Why Choose the Pulmonary Hypertension Program

Pediatric pulmonary hypertension is a rare and complex disease, so it’s often difficult to diagnose and properly treat. Your child’s PH cardiologist should have special expertise in treating children and young adults with this condition.

At The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, we treat more than 20 inpatients with pulmonary hypertension on any given day. And because the Pulmonary Hypertension Program at CHOP was developed more than 20 years ago, PH is thoroughly understood by every member of your child’s care team: our surgeons, our anesthesiologists, our nurses and other Hospital staff members. We take a multidisciplinary approach, where we have dedicated consultants from every sub-specialty with extensive experience in consulting on our patients.

While there are currently no FDA-approved therapies for pediatric pulmonary hypertension, our program has extensive experience with the careful use of therapies approved for use in adults with PH. All of these therapies, including newer and more experimental treatments for pediatric PH, are available in our dedicated clinic. Additionally, we participate in clinical trials for therapeutic agents that have a potential to advance our options for our patients.

The mission of our PH program is to use all of our resources to provide the best quality of life for all children with PH, while advancing our knowledge into the causes, outcomes and treatments of PH. We value the relationships with families, we listen to their concerns, and our team members are available 24 hours a day for emergencies. Advocacy and education are important components of our mission that we advance hand in hand with our PH families.