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The Fontan Procedure

High-quality care for a better quality of life

The Fontan procedure is an open-heart surgery generally performed on children between 18 and 36 months old. The surgical technique results in a systemic venous blood flow to the lungs without passing through a ventricle. This is an effective way to treat complex congenital heart disease in patients who have single ventricle physiology—and a more predictable way to ensure the child will thrive after the procedure.

80

Over the past four years, we’ve performed the Fontan procedure 80 times (and counting), making Arkansas Children’s a large volume center for Fontan procedures.

A first-in-state Fontan program with state-of-the art care.

Throughout their lives, people who have undergone the Fontan procedure are at a higher risk of arrhythmias, chronic liver disease, heart failure, renal failure and more. As a result, they need careful and thoughtful ongoing surveillance. 

Our Fontan program is dedicated to providing specialized care to patients with significant heart defects who have undergone a Fontan procedure. Our multidisciplinary team provides comprehensive care backed by the latest research and innovations. These dedicated experts improve the quality of life for patients with Fontan circulation through early detection and treatment of long-term complications and minimizing barriers to care.

A highly specialized team

Our team of pediatric specialists provides all the interconnected care a Fontan patient will ever need—before the procedure and through adulthood. Our patients’ quality of life dramatically improves when the family and referring provider are part of the team. Their insights, perspectives and involvement are invaluable to coordinated care planning.

Seamless, integrated care

Our program is carefully structured to give our patients access to many of the highly specialized and multidisciplinary providers they need within a single office visit. Not only is this holistic structure more cost-effective for our patients, but it also saves them the stress and complexity of coordinating multiple visits. Most importantly, our experts believe this collaborative approach to care makes it easier to detect health issues sooner and treat possible long-term complications faster.

  • Cardiac Neurodevelopment Program (CNP)

    The cardiology clinic at Arkansas Children's helps diagnose unknown pediatric heart conditions with: holter monitoring, transtelephonic ECG recording, 2- and 3-dimensional echocardiography and exercise stress testing.

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Supporting Services

Your healthier-ever-after story begins here.

The Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute is more than a regional destination. We are a nationally ranked leader for specialized pediatric care.

Learn more about Arkansas Children's Heart Institute