Our doctors undergo additional training, longer than most practitioners who provide anesthesiology for children with heart problems.
Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiology
Relief and Comfort Wherever and Whenever Your Child Needs It
Keeping your child comfortable and pain-free with anesthesia is essential when a heart problem requires testing or therapy. Your care team may use anesthesia to prepare your child for surgery, a procedure or an imaging test when it is important for your child to stay still and relaxed.
World-Class Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia
When your child’s care requires anesthesia, you and your family can feel confident in the unique advantages of Johns Hopkins’ specialized pediatric heart team. In addition to continuous monitoring and emphasis on safety, we offer:
Extra training
Vast experience
The large number of children we treat, and the range of conditions we care for mean that even the most unusual anesthesia challenges are familiar to us.
Continuity of care
Working seamlessly with the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (PCICU), our team supports your child through each stage of his or her treatment, regardless of where it happens within the hospital.
Familiar faces
The same people who provide anesthesia in the operating room provide sedation during diagnostic procedures so your child sees the same faces throughout their care, including the PCICU during recovery.
Meet Our Experts
Dheeraj Kumar Goswami, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Director, Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia
Director, Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia
Elizabeth Anne Hunt, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.
Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Joint Appointment in Health Sciences Informatics
Professor of Pediatrics
David S. and Marilyn M. Zamierowski Director of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Simulation Center
Co-Chair of the Johns Hopkins CPR Advisory Committee
Joint Appointment in Health Sciences Informatics
Professor of Pediatrics
David S. and Marilyn M. Zamierowski Director of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Simulation Center
Co-Chair of the Johns Hopkins CPR Advisory Committee
Jamie McElrath Schwartz, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Co-Director, Blalock-Taussig-Thomas Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center
Division Chief, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
Director, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Co-Director, Blalock-Taussig-Thomas Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center
Division Chief, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
Director, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
Jochen Steppan, M.D.
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Director of Perioperative Medicine, High Risk Cardiovascular Disease
Director of Perioperative Medicine, High Risk Cardiovascular Disease
Special Considerations for Anesthesia in Babies and Children
Anesthesia care for babies and children is very different from that of adults. At Johns Hopkins, research conducted in our laboratories is helping us discover the safest and most effective practices and put them to use.
We use anesthesia medications in a way that’s tailored to your child’s age and condition. We take extra steps to improve blood flow and alertness in recovery.
About two-thirds of children we care for can return to their ICU beds after surgery free of equipment and breathing on their own, so you can hold, cuddle and breastfeed your child sooner.”
- Dr. Dheeraj Goswami, director of the Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia division
