Wenyi Luo^1,#, Li Yuan^1,#, Ruiling Feng², Kai Pu³, Yali Huang⁴, Mingxiong Li³, Xiaomin Tang⁵, Huimei Wang⁶, Xuejing Wang⁷, Wentin Zhang⁸, Hong Zheng⁹, Xiuhong Li¹⁰, Dandong Luo¹¹, Shanshan Shi⁵, Yaqin Shu³, Xu Wang¹², Na Du¹³, Yujie Shen¹⁴, Yamin Song¹⁵, Huihua Wang¹⁶, Xia Xie¹⁷, Qian Zhang¹², Qianqian Zhang¹⁸, Yuanyuan Zhang¹⁹, Yueyue Zhang¹, Xiaojie Hu²⁰, Zhimin Li²¹, Xiaolan Pan¹⁰, Youdong Pan²², Wenyuan Shang²³, Hairui Sun²⁴, Beini Wang²⁵, Yanhua Wang²⁶, Yanyan Wang²⁷, Yongting Wang²⁸, Guihong Yang²⁹, Yan Zhou³⁰, Zhimin Yang¹, Xuanxuan Li¹, Huiwen Chen^1,§,*, Zhuoming Xu^1,§,*

Structural and Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.21, No.2, 2026, DOI:10.32604/schd.2026.082239 - 11 June 2026

Abstract Objective: To develop the Chinese expert consensus on the prevention and management of central venous catheter (CVC)-related thrombosis in children with congenital heart disease (CHD) (hereafter referred to as the Consensus), with the aim of standardizing and improving preventive and therapeutic strategies for CVC-related thrombosis in pediatric patients with CHD. Methods: The consensus was formulated in strict accordance with the principles of evidence-based medicine by a multidisciplinary panel of experts. Evidence was appraised and synthesized using the JBI Evidence Grading System. The initial draft was refined through two rounds of Delphi consultations involving 16 experts and… More >

Naomi Kalume^1,*, Shreya Papneja¹, Jamie L. Jackson², Richard Krasuski³, Anushree Agarwal⁴, Arwa Saidi⁵, David Harrison^6,7, Matthew Lewis⁸, Anita Mathews¹, Scott Leezer⁹, Ken Woodhouse¹⁰, Aliza Marlin¹⁰, Danielle M. Hile¹⁰, Ryan Joy O’Connor¹¹, Ruth Phillippi¹, Thomas Carton¹², Anitha S. John¹

Structural and Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.21, No.2, 2026, DOI:10.32604/schd.2026.081700 - 11 June 2026

Abstract Background: Adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) experience lifelong medical and psychosocial challenges, yet research in this population is limited by incomplete longitudinal data and insufficient incorporation of patient perspectives. Although patient engagement is increasingly recognized as important, structured and sustainable engagement models in ACHD research remain limited. Objectives: The paper aims to describe the development and operational structure of the Congenital Heart Initiative (CHI) Engagement Network and to report outcomes from two annual patient-powered research meetings used to identify and refine ACHD research priorities. Methods: The CHI Engagement Network was established as a multi-stakeholder research infrastructure… More >

Shruthi S^*, D. Hanumanth Rao Naidu

Structural and Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.21, No.2, 2026, DOI:10.32604/schd.2026.079590 - 11 June 2026

Abstract Background: Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is an abnormality of the heart arising before birth. CHD diagnosis poses a critical challenge, particularly in resource-constrained settings where access to doctors and skilled radiologists is limited. The maternal risk factors contributing to CHD include modifiable and non-modifiable causes. Very few studies mention about these maternal risk factors for the Indian population to build predictive machine learning models for disease forecasting. The aim is to explore the feasibility of predicting CHD occurrence using maternal risk factor data and machine learning models in an Indian context. Methods: This research utilizes Indian-origin… More >

Edward Araujo Júnior^1,2,*, Luciane Alves da Rocha Amorim³, Nathalie Jeanne Magioli Bravo-Valenzuela^4,5

Structural and Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.21, No.2, 2026, DOI:10.32604/schd.2026.079410 - 11 June 2026

Abstract This article has no abstract. More >

Jiaxiong Wu^1,2,3,#, Runzhang Liang^1,#, Naijimuding ABUDUREXITI^4,#, Jing Ling², Zirui Peng², Jinxin Li¹, Canxin Wang¹, Yong Zhang¹, Haiyun Yuan^1,2,3,*, Shusheng Wen^1,2,3,*

Structural and Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.21, No.2, 2026, DOI:10.32604/schd.2026.077455 - 11 June 2026

Abstract Objective: Cone reconstruction (CR) is the preferred surgical treatment for Ebstein’s anomaly (EA). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying postoperative cardiac repair remain unclear. This study investigated the dynamic changes of plasma exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) in EA patients before and after CR, exploring their association with postoperative cardiac function recovery and potential molecular mechanisms. Methods: Plasma samples were collected from 10 EA patients undergoing CR preoperatively, 1 day postoperatively, and 7 days postoperatively, along with samples from 10 healthy controls. Plasma exosomes were isolated using size-exclusion chromatography. Exosomal miRNAs were extracted and sequenced, followed by differential expression,… More >

Jie Wu^1,#, Guiwen Liang^1,#, Ya Pan^1,#, Talaibaike Maimaijuma^2,3, Xianggui Xu^2,3, Juying Lu¹, Zhongwei Huang^1,*, Lei Qi^1,*, Haiyan Jiang^1,*

Structural and Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.21, No.2, 2026, DOI:10.32604/schd.2026.077080 - 11 June 2026

Abstract Background: Children with congenital heart disease (CHD) complicated by severe infection often present with immature immune function and poor prognosis. Evidence supporting the use of glucocorticoids in this population, particularly with dynamic immune monitoring, remains limited. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 183 CHD children with severe infections admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) from 2019 to 2023. Patients were divided into two groups: the glucocorticoid intervention group (n = 92, methylprednisolone + standard treatment) and the control group (n = 91, standard treatment). Immune indicators (Interleukins-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio… More >

Aygül Kaya Akıllı¹, Osman Akdeniz², Celal Özcan^3,*

Structural and Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.21, No.2, 2026, DOI:10.32604/schd.2026.076628 - 11 June 2026

Abstract Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) refers to malformations of the heart or great vessels that occur during the intrauterine period. Critical CHD refers to heart conditions that require medical intervention or surgical procedures in the early stages of life. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, newborns aged 0 to 28 days who were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery Clinic of our hospital with a diagnosis of critical CHD between January 2019 and September 2024 were evaluated. Results: Among 160 patients, 52 (32.5%) had a prenatal diagnosis. Overall mortality was significantly… More >

Kadriye Simsek Alan^*, Busra Senel Kahyaoglu

Journal on Artificial Intelligence, Vol.8, pp. 203-230, 2026, DOI:10.32604/jai.2026.078359 - 15 April 2026

Abstract Cardiovascular diseases remain one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, making early and reliable diagnosis a critical challenge for modern healthcare systems. In this study, a systematic comparative performance analysis of widely used machine learning algorithms is conducted for the early detection of heart disease using tabular clinical data. Rather than proposing a novel model architecture, the primary objective is to provide a fair, reproducible, and clinically meaningful evaluation of commonly adopted classifiers under consistent experimental conditions. The Kaggle Heart Failure dataset is employed, and multiple machine learning models—including tuned Random Forest, tuned XGBoost,… More >

Xuming Mo^1,*, Taibing Fan^2,*, Zhongdong Hua^3,*, Christoph Haller⁴, Shinichiro Oda⁵, Shuhua Luo⁶, Weijie Liang², Yuzhong Yang¹, Huaipu Liu³, Nianguo Dong⁷, Shoujun Li⁸, Xinxin Chen⁹, Jimei Chen¹⁰, Hao Zhang¹¹, Qiang Shu¹², Haibo Zhang¹¹, Quansheng Xing¹³, Jinghao Zheng¹¹, Xiaofeng Li¹⁴, Teng Ming¹⁵, Qi An¹⁶, Ping Wen¹⁷, Qiang Wang¹⁸, Jirong Qi¹, Huiwen Chen¹¹, Shusheng Wen¹⁹, Rui Chen²⁰, Ming Ye²¹, Keming Yang⁸, Minhua Fang²², Caixia Liu²³, Ke Lin¹⁶, Zhongshi Wu²⁴, Xiangming Fan¹², Zhengxia Pan²⁵, Yiqun Ding²⁶, Ming’an Pi²⁷, Xin Li²⁸, Yong Zou²⁹, Shuguang Tao³⁰, Renwei Chen³¹, Li Ma⁹, Libing Zhang³², Tao You³³, Dongshan Liao³⁴, Cheng Zhou³⁵, Hongxin Li³⁶, Gengxu Zhou³⁷, Chunhu Gu³⁸, Zhiqiang Li³⁹, Yonggang Li²⁵, Hui Zhang⁴⁰, Xiaomin He¹¹, Yanan Lu¹¹, Haifa Hong⁴¹, Benqing Zhang⁸, Li Gong²⁷, Jiafeng Qi⁴², Song Bai³⁹, Yuhang Liu⁴³, Tianli Zhao²⁴, Cardiothoracic Surgery Group, Pediatric Surgery Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Cardiac Surgery Group, Pediatric Surgery Branch of Chinese Medical Association, the Asian Association for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery

Structural and Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.21, No.1, 2026, DOI:10.32604/schd.2026.077974 - 31 March 2026

Abstract Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a common birth defect in children, and surgical intervention is the primary treatment. The traditional standard median sternotomy (MS) has drawbacks such as significant trauma and obvious scarring. The right axillary incision (RAI) has gradually become a conventional approach due to its advantages of preserving thoracic cage integrity, small incision size, rapid recovery, and hidden scarring. However, there is currently a lack of relevant guidelines and consensus for its application. This consensus adopts the international Delphi process, systematically searching domestic and foreign literature on CHD from 1982 to 2024. It… More >

Jiafei He^1,2, Ailixiati Alifu², Haifan Wang², Renwei Chen^1,2,*

Structural and Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.21, No.1, 2026, DOI:10.32604/schd.2026.075858 - 31 March 2026

Abstract Hyperglycemia in pregnancy (HIP) is an important independent risk factor for congenital heart disease (CHD) in offspring. With an increasing number of women of childbearing age experiencing gestational hyperglycemia, the impact of an intrauterine hyperglycemic environment on fetal development has drawn significant attention. However, the teratogenic mechanisms underlying its effects on cardiac development remain incompletely understood. This review systematically analyzes relevant literature to summarize its underlying mechanisms and key findings: A hyperglycemic environment disrupts cardiac neural crest cell migration, differentiation, and the proliferation/apoptosis balance of cardiomyocytes by inducing oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and inflammatory… More >