The High Risk Clinic at Intermountain Children's Health, supports you, your family and baby who has special needs like single ventricle heart disease. This clinic monitors babies from hospital discharge until their second surgery, known as the "interstage" period. 

Our team includes doctors, nurse practitioners, speech therapists, and nutritionists. We provide bi-weekly cardiology appointments, monthly echocardiograms, and periodic ECGs and chest X-rays. Along with regular visits to the baby's pediatrician, we work with you to ensure you and your child get the monitoring, support, and care you need.

We want you to feel confident and comfortable, and once your baby goes home, our team remains in close contact with you. The nurse practitioners will help you closely monitor your child's oxygen levels, feeding and weight gain. Your baby will also have cardiology clinic appointments about every two weeks to continue to monitor their progress, and we make sure you have regular visits with your baby's pediatrician. We never want you to feel alone during this process, and our care is here for you and your child.

Testing

Your baby will have various tests performed during this interstage period. These may include the following:

• Chest X-ray
• Electrocardiogram
• Holter Monitor
• Echocardiogram
• Cardiac Catheterization
• Cardiac MRI or CT Scans

Follow-up

• Neurodevelopment
  We want your baby to have the resources they need early. Before you leave the hospital, your baby will have a physical therapy assessment and will be referred to the Neurodevelopment Clinic to help track your child's brain and growth development.
• Routine healthcare
  While your baby's heart may be at the forefront of care, your baby needs regular checkups, too. This includes routine vaccinations and visits to your baby’s primary care doctor. We will work with you and your pediatrician to connect your child’s care.  

Graduating from the High Risk Clinic

Four to six months after your baby’s second heart surgery, your baby will transition out of the High Risk Clinic. Every baby’s care after surgery is different, but often, clinic appointments are less frequent, and home monitoring isn’t needed anymore.

To help with this transition, one of the High Risk Clinic nurse practitioners will continue to call once a month until your baby’s first birthday to make sure your questions are answered. But remember, you are never alone. If you have questions or concerns, you can always contact us for help.

Below are some resources we recommend for you and your family.

• Family 2 Family Peer Mentor Program at Primary Children's Hospital
• “It’s My Heart”
• National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative
• Sisters by Heart