Our Services
Mother & Baby
Fetal and Child Cardiology
As part of your 3fivetwo antenatal care package we routinely provide access to experienced consultant paediatric cardiologists. They will provide support, information and advice on treatment options to any family whose baby may have a heart condition.
The advantages of identifying a heart problem early in pregnancy is that the parents are made fully aware of their babies heart abnormality, it`s likely effect on the quality of the baby`s life after birth and whether the condition requires surgery or not. As the diagnosis is known in advance, the paediatric cardiologist will be able to initiate the appropriate treatment immediately after birth so that the baby`s condition does not worsen as a result of the defect.
Fetal Echocardiography
A fetal echo is a scan of your baby's heart carried out when your baby is still in the womb. It is similar to the routine scans you have while you are pregnant, although in this scan we concentrate just on your baby's heart. It is performed to determine how the fetal heart is developing and to look at how the blood flows around it. In many cases this confirms that the heart has developed normally. Most heart problems can usually be detected but some abnormalities and a small number of conditions can only be detected after birth.
Paediatric patients
Our Paediatric cardiologist is also available for consultation for children from birth uo to 16 years, who have been referred with;
- Heart murmurs
- Blue spells
- Palpatations
- Chest pain
- Fainting episodes
Consultants: (click name to view bio)
- Dr Frank Casey
Dr Frank Casey
Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children
Dr.Casey is a Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist at The Royal Belfast Hospital For Sick Children, which is the Regional Paediatric Cardiology Centre for Northern Ireland. He is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer in The Department of Child Health at Queen`s University Belfast.
He graduated with Honours in Biochemistry from Queens University Belfast, before studying Medicine at University College Cork. He trained in Paediatrics before specialising in Paediatric Cardiology. His training in Paediatric Cardiology included to years as a Clinical Fellow in the Division of Cardiology at The Hospital For Sick Children, Toronto.
His special area of interest is in Echocardiography and he is Director of the Regional Fetal Cardiology service for Northern Ireland. His research interests are in the applications of Telemedicine to Paediatric Cardiology, Fetal Cardiology and the long-term educational and psychosocial outcome for children after surgery for congenital heart disease. Dr. Casey has more than twenty published papers and has given many presentations at international meetings.
