Kentaro Kogawa^1,2,*, Reiji Ito², Daishi Hirano², Kenji Hoshino^1,2

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.20, No.4, pp. 451-461, 2025, DOI:10.32604/chd.2025.068006 - 18 September 2025

Abstract Objective: To investigate the usefulness of the descending aortic retrograde flow area to forward flow area (dAO RF) ratio using echocardiography in managing pulmonary blood flow during the perioperative period following Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt (BTTS) surgery. Methods: This retrospective study analyzed patient characteristics, surgical procedures, and perioperative courses. The dAO RF ratio was measured upon admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and 12, 24, 48, and 72 h post-surgery. Blood pressure, percutaneous oxygen saturation, arterial blood gas values, and lactate levels were measured at the same time as the dAO RF ratio. Results: Seventy-one cases were… More >

Juliana Assis Alves¹, Mayra Martins Melo¹, Lorenza Machado Teixeira², Nathalie Jeanne Bravo-Valenzuela³, Edward Araujo Júnior^1,2,*

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.20, No.3, pp. 369-381, 2025, DOI:10.32604/chd.2025.066358 - 11 July 2025

Abstract Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common congenital anomaly and a major cause of death among fetal malformations, but prenatal diagnosis is considered to be low. The development of artificial intelligence (AI) in fetal echocardiography has made it possible to automate and standardise the examination, improving the variation in CHD detection rates between different regions and reducing the reliance on operator experience. AI includes any computer program (algorithms and models) that mimics human logic and intelligence, and its use in fetal echocardiography is mainly to acquire and optimise images, perform automatic measurements, identify discrepant More >

Yaqi Tang^1,#, Gang Luo^1,#, Huashu Liu², Hao Wan¹, Silin Pan^1,*

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.20, No.2, pp. 195-200, 2025, DOI:10.32604/chd.2025.063682 - 30 April 2025

Abstract Congenital atrial septal defect (ASD) with severe scoliosis is a rare compound malformation in children. Severe scoliosis should be corrected as soon as possible. The growth rod is suitable for patients with early scoliosis and obvious scoliosis under 10 years old. However, the fluoroscopic radiopaque of titanium alloy plate will inevitably partly make the operative field of interventional occlusion blind. We present a 7-year-old Chinese girl with ASD and scoliosis who underwent spinal correction with a dual-growth rod. In this case, we performed transcatheter closure of ASD solely under the guidance of transthoracic echocardiography. Transthoracic More >

Roberto Noya Galluzzo¹, Karine Souza Da Correggio¹, Aldo von Wangenheim², Heron Werner³, Nathalie Jeanne Bravo-Valenzuela⁴, Edward Araujo Júnior^5,6,*, Alexandre Sherlley Casimiro Onofre⁷

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.20, No.1, pp. 89-101, 2025, DOI:10.32604/chd.2025.063014 - 18 March 2025

Abstract Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM), a metabolic disorder, leads to organ damage due to chronic hyperglycemia with multiple pathogenic processes. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) poses risks to mothers and offspring, increasing the incidence of structural congenital heart disease (CHD) and myocardial hypertrophy in newborns. Objective: This review aimed to examine the association between maternal diabetes mellitus and CHD. Methods: This systematic review used the STROBE and TRIPOD checklists registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024513858). It focused on diagnostic test accuracy using the Munn et al. protocol for systematic assessment, emphasizing the “PIRD”: Population, Index Test, Reference Test, Diagnosis of Interest.… More >

Marcio Fragoso Vieira^1,2, Nathalie Jeanne Bravo-Valenzuela³, Edward Araujo Júnior^1,*

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.19, No.3, pp. 305-314, 2024, DOI:10.32604/chd.2024.053484 - 26 July 2024

Abstract Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common type of birth defect, representing a significant cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis of such anomalies is crucial for improving outcomes. Current protocols recommend a qualitative assessment of cardiac structures using two-dimensional ultrasound (2DUS) and color Doppler imaging. In cases of suspected abnormalities, quantitative assessments through cardiac structure measurements and reference curves can aid in accurate diagnosis. Similar to centiles widely employed in obstetrics, Z-scores provide more precise quantification of various cardiac structures, particularly at the extremes of the curve. While the development of reference More >

Risalina Myrtha^1,2,*, Hasanah Mumpuni^3,4, Real Kusumanjaya Marsam^3,4, Dyah Wulan Anggrahini^3,4, Anggoro Budi Hartopo^3,4, Lucia Kris Dinarti^3,4

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.19, No.3, pp. 315-324, 2024, DOI:10.32604/chd.2024.051587 - 26 July 2024

Abstract Background and Objective: The most feared complication of uncorrected secundum Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) is pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) is crucial in detecting precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) to guide the need for PAH-specific therapy. There is a change in the cut-off value of PVR according to the recently updated PH guideline. How echocardiographic PVR (PVR) correlates to PVR by right heart catheterization (RHC) (PVR) according to the new guidelines has not been known. The aim of this study is to determine the reliability of PVR in detecting PAH in Uncorrected Ostium… More > Graphic Abstract

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 - 20 March 2024

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 More >

Pier Paolo Bassareo^1,2,3,*, Aurelio Secinaro⁴, Paolo Ciliberti⁵, Massimo Chessa^6,7, Marco Alfonso Perrone^5,8, Kevin Patrick Walsh^1,2,3, Colin Joseph Mcmahon^2,3

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.18, No.6, pp. 595-610, 2023, DOI:10.32604/chd.2023.046229 - 19 January 2024

Abstract Background: Congenital absence of pericardium (CAP), also known as pericardial agenesis, represents an uncommon cardiac abnormality and mostly incidental finding. It can be subdivided into complete and partial (left or right-sided) forms. Because of its infrequency, just case reports and a few case series have been released so far. This paper represents the largest systematic review in the field. Nine features (age at diagnosis, type, gender, clinical presentation, electrocardiography, imaging (ultrasounds, CT/MRI), concomitant cardiac defects, and outcome) were analysed. Methods: The electronic database PubMed was investigated from its establishment up to July 15^th, 2023. Just case… 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 - 10 November 2023

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… More > Graphic Abstract

Xiaoxue Zhou¹, Tingyang Yang², Ye Zhang¹, Yanping Ruan¹, Jiancheng Han¹, Xiaowei Liu¹, Ying Zhao¹, Xiaoyan Gu¹, Tingting Liu¹, Hairui Wang¹, Yihua He^1,*

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.18, No.3, pp. 387-397, 2023, DOI:10.32604/chd.2023.029060 - 09 June 2023

Abstract Background: Atrioventricular septal defects (AVSDs) are screened and diagnosed usually rely on the imaging characteristics of fetal echocardiography (FE). However, diagnosis on images is heavily depended on sonographers’ experience and the quantitative data are rarely studied. Objective: This study aimed to realize the prenatal diagnosis of AVSDs by analyzing the quantitative data on FE. Methods: One hundred and thirteen cardiac quantitative data was analyzed in 370 normal and 49 AVSDs fetuses retrospectively. The top six with the highest diagnostic accuracy rate were acquired according to the area under the curve (AUC), and the diagnostic value of… More >