Texas Medical Center
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About the Program
The Pediatric Cardiac Radiology Fellowship Program at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital consists of one dedicated training year at the PGY-7 level accredited by the Texas Medical Board. Prospective fellows must have completed or be enrolled in a PGY-6 level pediatric radiology or adult cardiovascular imaging fellowship. One fellow per year is accepted into the program.
The fellow has extensive hands-on experience in planning, performance, post-processing and interpretation of the exams, is an active participant in management conferences and in the research program, and may present at several major national and international meetings every year. Our former fellows are distributed around the world and play a burgeoning and important role in the pediatric cardiovascular imaging community.
Pediatric Cardiac Imaging Program
The pediatric cardiovascular imaging program at Texas Children’s Hospital is one of the largest programs of its kind in North America, performing approximately 1,500 MR and CT studies each year.
The cardiac MRI program is a combined program supported by the Department of Radiology and the Section of Pediatric Cardiology within the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. Four Philips MR scanners are utilized, including one 3-Tesla magnet, each with unique cardiovascular imaging capabilities. The cardiac MRI program also features two Ph.D. physicists and an image post-processing specialist.
The full spectrum of pediatric cardiovascular MR is performed, including:
- Neonatal imaging
- Complex two-ventricle repair
- All stages of single ventricle repair
- Aortopathy
- Thrombosis
- Cardiomyopathy
- Perfusion and viability
Pediatric Cardiovascular CT Program
The pediatric cardiovascular CT program is based on a volumetric and dynamic approach using a 320-array scanner. Highlights include:
- Coronary anomalies
- Pulmonary perfusion
- Dynamic airway evaluation
- Neonatal imaging
- Preoperative planning for single ventricle repair
- Post-operative imaging
Research Program
Our active and established cardiovascular imaging research program is termed the “Children’s Cardiovascular Imaging Biomarker Initiative (cCIBI)” and focuses on development of reproducible and cost-effective imaging biomarkers for common cardiovascular entities in children including aortopathy, anomalous coronaries, cardiomyopathy, myocardial ischemia and viability, single ventricle and complex two-ventricle repair.
Dedicated research pathways include:
- Adapting MR sequences for free-breathing 3-dimensional acquisition in sedated children
- Adapting CT sequences for low-dose acquisition in unsedated children
- Dynamic contrast enhanced MR angiography
- Advanced 3D image post-processing
- 3D printing
Our research program is well-funded, equipped with state-of-the-art hardware and software in a dedicated 3D lab, and has collaborations with research partners in academia and industry worldwide who share a common goal of improving the quality of pediatric cardiovascular imaging.
Affiliates
Affiliations with leading research and healthcare institutions in and around the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest healthcare complex, provide access to an exceptionally diverse array of people and resources. Discover how our affiliations enhance our education programs.
