Constanze Pfitzer^1,2,3, Paul C. Helm⁴, Hannah Ferentzi^1,5, Lisa-Maria Rosenthal¹, Ulrike M. M. Bauer^4,6, Felix Berger^1,3,7, Katharina R. L. Schmitt^1,3

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.6, pp. 787-793, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12515

Abstract Objective: To assess the prevalence of congenital heart disease (CHD) in Germany in relation to phenotypes, severity and gender.
Design: Cross-sectional registry study.
Setting: We analyzed data from patients with CHD born between 1996 and 2015.
Patients: A total of 26 630 patients, registered with the NRCHD, were born between 1996 and 2015. 10 927 patients were excluded from the current analysis due to prior registration with the NRCHD under the German PAN Prevalence Study, which showed a potential bias in the inclusion of this patient population (proportion of mild cardiac lesions was comparatively high due to improved diagnostic… More >

Brian A. Boe¹, Mark D. Norris², Jeffrey D. Zampi², Albert P. Rocchini², Gregory J. Ensing²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.6, pp. 733-739, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12514

Abstract Objective: We sought to identify a time during cardiac ejection when the instantaneous pressure gradient (IPG) correlated best, and near unity, with peak-to-peak systolic ejection gradient (PPSG) in patients with congenital aortic stenosis. Noninvasive echocardiographic measurement of IPG has limited correlation with cardiac catheterization measured PPSG across the spectrum of disease severity of congenital aortic stenosis. A major contributor is the observation that these measures are inherently different with a variable relationship dependent on the degree of stenosis.
Design: Hemodynamic data from cardiac catheterizations utilizing simultaneous pressure measurements from the left ventricle (LV) and ascending aorta (AAo)… More >

Dmitry Tumin^1,2, Helen Chou¹, Don Hayes Jr^1,3,4, Joseph D. Tobias^1,2,5, Mark Galantowicz^6,7, Patrick I. McConnell^6,7

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.6, pp. 794-799, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12513

Abstract Objective: Adults with congenital heart disease may require heart transplantation for end-stage heart failure. Whereas heart transplantation potentially allows adults with congenital heart disease to resume their usual activities, employment outcomes in this population are unknown. Therefore, we investigated the prevalence and predictors of work participation after heart transplantation for congenital heart disease.
Design: Retrospective review of a prospective registry.
Setting: United Network for Organ Sharing registry of transplant recipients in the United States.
Patients: Adult recipients of first-time heart transplantation with a primary diagnosis of congenital heart disease, performed between 2004 and 2015.
Interventions: None.
Outcome measures: Employment status reported… More >

Tugcin Bora Polat

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.6, pp. 800-807, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12512

Abstract Objectives: To retrospectively review the outcome of stent placement in neonates with a vertical ductus, present a technique of ductal stenting via the axillary artery and compare it to ductal stening via the femoral venous access.
Design: Nineteen patients with duct-dependent pulmonary circulations through a vertical ductus arteriosus were treated with stent implantation. Those patients were retrospectively included in the study. In the first nine of these cases, stent delivery was done transvenously. In the latter ten cases, we favored the axillary artery access to the transvenous approach for stenting the vertical ductus arteriosus. Wire-target technique was… More >

Jimmy C. Lu¹, Manish Bansal², Sarina K. Behera³, Jeffrey R. Boris⁴, Brian Cardis⁵, John S. Hokanson⁶, Bahram Kakavand⁷, Roy Jedeikin⁸

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.6, pp. 751-755, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12509

Abstract Objective: As part of the American College of Cardiology Adult Congenital and Pediatric Cardiology Section effort to develop quality metrics (QMs) for ambulatory pediatric practice, the chest pain subcommittee aimed to develop QMs for evaluation of chest pain.
Design: A group of 8 pediatric cardiologists formulated candidate QMs in the areas of history, physical examination, and testing. Consensus candidate QMs were submitted to an expert panel for scoring by the RAND-UCLA modified Delphi process. Recommended QMs were then available for open comments from all members.
Patients: These QMs are intended for use in patients 5–18 years old, referred… More >

Rahul H. Rathod^1,2, Brittney Jurgen^1,2, Rose A. Hamershock³, Kevin G. Friedman^1,2, Audrey C. Marshall^1,2, Mihail Samnaliev⁴, Dionne A. Graham³, Kathy Jenkins^1,2, James E. Lock^1,2, Andrew J. Powell^1,2

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.6, pp. 768-776, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12508

Abstract Background: Standardized Clinical Assessment and Management Plans (SCAMPs) are a quality improvement initiative designed to reduce unnecessary utilization, decrease practice variation, and improve patient outcomes. We created a novel methodology, the SCAMP managed episode of care (SMEOC), which encompasses multiple encounters to assess the impact of the arterial switch operation (ASO) SCAMP on total costs.
Methods: All ASO SCAMP patients (dates March 2009 to July 2015) were compared to a control group of ASO patients (January 2001 to February 2009). Patients were divided into “younger” (<2 years) and “older” (2–18 years) subgroups. Utilization included all cardiology visits,… More >

Eun Young Choi¹, Jinyoung Song², Heirim Lee², Chang Ha Lee³, Jun Huh², I.-Seok Kang², Ji Hyuk Yang⁴, Tae Gook Jun⁴

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.6, pp. 746-750, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12507

Abstract Background: Balloon dilatation of a bioprosthetic valve in the pulmonary position could be performed to delay valve replacement. We proposed to identify the long-term effectiveness of such a procedure.
Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 49 patients who underwent balloon valvuloplasty between January 2000 and December 2015. The primary goal was to determine the time interval until the following surgical or catheter intervention.
Results: The mean age at bioprosthetic valve insertion was 5.7 years old, and the mean age for ballooning was 11.7 years. The mean interval after pulmonary valve replacement was 71.6 months. The mean ratio… More >

Monique M. Gardner, Meryl S. Cohen

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.6, pp. 783-786, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12506

Abstract Background: Noncompaction is a poorly understood form of cardiomyopathy that typically affects the left ventricle and may be associated with congenital heart disease. Right ventricular noncompaction (RVNC) may occur when the left ventricle is affected but is rarely seen in isolation. RVNC may have clinical significance affecting surgical and long-term outcomes. We describe the diagnosis and clinical course in three patients at our institution.
Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients diagnosed with RVNC over a 12- month period at our institution and reviewed their imaging and clinical course.
Results: Three patients were identified. All had diagnosis… More >

Athanasios Koutsoukis¹, Xavier Halna du Fretay², Patrick Dupouy³, Phalla Ou⁴, Jean-Pierre Laissy⁴, Jean-Michel Juliard⁵, Fabien Hyafil⁶, Pierre Aubry⁵

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.6, pp. 726-732, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12504

Abstract Objective: The diagnosis of anomalous connections of the coronary arteries (ANOCOR) requires an appropriate identification for the management of the patients involved. We studied the observer variability in the description and classification of ANOCOR between a nonexpert group of physicians and a group of expert physicians, using the ANOCOR cohort.
Patients and design: Consecutive patients identified by 71 referring cardiologists were included in the ANOCOR cohort. Anomalous connection was diagnosed by invasive and/or computed tomography coronary angiography. Angiographic images were reviewed by an angiographic committee with experience in this field. Both investigators and angiographic committee filled out… More >

Zhiyong Lin, Hanwei Ge, Jiyang Xue, Guowei Wu, Jie Du, Xingti Hu, Qifeng Zhao

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.6, pp. 711-720, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12503

Abstract Objective: This study aims to assess and compare the early and long-term effects of extracardiac conduit (EC) and lateral tunnel (LT) in patients with a functional single ventricle through metaanalysis.
Design: A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP, CBM, and WanFang databases for papers that were published until August 1, 2016. Cochrane systematic review method was used for paper screening and information retrieve, and RevMan 5.3 software was applied for the meta-analysis.
Results: Data for 10 studies with a total of 3814 patients were retrieved. The advantages of EC comparing to LT include:… More >