Inova Children’s Heart Program Provides Specialized Care

Tiny Heartbeats: Lucas Collazo, MD, and Mitchell Cohen, MD, lead program that monitors congenital heart disease

Lucas Collazo, MD, congenital cardiac surgeon, and Mitchell Cohen, MD,  pediatric and adult congenital electrophysiologist, serve on the highly regarded Inova Schar Heart and Vascular (ISHV)  team. In October 2017 they partnered to co-direct the Inova Children’s Heart Program, providing specialized care to children from Northern Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC, and beyond. “It’s an incredible model of care that allows us to cover the full spectrum of congenital heart disease, from birth to adulthood, and stay with a patient right here on the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus (IFMC),” Dr. Collazo says. “This tight alignment creates a unique culture that’s very patient-centric and family-friendly.”

The presence of Inova’s Women’s Hospital in the same building as Inova L. J. Children’s Hospital represents the essence of their collaboration. “If we even suspect that a fetus has a congenital heart issue, experienced pediatric cardiac surgeons and pediatric interventional cardiologists are right here in the same tower,” Dr. Cohen, who joined Inova in October 2017, stresses. “No one needs to be transferred, mom and baby can stay together in the same location, and no time is lost in getting the immediate cardiac care that is required.”

Dr. Collazo points out the benefits of ISHV being just steps away from the Inova Children’s Heart Program. “We have the opportunity to diagnose congenital heart disease in utero and stay with that patient on this same campus throughout childhood, the teenage years and long into adulthood,” he says. “I think that shows how invested Inova is in every patient’s cardiac health.”

Inova Is Among the Best Children’s Hospitals in the Nation

This year, Inova Children’s Hospital was ranked among the top 50 in the nation for neonatology by U.S. News & World Report for the sixth consecutive year. Learn more.