Texas Children’s Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Pioneering Heart Transplant Program

HOUSTON (November 26, 2024) — Texas Children’s Hospital is proud to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its pioneering heart transplant program. The Texas Children’s Heart Transplant Program is one of the largest pediatric heart transplant programs in the nation. Since 1984, Texas Children’s has performed nearly 600 heart transplants in children — a benchmark reached by few other programs in the United States — with successful outcomes among the very best in the nation.

“We are incredibly proud to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our heart transplant program at Texas Children’s,” said Dr. William J. Dreyer, Medical Director, Heart Failure, Cardiomyopathy and Cardiac Transplantation at Texas Children’s Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. “Our program has grown so much over the past four decades, and I am deeply grateful for the hard work, expertise and commitment of every single member of our team. It takes the resources of the entire Heart Center and Transplant Center to create a successful heart transplant program like ours — where cutting-edge research and comprehensive care have led to the best outcomes in the nation.”

Texas Children’s Heart Center has been ranked No. 1 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for eight consecutive years. The multidisciplinary transplant team, integrating more than 40 different subspecialties and services, has transplanted hearts in patients of all ages, from newborns to adults.

Texas Children’s patient, 15-month-old Laken, received his new heart last month. He was diagnosed in utero with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), and a few months before his first birthday, his family was told that he did not have a chance of survival. After Laken and his family traveled to Texas Children’s for a second opinion, our specialized team conducted a detailed evaluation and placed him on the transplant list.

“I couldn’t be more thankful for the exceptional care Texas Children’s has provided for Laken and for our entire family,” said Laken’s mother, Whitney. “In addition to saving his life by providing his heart transplant, the team has advocated for him, gotten to know him as an individual and consistently had his best interest in mind.”

Over the last decade, Texas Children’s Hospital has performed 935 pediatric organ transplants in total, over 100 more transplants than any other pediatric hospital in the nation. In 2023 alone, Texas Children’s Hospital Transplant Services team performed 99 organ transplants, outpacing all other children’s hospitals by 14 complex surgeries, as reported by the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network (OPTN), the country’s unique public-private registry for organ matching. That same year, Texas Children’s celebrated the milestone of transplanting its 550th heart.

"The heart transplant program at Texas Children's Hospital is a wonderful example of the pioneering work in pediatric cardiovascular surgery that Texas Children’s Hospital has consistently led for the past 40 years,” said Dr. Jeffrey Heinle, Chief of Congenital Heart Surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital and Professor and Chief of the Division of Congenital Heart Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. "We are so proud to be able to continue bringing hope to patients with incredibly complex and rare heart conditions.”

The multidisciplinary team of experts within the Texas Children’s Heart Transplant Program includes pediatric cardiologists, heart transplant surgeons, transplant immunologists, transplant infectious disease experts, transplant coordinators, dietitians, child life specialists, social workers, pharmacists, physical and occupational therapists and more. As the largest volume pediatric heart transplant program in the country, Texas Children’s provides patients from all over the world with access to the latest technologies and cutting-edge treatments. For children who need mechanical circulatory support while waiting for a transplant, Texas Children’s offers numerous ventricular assist device (VAD) options and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). 

"Our heart transplant program is truly exceptional because of our clinical expertise and depth of experience," said Dr. Iki Adachi, Surgical Director, Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support at Texas Children's Hospital and Associate Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. "As we celebrate 40 years of saving children’s lives, we are dedicated to leading research and providing the very best specialized care to our patients."