Yücel Kaya^1,*, And Yavuz¹, Hasan Berkan Sayal¹, Büşra Tsakir¹, Gökalp Kabacaoğlu¹, Kadriye Nilay Özcan²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.19, No.1, pp. 123-129, 2024, DOI:10.32604/chd.2024.048145

Abstract Congenital ventricular aneurysm is a very rare cardiac anomaly. A diagnosis can be made during the prenatal period using fetal echocardiography. This study presents a very rare apically located left ventricular aneurysm case, and the relevant literature was reviewed and discussed. In this case, a 35-year-old, gravida 2, parity 1 pregnant woman at 24 weeks of gestation, displayed a wide aneurysmal image in the left ventricular apical wall on fetal echocardiography. There was a 1.79 mm muscular ventricular septal defect at the apical region of the interventricular septum. In the course of the color Doppler ultrasonography examination, an aberrant fibrous… More >

Yamixa Delgado^1,*, Caliani Gaytan¹, Naydi Perez², Eric Miranda³, Bryan Colón Morales¹, Mónica Santos¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.19, No.1, pp. 19-31, 2024, DOI:10.32604/chd.2024.046339

Abstract Background: Given the pervasive issues of obesity and diabetes both in Puerto Rico and the broader United States, there is a compelling need to investigate the intricate interplay among body mass index (BMI), pregestational, and gestational maternal diabetes, and their potential impact on the occurrence of congenital heart defects (CHD) during neonatal development. Methods: Using the comprehensive System of Vigilance and Surveillance of Congenital Defects in Puerto Rico, we conducted a focused analysis on neonates diagnosed with CHD between 2016 and 2020. Our assessment encompassed a range of variables, including maternal age, gestational age, BMI, pregestational diabetes, gestational diabetes, hypertension,… More >

Gustavo Foronda^1,2, Vanessa Ferreira Amorim de Melo^2,3,*, Claudia Regina Pinheiro de Castro Grau⁴, Ingrid Magatti Piva¹, Glaucia Maria Penha Tavares⁴, Ana Cristina Sayuri Tanaka¹, Nana Miura¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.18, No.6, pp. 649-656, 2023, DOI:10.32604/chd.2023.027987

Abstract Background: Children with congenital heart disease (CHD), even after surgical approaches, and especially those who undergo staged procedures in the first months of life, remain vulnerable to readmissions and complications, requiring very close monitoring and differentiated intervention strategies. Methods: Descriptive and exploratory study, of the experience report type, which presents the process of building the high-risk outpatient clinic for complex congenital heart diseases (AAR) at the Instituto do Coração (InCor). Results: Report of the path taken to structure the AAR, demonstrating the organization, interface with the multidisciplinary team, admission and discharge criteria, training, and patient profile. In these five years… More >

Håvard Bjerkeseth Solvin^1,2,5,*, Simone Goa Diab^1,4, Ole Jakob Elle^2,3, Henrik Holmstrøm^1,4, Henrik Brun^2,4,*

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.18, No.5, pp. 551-559, 2023, DOI:10.32604/chd.2023.031537

Abstract Background: The management of suspected critical congenital heart defects (CCHD) relies on timely echocardiographic diagnosis. The availability of experienced echocardiographers is limited or even non-existent in many hospitals with obstetric units. This study evaluates remote-mentored echocardiography performed by physicians without experience in imaging of congenital heart defects (CHD). Methods: The setup included a pediatric cardiologist in a separate room, guiding a physician without experience in echocardiographic imaging of CHD in the examination of a symptomatic newborn. This remote-mentoring pair was blinded to the diagnosis of the newborn and presented with a simplified patient history. The echocardiographic images were streamed to… More > Graphic Abstract

Yanli Liu^1,2, Fengzhen Han², Jian Zhuang⁴, Yanqiu Ou⁴, Yanji Qu⁵, Yanyan Lin², Weina Zhang², Haiping Wang^3,*, Liping Huang^1,*

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.18, No.5, pp. 561-570, 2023, DOI:10.32604/chd.2023.030511

Abstract Background: Research on fetal congenital heart defect (CHD) mostly focuses on etiology and mechanisms. However, studies on maternal complications or pathophysiology are limited. Our objective was to determine whether vascular dysfunction exists in pregnant women carrying a fetus with congenital heart defects. Methods: We conducted a case-control study. 27 cases of pregnant women carrying a fetus with major CHD admitted to our hospital for delivery between April 2021 and August 2022 were selected. Every case was matched with about 2 pregnant complication-free controls without fetal abnormalities. The proangiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors and pregnancy outcomes were compared. Results: The proangiogenic factors… More > Graphic Abstract

Vitaliy Suvorov^1,*, Vladimir Zaitcev¹, Karolina Andrzejczyk²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.17, No.3, pp. 365-374, 2022, DOI:10.32604/chd.2022.019126

Abstract Background: Bilateral banding of the branches of the pulmonary artery in patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) and other duct dependent critical neonatal heart malformations can significantly reduce the incidence of severe complications in the postoperative period, especially in severely unstable patients. In our study we compared different surgical techniques of bilateral pulmonary artery banding (PAB) in respect to their success in balancing systemic and pulmonary blood flow. Methods: We included 44 neonates with a HLHS and congenital heart diseases (CHD) with a functional single ventricle underwent a hybrid operation: bilateral PAB and patent ductus arteriosus stenting. The hybrid… More >

Mohammadrafie Khorgami¹, Ali Sadeghpour Tabaei^2,*, Elio Caruso^3,*, Silvia Farruggio³, Negar Omidi⁴, Maryam Moradian¹, Behzad Mohammadpour Ahranjani⁵, Zahra Khajali6 and Rahele Zamani¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.16, No.6, pp. 573-584, 2021, DOI:10.32604/CHD.2021.016271

Abstract Background: Most children in need of cardiac pacemakers remain dependent on the function of the permanent from childhood to adulthood. We sought to evaluate and compare the function between epicardial and endocardial pacemakers in pediatric groups with different conditions. Methods: Between 2012 and 2018, this single-canter study evaluated 44 pediatric patients with indications for epicardial or endocardial pacemakers. Results: The 2 groups, at a median age of 5 (0.1–16) years, were compared concerning the characteristics of the leads used (n = 80: bipolar, unipolar, steroid-eluting, and non–steroid-eluting), survival data, and complications. The reason for pacemaker implantation was congenital complete heart… More >

Jacqueline S. Lee^1,2, Angelica Blais^1,2, Julia Jackson¹, Bhavika J. Patel¹, Lillian Lai⁴, Gary Goldfield^1,3, Renee Sananes⁵, Patricia E. Longmuir^1,2,3,*

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.16, No.3, pp. 255-267, 2021, DOI:10.32604/CHD.2021.014628

Abstract Background: Pediatric cardiology patients often experience decreased quality of life (QoL) and higher rates of mental illness, particularly with severe disease, but the relationship between them and comparisons across diagnostic groups are limited. This mixed-methods cross-sectional study assessed the association between QoL anxiety and behavior problems among children with structural heart disease, arrhythmia, or other cardiac diagnoses. Methods: Children (6–14 years, n = 76, 50% female) and their parents completed measures of QoL (PedsQL), behavior (BASC-2, subset of 19 children) and anxiety (MASC-2, children 8+ years). Pearson correlations/regression models examined associations between QoL, behavior and anxiety, controlling for age, sex,… More >

Aparna Kulkarni^1,*, Richard Neugebauer², Shelby Kutty³

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.16, No.3, pp. 299-307, 2021, DOI:10.32604/CHD.2021.014495

Abstract Objective: The objective of this analysis is to describe the characteristics and morbidity during hospitalizations among adolescents with congenital heart disease (AdoCHD) from the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database. Methods: The PHIS database was queried for all AdoCHD admissions aged 12–18 years (1/1/2004–12/31/2013). Major forms of CHD were identified by their International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision codes, further verified based on their secondary diagnosis and/or procedure codes. Patient characteristics, diagnoses, procedures and vital status were assessed. Results: In total, there were 4,267 adolescents admitted to 42 Children’s Hospitals, 58.3% were males, 24.6% single ventricle (SV) patients, 64.1% bi-ventricle… More >

Sotiria C. Apostolopoulou^1,*, Stella Brili², Eftihia Sbarouni³, Dimitris Tousoulis², Konstantinos Toutouzas²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.15, No.5, pp. 369-375, 2020, DOI:10.32604/CHD.2020.012092

Abstract Objective: Acquired coronary artery disease, initially thought to rarely affect survivors of congenital heart disease, is increasingly recognized in this population, as these patients grow in age and numbers in the recent era. This study reports our experience with coronary artery disease in adults with congenital heart disease and discusses treatment issues and the existing literature. Methods: Retrospective review of all charts of adults with congenital heart disease and acquired coronary artery disease was performed. Patients’ clinical characteristics, diagnosis, risk factors, noninvasive and invasive imaging and management data were recorded. Results: Coronary artery disease was diagnosed at 35–70 of age… More >