Norton Children’s Heart Institute Fontan Clinic

Norton Children’s Heart Institute Fontan Clinic helps children and adults who had Fontan surgery as a baby, tracking their progress and addressing effects of single-ventricle circulation on other parts of the body.

Children born with one heart ventricle instead of two may require a series of surgeries to adapt their blood circulation to the anomaly — a condition that was universally fatal just a generation ago. But the complications of living with one ventricle doing the work of two can affect the rest of the heart, blood vessels and digestive system. The Norton Children’s Heart Institute Fontan Clinic care team is made up of specialists in areas that can be affected by Fontan circulation – from cardiology to gastroenterology.

The board-certified and fellowship-trained specialists with Norton Children’s Heart Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, treat Fontan circulation patients from across Louisville, Kentucky, Southern Indiana and beyond seeking quality multidisciplinary care.

The Fontan clinic provides routine evaluation and management of the potential complications for life after Fontan surgery.

This clinic’s purpose is early detection and treatment to prevent complications and rehabilitate the heart. Our multidisciplinary treatment approach includes the expertise of physicians specializing in the many parts of the body that can be affected by a single ventricle heart and Fontan physiology.

Our Fontan clinic supplements the care of a cardiologist. We recommend patients alternate care between the Fontan clinic and their primary cardiologist every six months. We believe that routine surveillance will improve patients’ quality and length of life.

Fontan Clinic Evaluation Can Include:

  • Maintenance diagnostic imaging/hemodynamic testing
  • Liver screening
  • Nutritional assessment
  • Social determinants of health
  • Musculoskeletal strength and endurance testing

Fontan clinic providers work closely with Norton Children’s Heart Institute to provide a smooth transition for children to the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program.

Norton Children’s Heart Institute Fontan Clinic Specialties

At the Fontan clinic, patients can schedule appointments with any of the following specialties on the same day. In addition to convenience for the patient, these specialists work in the same clinic to allow patients to benefit from multiple viewpoints.

  • Cardiology
  • Heart failure
  • Adult congenital heart disease
  • Hepatology/gastroenterology
  • Social work
  • Nutrition

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