Stanford Medicine Children’s Heart Center

02/19/2026

For more than two decades, Frank Hanley, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon and executive director of the Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center at Stanford Medicine Children's Health, has been working at the edge of what’s possible for our pediatric heart patients. He pioneered unifocalization, a surgical approach for one of the most complex heart conditions known, called pulmonary atresia with major aortopulmonary collaterals. His innovation radically changed outcomes for babies who were once considered untreatable.

In honor of Heart Month, Paul A. King, CEO of Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, conducted a Q&A conversation with Dr. Hanley on what unifocalization is, why families so often learn about it too late, and why early referral, experience, and timing can mean the difference between a full life and a lifetime of limitation.

Read the Q&A: https://bit.ly/4u35vAr

02/18/2026

Meet Leen, a vibrant 7-year-old who, despite severe congenital heart and lung challenges, found her way to a brighter future at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. Our expert team, led by Arvind Bishnoi, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon and clinical assistant professor, successfully performed a groundbreaking 10-hour heart repair and lung transplant that opened new possibilities, not just for Leen, but for other children around the globe facing similar conditions.

Thanks to the top-notch expertise and unwavering dedication of our heart and lung specialists, Leen can now run, play, and embrace life like never before.

Dive deeper into Leen’s journey:

Life-saving treatment unlocked. Learn how experts at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health saved a child’s life with a highly intricate heart repair and lung transplant, offering hope to other patients with the same condition. (Partner Content)

02/11/2026

Ziyan Liu, a 19-year-old sophomore at Johns Hopkins University, has transformed her challenging medical journey as a young heart transplant patient at Stanford Medicine Children's Health into an inspiring novel, "Heartbreaker, Heartbroken," with the support of Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area.

Ziyan was diagnosed with an unbalanced atrioventricular canal—a congenital heart defect—when she was a couple of months old. Her health journey took a turn in 2015, when at age 9 she was listed for a heart transplant.

Following a successful heart transplant in July 2017 at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Ziyan was referred to Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area to receive a wish and, after careful reflection, wished to become an author.

Ziyan’s wish celebration was held in December 2025 at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, where she was able to sign her book and take pictures with the team that inspired her novel.

Learn more about Ziyan’s Make-A-Wish experience and novel: https://bit.ly/465v9do

02/03/2026

During Heart Month, we proudly highlight our unwavering commitment to providing world-class cardiovascular care at Stanford Medicine Children's Health. Our team tirelessly works to transform lives with unparalleled dedication and expertise.

With over 600 faculty and staff, including cardiothoracic surgeons, pediatric cardiologists, cardiac anesthesiologists, CVICU and cardiac specialist nurses, and radiologists dedicated to cardiac imaging, every visit embodies our promise to treat each heart with the utmost care and compassion.

Whether performing life-changing heart transplants or guiding families through routine checkups, our care remains at the forefront of innovation and patient success. Every interaction and procedure reflects our dedication to health, healing, and hope, continually striving to offer exceptional care for our patients and their families.

Children’s hearts are our priority, and together with our patients and their families, we make extraordinary strides in heart health.

See our impact in the last year at-a-glance.

01/26/2026

The Stanford Medicine Children's Health Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center is expanding surgical expertise with the hire of Antonio Amodeo, MD, professor of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and director of the Pediatric Thoracic Organ Transplantation Program.

Dr. Amodeo is a global leader in cardiac innovation, specializing in advanced procedures like heart transplantation, artificial heart implantation, and VAD (ventricular assist device) implantation. With thousands of operations and pioneering achievements, such as the world’s first smallest implantable artificial heart in a child, his expertise is invaluable.

Dedicated to delivering the best outcomes for children with advanced heart disease, Dr. Amodeo focuses his research on advancing VAD therapy and myocardial recovery programs. “I aim to offer new hope to patients with heart failure worldwide by pushing innovation to unprecedented levels,” he says.

Join us in welcoming Dr. Amodeo and celebrating his commitment to providing pioneering care to children with complex coronary heart disease!

VAD CHDCare

01/14/2026

The Pediatric Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program at Stanford Medicine Children's Health is a leading program worldwide helping children with end-stage lung disease who would require a lung or combined heart-lung transplant to increase their chances of survival.

Our program is the only pediatric lung and combined heart-lung transplant program in the Western United States to offer lung or combined heart-lung transplantation to children from infancy through early adulthood.

With lung and heart-lung transplants being rare, our team proudly stands out for its expertise, having conducted over 60 pediatric lung transplants and more than 40 heart-lung transplants since our inaugural pediatric heart-lung transplantation in 1986. This volume places us as the leading pediatric lung and heart-lung transplant center in the Western United States.

Our posttransplant patient survival exceeds the national average, despite treating some of the most complex lung/heart-lung transplant patients.

Learn more about our Pediatric Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program: https://bit.ly/44nNd1z

01/05/2026

As we welcome a new year, we want to honor the courageous journey of our heart patients, the dedication of their families, and the transformative expertise and empathy of our care teams. Thank you for inspiring and trusting us with your child’s care. The Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center wishes you and your family a year filled with health, joy, and hope. ❤️

12/23/2025

This season, we’re sending warm wishes to our heart patients and their families, our compassionate and dedicated care teams, and the Stanford Medicine Children's Health community. May your holidays be filled with hope, healing, and moments of joy. Have a happy and healthy holiday and New Year. ❤️

12/18/2025

Our final feature in our 2025 Highlights series is a patient story featuring Mikayla, one of our heart transplant recipients.

Mikayla was 4 years old when she was referred to a Stanford Medicine Children's Health pediatric cardiologist after her pediatrician detected a heart murmur. “I didn’t think it was a big deal, since her doctor reassured me that many people are born with murmurs,” Mikayla’s mom, Stephanie, recalls. “And then suddenly, I got a call, and it was the cardiologist. She told me that Mikayla had restrictive cardiomyopathy. My daughter would eventually need a heart transplant to survive. I was immediately in tears.”

In June 2023, the family received the call they’d been waiting for: A heart was available for Mikayla. Two days later, Mikayla’s new heart beat in her chest for the first time, giving the little girl a second chance at life.

Today Mikayla loves to ride her scooter and bike. She sings, dances, and adores arts and crafts, and when asked what she wants to be when she grows up, Mikayla doesn’t hesitate: “I want to be a doctor at Stanford.”

Read the full story: https://bit.ly/3KG5HUb

12/16/2025

Continuing with our 2025 Highlights, meet Marcus, who was only about 1 day old when he was diagnosed with a rare form of congenital heart disease. After he failed a standard newborn congenital heart disease test, Nikola Tede, MD, a Stanford Medicine Children's Health pediatric cardiologist, ordered an echocardiogram, which revealed that Marcus had total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR). With TAPVR, the pulmonary veins that carry blood to the heart from the lungs do not connect in the right spot during fetal development. The only treatment is urgent neonatal heart surgery.

Marcus was transported by the Stanford Children’s Critical Care Transport team to Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center for urgent heart surgery. Dr. Tede had put in a call to Michael Ma, MD, chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Stanford Children’s, and the two discussed Marcus and the heart surgery, which involves moving the pulmonary veins to their correct location in the back of the heart.

The heart surgery went just as planned. “The first hour after the heart surgery, Marcus was on a bunch of wires, but each day he overcame another obstacle,” Marcus’s mom, Lena, says. “It was pretty magical for a baby to have open-heart surgery and be back home within 10 days.”

Learn more about Marcus’s surgery and recovery: https://bit.ly/4rAgz6D

12/12/2025

Our second 2025 Highlight is Hazel’s incredible journey. At just 3 weeks old, she was given six months to live due to a rare combination of heart defects known as tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) with pulmonary atresia and MAPCAs, affecting blood flow and oxygen levels.

Her parents discovered Stanford Medicine Children's Health's Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center and Frank Hanley, MD, who pioneered the unifocalization procedure for repairing such challenging defects. This technique is the cornerstone of our Pulmonary Artery Reconstruction (PAR) Program, transforming survival rates and life quality. Today, our skilled team—trained by Dr. Hanley—carries forward this legacy.

Hazel’s surgery was complex, involving an unexpected fifth defect—a malfunctioning aortic valve. This made her a great candidate for a new, multidisciplinary surgical approach that Michael Ma, MD, our chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, has developed in partnership with the Stanford School of Engineering’s Cardiovascular Biomechanics Computation Lab, led by Alison Marsden, PhD, and scientists from Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center’s Basic Science and Engineering (BASE) Initiative.

“Together, we created a 3-D design of Hazel’s aortic valve, which included a complex computational fluid dynamic simulation of the way her valve opened and closed, and the ideal geometry of her leaflets (flaps that make up the heart valve),” Dr. Ma says. “In surgery, we reshaped her aortic valve to match the simulation.”

Read the full story: https://bit.ly/3MgzrHN

10/31/2025

Happy Halloween from our Outpatient Heart Center and PCU 200! 🎃 We wish you a very spooky holiday 👻