AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS Section on Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Guidelines for Pediatric Cardiovascular Centers

Pediatric cardiovascular centers should aim to provide high-quality therapeutic outcomes for infants and children with congenital and acquired heart diseases. This policy statement describes critical elements and organizational features of centers in which high-quality outcomes have the greatest likelihood of occurring. Center elements include noninvasive diagnostic modalities, cardiac catheterization, cardiovascular surgery, and cardiovascular intensive care. These elements should be organizationally united in centers in which pediatric cardiac physician specialists and specialized pediatric staff work together to achieve and surpass existing quality-of-care benchmarks. ABBREVIATIONS. AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics; ECMO, extracorporeal membrane oxygenator; ICU, intensive care unit; ICAEL, Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories; VAD, ventricular assist device.