CHD Surgery Survival Rates

As a parent of a baby who needs heart surgery, you want to make the smartest decisions. You aim to choose the best surgeons and a hospital you can trust. Experience and outcomes make a difference.

At UVA Health Children's, your baby gets care at the #1 Children's Hospital in Virginia. If your child has surgery at UVA Health Children’s, they're more likely to survive surgery.

Survival rate data of babies with most complex chd surgeries


What the numbers mean: For the most complex congenital heart surgeries (also called STAT 5), the survival rate for children treated at UVA Health Children’s is 96.5%. The national average survival rate is 86%. Children who have one of these surgeries at UVA are more likely to survive.

survival ratios infant chd surgeries complex uva childrens vs regional


What the numbers mean: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) is a third party that keeps a database of outcomes for congenital heart surgeries at hospitals across the country. They use a measure called an expected-to-observed ratio (O/E). The lower a hospital’s expected-to-observed ratio, the better. A number under 1.0 means the hospital had fewer deaths than expected based on how difficult the procedure is.

For the most complex congenital heart surgeries (STAT 5), UVA Children’s ratio is 0.59. That means fewer children died from these procedures than STS expected. That is better than other hospitals in the region.

chd infant surgery survival ratio comparison graph


What the numbers mean: The same is true for UVA Children’s ratio of 0.93 for all congenital heart surgeries. Fewer of our patients died than STS expected. 

UVA vs. National Averages for STAT Categories and Individual Procedures

Surgery Type

UVA Children's Survival Rate

(Jan. 2017-Dec. 2020)

National Average Survival Rate

(Jul. 2016-Jun. 2020)

UVA Children's Median Hospital Stay

(Jan. 2017-Dec. 2020)

National Average Median Hospital Stay

(Jul. 2016-Jun. 2020)

STAT 5 Surgeries 96.5% 87.8% 28 Days 33 Days
STAT 4 Surgeries 95.8% 93.9% 16 Days 16 Days
STAT 3 Surgeries 98% 98% 8 Days 8 Days
STAT 2 Surgeries 98% 98.6% 7 Days 7 Days
STAT 1 Surgeries 100% 99.6% 4 Days 4 Days
All Surgeries 97.8%      
         
Norwood Procedure 96.2% 84.8% 28 Days 37 Days
Aortic Arch Repair (Including VSD) 97.1% 97.1%    
Coarctation of the Aorta Repair 100% 98.2% 3 Days 6 Days
Arterial Switch Surgery (With and Without VSD) 97.4% 97% 10 Days 13 Days
TAPVR Repair 93.8% 92.2%    
Tetralogy of Fallot Repair 100% 98.9% 7 Days 7 Days
Complete Atrioventricular Septal Defect Repair 100% 98% 8 Days 9 Days
Glenn Procedure 96.9% 98% 8 Days 8 Days
Fontan Procedure 97.9% 99% 11.5 Days 10 Days