Condition guide · child heart surgery

Your child needs heart surgery. Find the team that does this operation often.

Congenital heart operations are not all alike, and neither are the hospitals that perform them. We find the congenital heart surgeons and children's heart programs that do your child's operation — each checked on their current hospital or university page (and we tell you when a site couldn't be checked) — and tell you who to call and what to ask.

Check if we can help — $149 only after we confirm

$149, one time. You pay only after we confirm we can cover your case · report by email within 3 business days of payment · 14 days of email questions included.

Not helpful? Tell us within 7 days. We redo the research free — and if it still doesn't help, we refund you in full.

Why the right team matters for a child's heart surgery

Choosing where your child has surgery is one of the few decisions in this process that is truly yours.

Heart defects are common — but each repair is specific.The CDC notes that heart defects are the most common type of birth defect, and that some children need one or more surgeries to repair the heart or blood vessels, while some can be treated with cardiac catheterization instead. How often a hospital performs one particular repair can differ a lot from program to program.
Public results exist — and they need explaining.The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) publishes congenital heart surgery results for US and Canadian hospitals that choose to share them, based on a risk model. STS itself notes these results depend on each hospital's mix of cases and are not meant for direct comparison. We explain in plain words what the numbers say — and what they don't.
Surgery is the start of a long relationship.The CDC notes that people with a heart defect need routine checkups with a cardiologist. The program you choose often becomes your child's heart home for years, so follow-up, distance and how the team communicates matter too.

Sources (public, linked so you can read them yourself):

What your child heart surgery report contains

A plain-English PDF built for one family — not a list of 200 names.

The operation, in plain words

What the planned repair involves and how care is usually organized — the surgeon, the pediatric cardiologist, the cardiac ICU — so you can follow the conversation.

2–3 surgeons and programs, verified

Congenital heart surgeons and children's hospitals with real experience in your child's operation — each checked on the hospital's or university's own page within days of your report (we tell you if a site couldn't be checked). Plus the closest option to home.

Public quality data, explained

What each program shares publicly (for example through STS), in plain words, with its limits spelled out.

Questions that matter

"How many of this exact operation does your team do each year?", what the ICU and recovery look like, and who you call after discharge.

Exactly who to call

Phone numbers, how to request a surgical review, how to send echo and imaging reports, insurance referral rules, and help for out-of-state families.

Summary, messages and stories

A one-page summary to bring, a ready-to-send email and phone script, and real stories from parents who have been there.

Page one of a sample WhichSpecialist report, marked 'Sample report — fictional patient': Your Specialist Report for a leaky mitral valve, prepared for a 62-year-old in Charlotte, North Carolina, dated November 1, 2026. — Page 1 of our adult heart surgery sample (fictional patient)

Read a full sample: child heart surgery report

A complete sample report for a child's heart operation (fictional patient; the surgeons, programs and links are real and were checked on the report date).

Read an adult heart surgery sample

Mitral valve surgery for an adult — the same structure, so you can see how surgery reports are built.

Who we are

WhichSpecialist is an independent research service run by Utku Güneysu (sole proprietorship) in Istanbul, Türkiye. We are not doctors and we never give medical advice — our job is to find the doctors who can.

Every specialist, phone number and link in your report is checked by hand, one by one, on the hospital's or university's own page. AI helps us search US sources first (hospital pages, published research, public data). No doctor, hospital or company pays us. Every email is read and answered by a person.

Utku GüneysuFounder · hello@whichspecialist.com

Know your options before the surgery date is set

Tell us the condition and your state. We confirm by email within 24 hours whether we can cover your case — you pay only after that.

Check if we can help — $149 only after we confirm

$149, one time. You pay only after we confirm we can cover your case.

Not helpful? Tell us within 7 days. We redo the research free — and if it still doesn't help, we refund you in full.

Questions

Is this medical advice?

No. We help you find and talk to the right specialists. We don't identify or confirm any condition and we don't recommend treatments — those decisions belong to you and your doctors.

Our cardiologist already recommended a hospital. Why would we need this?

That recommendation may well be the right one. The report helps you understand it: how often that program does your child's operation, what it shares publicly, and what to ask — plus one or two other programs, so the choice is informed. Tell us the hospital in the notes and we'll include it.

How do you choose and order the programs?

No doctor or hospital pays to be listed, and we don't sell placements. We order the short list by documented experience — how often a program does your child's operation and what it reports publicly — and explain why for each one. The choice stays with you and your child's doctors.

Do you need my child's records?

No. The operation or heart condition name and your state are enough. Choose "My child" in the form. Please don't include your child's name or date of birth.

Do doctors or hospitals pay to be listed?

Never. No doctor, hospital or company pays us, and we take no referral fees. You are our only customer.