Treatments and Services

General Cardiology Services

What is general cardiology?

Seattle Children’s Heart Center provides a full range of pediatric cardiology services. General cardiologists diagnose and treat a wide range of heart problems. This includes heart problems that children may have at birth (congenital) and problems that may happen later in life (acquired).

What’s special about the experience at Seattle Children’s?

  • Experts in children’s heart health
    • Our team of more than 40 heart doctors works together to provide general cardiology services to children of all ages. They have many decades of combined experience.
    • All our general cardiologists are board certified or board eligible. All are pediatric cardiologists, meaning they have special training in the heart conditions that affect children. Some have further training in subjects like electrophysiology or echocardiography.
  • We put your child and family at the center
    • Your child’s treatment plan is custom-made. We plan and carry out their treatment based on their specific symptoms, test results and diagnosis. We closely check your child’s needs to make sure they get the care that is right for them.
    • Our providers take time to fully explain your child’s condition and personalized treatment plan and to answer any questions you have. We involve you in every decision. Read more about our promise to provide patient and family-centered care.
    • Seattle Children’s has many resources — like social workers, registered dietitian nutritionists, financial assistance and spiritual care — to support your child and your family and make the journey as smooth as possible. Read more about the supportive care we offer.
  • Care from before birth into adulthood
    • If your developing baby is diagnosed with a heart problem before birth, Seattle Children’s Fetal Care and Treatment Center team works closely with you and your family to plan and prepare for any care your baby may need. This team coordinates with our general cardiologists to provide care for your baby after birth.
    • Some of our patients keep seeing our team at Seattle Children’s even after they become young adults. This is important because some patients still need care from experts in heart problems that start in childhood.
    • We also work closely with doctors at UW Medicine when our patients are ready to move into care with doctors who treat adults. Our special Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program, shared with University of Washington, focuses on the long-term healthcare needs of people born with a heart condition.

Conditions We Treat

Our team diagnoses and provides ongoing care for heart defects, both simple and complex. These include:

We also treat and provide follow-up care for Kawasaki disease. This is the leading cause of heart disease in children who were not born with a heart problem.

Our doctors care for children with many other acquired heart problems, too, such as:

See more of the conditions we treat.

What services do you offer?

When babies, children or teens have signs or symptoms that may come from a heart problem, we see them to find out if their heart is the cause. Examples are heart murmurs, chest pain, fast heart rate and fainting.

To evaluate your child, we will examine them, and we may use tests such as an echocardiogram, an electrocardiogram and exercise testing. The tests that your child needs will depend on their symptoms and what we find during their exam. Learn more about our approach to diagnosis and what to expect if your child needs common cardiac tests.

Seattle Children’s provides the full range of treatments children may need for any type of heart problem, including medicines, heart surgery, cardiac catheterization and hybrid procedures.

Scheduling an Appointment With General Cardiology

Who’s on the team?

Doctors from the Heart Center team provide general cardiology services at Seattle Children's hospital campus and many regional sites. If you live outside of Seattle, our doctors bring you the same level of care closer to home at our locations across Washington and at Pediatric Cardiology of Alaska in Anchorage and Pediatric Cardiology of Montana in Great Falls.

Our general cardiologists are supported by cardiologists in the Heart Center who have special expertise. They specialize in areas like electrophysiology, echocardiography, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), cardiac catheterization, pulmonary hypertension, heart failure and heart transplant.

We work closely with experts in related Seattle Children’s programs and clinics to meet your child’s needs, such as in the Cardiac Genetics Program and Turner Syndrome Clinic.

If your child needs heart surgery, we have cardiac surgeons, cardiac nurse practitioners, cardiac anesthesiologists and cardiac intensivists. They work with your child’s cardiologist to plan and deliver your child’s treatment. Together, this team makes sure your child gets the best heart care before, during and after surgery.

Contact Us

Contact the Heart Center at 206-987-2515 for a referral, a second opinion or more information.

Providers, see how to refer a patient. 

Telemedicine

You may be offered a telehealth (virtual) appointment. Learn more.

Paying for Care

Learn about paying for care at Seattle Children’s, including insurance coverage, billing and financial assistance.