KidFIT Program

At Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Heart Institute, we believe children with heart disease deserve the opportunity to be as active and healthy as possible. Our KidFIT Program brings together specialized fitness programs, advanced diagnostic testing, and coordinated multidisciplinary care to help children with congenital and acquired heart conditions build strength, improve endurance, and reach their fullest potential.

Pediatric
Functional Improvement and Tolerance (KidFIT) Program

The KidFIT Program is designed for children with congenital or acquired heart disease, especially those with single ventricle physiology, who want to build strength, improve fitness, and increase exercise tolerance in a safe and supportive environment.

Our team uses ongoing assessments, including cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and body composition analysis, to develop personalized care plans tailored to each child's needs. Plans may include adjustments to medical therapy as well as structured exercise recommendations.

When appropriate, patients may be referred to outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programs that allow children to participate in guided rehabilitation from home.

Pediatric Exercise Physiology Lab

Our Pediatric Exercise Physiology Lab provides specialized evaluations for children and adolescents with a wide range of cardiac conditions, including:

• Congenital heart disease
• Cardiomyopathy
• Single ventricle physiology
• Arrhythmias
• Post-heart transplant
• Complete heart block (i.e., pacemakers)

We also provide services to support ENT and pulmonology patients, helping diagnose conditions such as vocal cord dysfunction.

We offer advanced diagnostic testing to assess how the heart and lungs function during physical activity, including:

• Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET)
• Exercise stress testing
• Stress echocardiography (stress echo)
• 6-minute walk testing

Results from these evaluations give our care team the insight needed to guide personalized care plans, including medication adjustments, surgical timing, transplant evaluation and customized exercise recommendations for cardiac rehabilitation.

Fontan Fitness Clinic

The Fontan Fitness Clinic is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary program designed specifically for patients living with Fontan physiology. Our goal is to monitor and support every aspect of a child's health in one coordinated setting, making each visit as convenient and complete as possible for families.

During each visit, patients have access to a team of specialists working together, including experts in:

• Cardiology
• Pulmonology
• Gastroenterology
• Nephrology
• Neuropsychology
• Nutrition
• Allergy and Immunology
• Palliative Care
• Social Work

We also offer on-site testing, including body composition analysis (InBody), cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), 6-minute walk testing and pulmonary function testing (PFT). Additional imaging, including MRI (heart/liver), CT scans and ultrasounds, can be coordinated around your visit.