Dell Children’s Medical Center announced today the successful completion of the hospital's 50th pediatric heart transplant. This historic accomplishment was achieved through the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, a clinical collaboration between Dell Children’s Medical Center and Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. Achieving this milestone in just five years has solidified Dell Children's status as a national leader in complex congenital heart care, making it a destination for patients throughout Central Texas and beyond.
"Reaching our 50th pediatric heart transplant is a historic achievement and a testament to the tireless dedication of our physicians and staff, which has positioned our cardiac transplant program as one of the best in the nation," said Adam Messer, President, Dell Children’s Medical Center. "We remain committed to being a premier destination for complex cardiac care through innovation, strategic investments, superior clinical operations, recruiting top talent, and leveraging the latest medical technology."
The program’s rapid trajectory began in 2018, when Charles Fraser Jr., M.D., joined Dell Medical School and Dell Children’s to build the pediatric heart center. Under his leadership, the team expanded clinical infrastructure, recruited specialized talent and established the capabilities necessary to perform the region’s first pediatric heart transplant in 2020 — advancing an academic model where research, education and patient care converge.
"I am incredibly proud of the collective hard work and dedication of our team, which has culminated in the historic milestone of 50 transplants in our heart transplant program," said Fraser, Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at Dell Medical School and Chief of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery at Dell Children’s Medical Center. "We look forward to continuing to build on this program to ensure we are providing our patients with the highest quality care possible.”
Since the launch of the first pediatric heart transplant program in Central Texas, the program has undergone an extraordinary transformation, ensuring Central Texas children—and high-acuity patients from across the U.S.—have access to the most advanced treatments available.
Key Program Milestones:
- 2019: The first LVAD is implanted — and suddenly, children with end-stage heart failure have new possibilities.
- 2020: The first pediatric heart transplant is performed at Dell Children’s. A single operation changes the trajectory of the entire region.
- 2023: Surgeons perform Texas’s first pediatric partial heart transplant, a groundbreaking procedure so rare it had only been done a handful of times globally.
- 2024: A third cath lab opens as volumes climb and the program becomes a lifeline for some of the most fragile infants in the state.
- 2025: The pediatric cardiology and heart surgery program is recognized and ranked No. 10 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report — only five years after performing its first pediatric heart transplant.
