomes for children and adults with congenital heart disease: a systematic review. Pediatr Res. 2020 Oct 17. doi: 10.1038/s41390-020-01196-6.

Sinha R, Chen PC, Sam R, Dodge-Khatami A, Salazar J. Results of less than 5 mm right ventricle-pulmonary artery conduits in single ventricle palliation. Ann Thorac Surg. 2020 Aug 4; S0003-4975(20)31283-2. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2020.05.171. Sinha R, Altin HF, McCracken C, Well A, Rosenblum J, Kanter K, Kogon B, Alsoufi B. Effect of atrioventricular valve repair on multistage palliation results of single ventricle defects. Ann Thorac Surg. 2020 May 23:S0003-4975(20)30746-3. doi: 10.1016/j. athoracsur.2020.03.126.

Chen PC, Dodge-Khatami J, Hanfland R, Sinha R, Salazar J, Dodge-Khatami A. Resuscitating the chimney graft to innominate artery for straightforward cannulation during infancy. Ann Thorac Surg. 2020 May;109(5):e379-e381.

Sinha R. How is Covid-19 affecting congenital heart disease patients? Society of Thoracic Surgeons – The Patient Guide to Heart, Lung, and Esophageal Surgery. https://ctsurgerypatients.org/how-is-covid-19affecting-congenital-heart-disease-patients. 2020 May.

Dodge-Khatami A, Chen P, Dodge-Khatami J, Hanfland R, Sinha R, Salazar J. Resuscitating the PTFE graft-toinnominate artery after neonatal arch reconstructions: straightforward access for arterial cannulation. Ctsnet. org. 2020 Apr. doi:10.25373/ctsnet.12089181.

Rosenblum JM, Altin HF, Gillespie SE, Bauser-Heaton H, Kanter KA, Sinha R, Cory M, Alsoufi B. Management outcomes of primary pulmonary vein stenosis. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2020 Mar;159(3):1029-1036.

STAFF

Dennis Mello, MD, Clinical Director, Cardiothoracic Surgery Raina Sinha, MD, Congenital Heart Surgeon Kenneth Warner, MD, Adult Congenital Heart Surgeon

Jill Sullivan, MS, PA-C Kathleen Kellerman, PA-C