Heart Transplant

If your child’s heart can no longer function effectively, a heart transplant may offer a renewed chance at life. Our pediatric heart transplant team provides expert surgical care, compassionate guidance, and lifelong follow-up for children with advanced heart failure or complex congenital heart conditions.

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For all requests:

1-319-356-2852

For all other requests:: 1-888-573-5437

A pediatric heart transplant replaces a child’s failing heart with a healthy donor heart, helping them regain strength, energy, and quality of life.

As home to Iowa’s only comprehensive pediatric heart transplant program, University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital provides expert, compassionate care for infants, children, and young adults at every stage of the transplant journey. Families trust us for our experienced surgical team, seamless coordination of care, and outcomes comparable to the nation’s leading programs.

Collaborative, family-centered transplant care

Your child’s transplant journey begins with a complete evaluation of heart function and overall health. Our surgeons, cardiologists, anesthesiologists, and intensive care specialists meet regularly to plan and monitor every stage of care. From pre-surgery planning to long-term follow-up, your family works with the same dedicated team that understands your child’s heart history.

Before surgery, we take time to explain imaging and procedure details clearly, helping you feel prepared and supported. After transplant, our pediatric cardiac ICU provides continuous monitoring to promote a safe recovery. Lifelong follow-up visits and care coordination help your child grow and thrive after transplant.

Types of pediatric heart transplant services

We offer advanced surgical options and technologies to meet each child’s unique needs:

Pediatric heart transplantation for congenital and acquired conditions

Ventricular assist devices (VADs) as bridge-to-transplant support

Postoperative recovery in our specialized pediatric cardiac ICU

Immunosuppressive therapy and long-term medication management

Lifelong monitoring and cardiac rehabilitation

Our approach integrates every aspect of care, from the first evaluation to post-transplant recovery and beyond.

Pediatric transplant process

For children who need a heart transplant, we guide families through every stage, from evaluation to surgery to lifelong follow-up care. This process includes:

Comprehensive evaluation

Your child meets with our multidisciplinary transplant team, who perform tests to assess overall health and transplant readiness.

Listing and waiting period

If a transplant is the best option, your child is added to the national transplant waiting list. Our team stays in close contact and manages medications, nutrition, and emotional well-being while you wait.

Transplant surgery

When a donor heart becomes available, our cardiac surgeons perform the transplant in collaboration with our pediatric cardiac anesthesia and teams to ensure a safe, coordinated procedure.

Recovery and follow-up

After surgery, your child recovers in our Pediatric Cardiac ICU, followed by long-term follow-up with our heart transplant specialists. We monitor for rejection, adjust medications, and help your child return to school, activities, and daily life as safely as possible.

Our program doesn’t end with surgery. It’s a lifelong partnership. We’ll continue to follow your child as they grow, providing support through every milestone and transition.

Who can benefit

Children with severe or irreversible heart conditions may be candidates for transplant, including:

Congenital heart defects that cannot be surgically repaired

Cardiomyopathy (dilated, restrictive, or hypertrophic)

Single-ventricle physiology

Heart failure unresponsive to other treatments

When transplant isn’t immediately possible, we offer alternatives to stabilize or improve heart function, including ventricular assist devices (VADs), medication optimization, and cardiac catheterization procedures for pressure or flow relief.

We also participate in national clinical research to improve heart transplants and outcomes for children, so your family benefits from the most up-to-date care available.