Madalena Coutinho Cruz¹, André Viveiros Monteiro¹, Guilherme Portugal¹, Sérgio Laranjo², Ana Lousinha¹, Bruno Valente¹, Paulo Osório¹, Pedro Silva Cunha¹, Lídia de Sousa¹, José Alberto Oliveira¹, Ana Agapito¹, Mário Martins Oliveira¹, Fátima Pinto², Rui Cruz Ferreira¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.4, pp. 525-533, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12767

Abstract Objective: Sudden cardiac death is common in the adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) population. Knowledge and experience about the use of implantable cardio‐ verter defibrillators (ICD) in ACHD patients is very limited. We aimed to characterize a cohort of patients with ACHD and ICDs.
Design: Thirty consecutive ACHD patients submitted to an ICD implantation in a single tertiary center were evaluated. Data on baseline clinical features, heart defect, indication for ICD, type of device, appropriate therapies, ICD‐related complication, and mortality during follow‐up were collected.
Results: Of the 30 patients, 56.7% received appropriate therapies due to ventricular tachycardia (VT)… More >

Munes Fares¹, Paul J. Critser², Maria J. Arruda¹, Carolyn M. Wilhelm¹, Mantosh S. Rattan³, Sean M. Lang^2,4, Tarek Alsaied^2,4

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.6, pp. 1166-1175, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12840

Abstract Pharmacologic stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance (PSCMR) is a wellestablished and reliable diagnostic tool for evaluation of coronary artery disease in the adult population. Stress imaging overall and PSCMR in particular is less utilized in the pediatric population with limited reported data. In this review, we highlight the potential use of PSCMR in specific pediatric cohorts with congenital and acquired heart disease, and we review the reported experience. A suggested protocol is presented in addition to two case examples of patients with Kawasaki disease where PSCMR aided decision making. More >

Benjamin Zielonka¹, Yuli Y. Kim^2,3, Gregory E. Supple², Sara L. Partington^2,3, Emily S. Ruckdeschel^2,3, Francis E. Marchlinski², David S. Frankel²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.6, pp. 931-938, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12833

Abstract Objective: Atrial arrhythmias and atrioventricular valve regurgitation (AVVR) are common causes of morbidity among adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD). The impact of rhythm control on AVVR in this population is unknown. We sought to determine whether a rhythm control strategy is associated with greater freedom from AV valve surgery than a rate control strategy.
Design: Patients evaluated by both ACHD and electrophysiology specialists at a single academic center were screened for atrial arrhythmias and at least moderate‐severe AVVR. Clinical and electrographic data were abstracted. All echocardiograms were in‐ terpreted by a single echocardiographer blinded to treatment… More >

Andrew D. Spearman¹, Steven J. Kindel¹, Ronald K. Woods², Salil Ginde^1,3

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.6, pp. 1199-1206, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12828

Abstract Background: Hypoxia is a common and sometimes severe morbidity of single ven‐ tricle congenital heart disease (CHD). Creation of an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is occasionally performed for patients after superior or total cavopulmonary connec‐ tion (SCPC or TCPC) in an attempt to improve oxygen saturations. Despite previ‐ ous reports, AVF creation is a rare palliation with inadequately defined benefits and risks. We sought to determine changes in peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO₂) and risk of adverse event after AVF creation in children with single ventricle CHD at our institution.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients… More >

Gabrielle C. Geddes^1,2, Erin Syverson^1,2, Michael G. Earing^1,2

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.5, pp. 832-837, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12817

Abstract Objective: To describe the first 3 years of experience of having an inpatient “cardiogenetics” program which involves medical geneticist assessment of infants with major congenital heart disease (CHD) requiring surgical intervention in the first year of life.
Patients: Patients less than a year of age admitted to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin’s Herma Heart Institute for surgical intervention for CHD seen by the cardiogenetics program. Patients with major trisomies (13, 18, and 21) were excluded.
Outcome Measures: Utilization and yield of genetic testing, and diagnostic rate were assessed as outcome measures and compared to a baseline time period and… More >

Seul Gi Cha¹, Mi Kyung Song¹, Sang Yun Lee¹, Gi Beom Kim¹, Jae Gun Kwak², Woong Han Kim², Eun Jung Bae¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.5, pp. 684-690, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12810

Abstract Objective: Cardiovascular lesions are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with Williams syndrome. Recent studies have rebutted conventional reports about the natural course of cardiovascular anomalies in Williams syndrome.
Design: Retrospective study.
Setting: Single tertiary center.
Patients: Eighty patients with Williams syndrome followed up for more than 5 years.
Interventions: Not applicable.
Outcome Measures: Long‐term outcome of cardiovascular lesions, peak velocity change in obstructive cardiovascular lesions over time, post‐interventional courses of disease‐specific intervention, and intervention‐free survival of obstructive cardio‐ vascular lesions.
Results: The median follow‐up duration was 11.0 (5.1‐28.3) years. Among 80 pa‐ tients, supravalvular aortic stenosis (87.5%) was… More >

Amanda Hoerst¹, Adnan Bakar², Steven C. Cassidy³, Martha Clabby⁴, Erica Del Grippo⁵, Margaret Graupe¹, Ashraf S. Harahsheh⁶, Anthony M. Hlavacek⁷, Stephen A. Hart³, Alaina K. Kipps⁸, Nicolas L. Madsen¹, Dora D. O’Neil⁹, Sonali S. Patel¹⁰, Courtney M. Strohacker¹¹, Ronn E. Tanel¹²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.3, pp. 419-426, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12739

Abstract Background: The Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC3) was estab‐ lished in 2014 to improve the quality, value, and experience of hospital‐based cardiac acute care outside of the intensive care unit. An initial PAC3 project was a compre‐ hensive survey to understand unit structure, practices, and resource utilization across the collaborative. This report aims to describe the previously unknown degree of practice variation across member institutions.
Methods: A 126‐stem question survey was developed with a total of 412 possible response fields across nine domains including demographics, staffing, available re‐ sources and therapies, and standard care practices. Five… More >

Charlotte A. Houck^1,2, Reinder Evertz³, Christophe P. Teuwen¹, Jolien W. Roos‐Hesselink¹, Janneke A. E. Kammeraad⁴, Anthonie L. Duijnhouwer³, Natasja M. S. de Groot³, Ad J. J. C. Bogers²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.2, pp. 280-287, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12724

Abstract Objective: Outcomes after surgical repair of complete atrioventricular septal defect (cAVSD) have improved. With advancing age, the risk of development of dysrhythmias may increase. The aims of this study were to (1) examine development of sinus node dysfunction (SND), atrial and ventricular tachyarrhythmias, and (2) study progression of atrioventricular conduction abnormalities in young adult patients with repaired cAVSD.
Study design: In this retrospective multicenter study, 74 patients (68% female) with a cAVSD repaired in childhood were included. Patients’ medical files were evaluated for occurrence of SND, atrioventricular conduction block (AVB), atrial and ventricular tachyarrhythmias.
Results: Median age at… More >

Peng Wu^1,*, Qi Gao², Runjie Wei³, Hongping Wang³, Lizhong Wang³

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.1, pp. 27-28, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.05711

Abstract Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of human deaths worldwide. Traditional diagnostic tools of cardiovascular diseases are either based on 2D static medical images, or invasive, bringing troubles to both patients and doctors. Our team is committed to the development of image-based non-invasive diagnostic system for cardiovascular diseases. We have made progress mainly in the following areas: 1) 4D flow technology for heart and large blood vessels. According to MRI 4D Flow data, three-dimensional velocity fields within blood vessels were constructed. Divergence-fee smoothing (DFS) was proposed to eliminate the high frequency noise in the hemodynamic… More >

Dalin Tang^1,2,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.1, pp. 11-11, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.05170

Abstract Medical imaging and image-based modeling have made considerable progress in recent years in cardiovascular research, such as identifying atherosclerotic plaque morphological and mechanical risk factors which may be used in developing improved patient screening strategies, and performing virtual heart surgery seeking optimal surgical procedures for best post-surgical outcome. We will report recent progress in using multi-modality image-based models to predict vulnerable plaque progression and vulnerability change. In particular, we will report our recent results using IVUS+OCT data to obtain more accurate stress/strain calculations. Inflammation and cap erosion will affect cap material properties. If OCT image… More >