1916:
The first heart lesion surgery is performed at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
1927:
A record-breaking 44 patients (the most up to that date) are seen for heart problems at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
1933:
The first cardiograph machine (used to record the beating of the heart) is purchased and used to detect heart irregularities that were not previously possible to diagnose.
1946:
“Cardiology” is first recognized as a department at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
1952:
A Cardiac Clinic is held once a week, led by the chief resident, with visiting cardiologists once a month. The outpatient Cardiac Clinic saw 205 patients in 1952 (in comparison, the Heart Institute saw 12,350 outpatients in 2010).
1953:
Dr. John Grow performs the first open-heart surgery (closure of an atrial septal defect) at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
1954:
Dr. Grow’s open-heart surgery performed in 1953 paves the way for some of the first cardiac surgery services at Children’s, including cardiac catheterization (the insertion of a catheter to diagnose and treat heart problems) and auscultation (diagnosing heart defects by listening to the sounds of the heart).
1955:
Dr. Charles R. “Dick” Hawes and colleagues develop a coronary artery perfusion technique, recognized as a distinct contribution to heart surgery. Dr. Hawes’ leadership helped Children’s Hospital Colorado usher in advanced technology and greater capacity to treat kids with heart problems.
1970s:
Our first pediatric cardiology outreach clinic is held in Casper, Wyoming. This Regional Cardiology Outreach Program is still active today, with our cardiologists and sonographers visiting cities in Wyoming and throughout Colorado every other month.
1975:
The Pediatric Congenital Heart Surgery Program is established at Children’s Hospital Colorado and is the first in the Rocky Mountain region.
1983:
Cardiac surgeons from the University of Colorado School of Medicine begin to help staff the Heart Surgery Program at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
1988:
The smallest baby to receive heart valve surgery (at the time) is saved at Children’s Hospital Colorado. The twin girl was born three months early and weighed just 2 lbs, 13 oz. This was the first time doctors performed a valvotomy on a baby that small, with a heart the size of a grape.
1989:
Doctors perform the hospital’s first pediatric heart transplant on a 5-year-old boy. Approximately one year later, Children’s doctors performed the Rocky Mountain region’s first heart transplant on an infant at 3 months old.
1990:
The pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery programs merge with the programs from University of Colorado Hospital and consolidate at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
1991:
The Pediatric Electrophysiology Program begins at Children’s Hospital Colorado and is the first in the Rocky Mountain region.
1992:
Children's Hospital Colorado physicians Dr. Steve Abman and Dr. John Kinsella first demonstrate that inhaled nitric oxide (NO) therapy can cause sustained improvement in sick newborns with pulmonary hypertension.
1998:
A television news story about two Children’s Hospital Colorado patients awaiting heart transplants wins three Emmy awards. The 9News story helped increase awareness of organ donation and the cardiac transplant services at our hospital.
1999:
Nitric oxide is approved by the FDA for use in newborns with persistent pulmonary hypertension, thanks to the groundbreaking research of our Drs. Abman and Kinsella. As a result, our Pulmonary Hypertension Program begins its path to national prominence, and nitric oxide drastically reduces the use of ECMO worldwide.
2002:
Children’s Colorado opens its dedicated Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) for heart patients.
2003:
The Heart Institute officially forms at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
2004:
Our heart surgeons perform the first ever DCD (donation after cardiac death, meaning the donated heart had stopped beating) heart transplant on a 2-month-old boy. This milestone was a first in pediatric heart transplantation, not just at Children’s Hospital Colorado, but in the world.
2006:
The Heart Institute invests in additional high-tech resources, such as cardiac MRI and 3D-ECHO, to capture improved pictures of the heart for the diagnosis and management of heart disease.
2007:
Doctors at Children’s Hospital Colorado deliver four babies in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab (instead of a regular delivery room) to expedite life-saving heart treatment immediately after birth.
2008:
Doctors at Children’s Hospital Colorado deliver four babies in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab (instead of a regular delivery room) to expedite life-saving heart treatment immediately after birth.
2009:
Our doctors successfully implanted a Berlin Heart (an artificial heart pump used to support patients in heart failure) on a 6-month-old boy. The Berlin Heart took over the pumping action of the heart and kept the child alive for 5 weeks while he waited for a donor heart to become available for a heart transplant.
2010:
The first Melody® Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve is implanted on a patient at Children’s Hospital Colorado. This minimally invasive, breakthrough procedure (used to replace a blocked or leaky heart valve), is an alternative to open-heart surgery and only offered at select hospitals in the country.
2011:
U.S. News & World Report ranks our “heart and heart surgeries” program among the top 20 children’s hospitals in the country.
