Waldemar F. Carlo¹, James F. Cnota², Robert J. Dabal³, Jeffrey B. Anderson²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.3, pp. 315-321, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12442

Abstract Objective: The National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPC-QIC) was established in 2008 to improve outcomes of hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) during the interstage period. They evaluated changes in patient variables and practice variation between early and late eras.
Design: Data including demographic, operative, discharge, and follow-up variables from the first 100 patients (6/2008–1/2010) representing 18 centers were compared with the most recent 100 patients (1/2014–11/2014) from these same centers.
Results: Prenatal diagnosis increased from 69% to 82% (P = .05). There were no differences in gestational age or weight at Norwood. A composite of any preoperative risk factor… More >

Antonio R. Mott¹, Steven R. Neish², Melissa Challman³, Timothy F. Feltes⁴

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.3, pp. 294-300, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12438

Abstract Background: The treatment of children with cardiac disease is one of the most prevalent and costly pediatric inpatient conditions. The design of inpatient medical services for children admitted to and discharged from noncritical cardiology care units, however, is undefined. North American Pediatric Cardiology Programs were surveyed to define noncritical cardiac care unit models in current practice.
Method: An online survey that explored institutional and functional domains for noncritical cardiac care unit was crafted. All questions were multi-choice with comment boxes for further explanation. The survey was distributed by email four times over a 5-month period.
Results: Most programs (n =… More >

Safwat A. Aly¹, David Zurakowski², Penny Glass³, Kami Skurow-Todd⁴, Richard A. Jonas⁵, Mary T. Donofrio⁴

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.2, pp. 188-195, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12426

Abstract Importance: There are no well-established noninvasive biomarkers for identifying patients at risk for poor outcome after surgery for congenital heart disease. Few studies have assessed prognostic accuracy of cerebral tissue oxygenation index (cTOI) measured by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).
Objective: To assess the utility of noninvasive NIRS monitoring as a predictor of outcomes after neonatal cardiac surgery through measurement of cTOI. To examine the utility of noninvasive NIRS monitoring in combination with lactate concentration and inotropic score in prediction of outcomes after neonatal cardiac surgery.
Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort study.
Setting: Operating room and cardiac intensive care unit, Children’s National… More >

Shae Anderson^1,2, Courtney E. McCracken², Ritu Sachdeva^1,2

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.6, pp. 1050-1057, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12679

Abstract Objective: The educational intervention (EI) through the Pediatric Appropriate Use of Echocardiography (PAUSE) multicenter study resulted in improved appropriate‐ ness of transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) orders at our center. The current study evaluated if this pattern persisted after cessation of EI and the potential physician characteristics influencing appropriateness.
Design: Outpatients (≤18 years old) seen for initial evaluation during the EI (July to October, 2015) and 6‐month post‐EI (May to August, 2016) phases were included. Comparison was made between TTE rates and appropriateness ratings during EI and post‐EI phase. Association between TTE rate and appropriateness with physician characteristics (age, experience, patient volume,… More >

Shelby C. White¹, Jennifer Sedler², Trahern W. Jones³, Michael Seckeler¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.6, pp. 1045-1049, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12673

Abstract Objective: Applications of three‐dimensional (3D) printed models in medicine in‐ clude preprocedure planning, patient education, and clinical training. Reproducing complex anatomy as a 3D printed model can be useful for understanding congenital heart defects (CHD). We hypothesized that using 3D printed models during didactic sessions with resident physicians will improve trainees’ understanding of CHD.
Design and intervention: We performed a prospective, randomized educational in‐ tervention for teaching pediatric and pediatric/emergency medicine residents about simple (ventricular septal defect [VSD]) and moderately complex (tetralogy of Fallot [ToF]) CHD. Residents were divided into two groups: intervention and control. Each group completed a subjective… More >

Joseph J. Knadler¹, Daniel J. Penny¹, Tyler H. Harris², Gary D. Webb³, Antonio G. Cabrera^1,4, William B. Kyle¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.5, pp. 794-798, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12669

Abstract Objective: The growing body of medical literature in pediatric cardiology has made it increasingly difficult for individual providers to stay abreast of the most current, meaningful articles to help guide practice. Crowdsourcing represents a collaborative process of obtaining information from a large group of individuals, typically from an online or web‐based community, and could serve a potential mechanism to pool indi‐ vidual efforts to combat this issue. This study aimed to utilize crowdsourcing as a novel way to generate a list of the most relevant, current publications in congenital heart disease, utilizing input from an international group of professionals in… More >

Michelle Keir¹, Barbara Bailey¹, Angela Lee¹, Adrienne H. Kovacs^1,2, S. Lucy Roche^1,3

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.5, pp. 740-747, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12647

Abstract Background: With access to surgical care, >90% of today’s infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) will reach adulthood. During childhood, survivors accrue a wealth of health care experience and develop strategies for navigating life with a chronic disease.
Methods: Seeking to learn from this individualized process, we invited adults with complex CHD to participate in narrative analysis—an established qualitative research method for studying how individuals derive meaning from their personal stories. Audio recordings of 2‐4 hour free‐form interviews were transcribed and iteratively analyzed to identify common themes and detect similarities or differences in language, viewpoint and interpretation. Recruitment continued until… More >

Ashley E. Neal¹, Elizabeth Lehto¹, Karen Hughes Miller², Erin Davis³, Craig Ziegler²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.5, pp. 788-793, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12626

Abstract Objective: The 2016 American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) content outline is comprehensive, including more than 50 cardiology-specific objectives within eight content areas. This study complements the quantitative analysis of a Kentucky-wide survey of trainees, pediatricians, and pediatric cardiologists asking them to identify “most important” cardiology content by analyzing their open-ended comments about “what should be added” and “why?” within these eight categories.
Design, Methods, Outcome Measures: This cross-sectional study used an original, online survey instrument based on the 2016 ABP cardiology-specific objectives. We began an initial analysis of the qualitative data using Pandit’s version of Glaser and Strauss Grounded theory… More >

Michele M. Pasierb, Josiah M. Penalver, Margaret M. Vernon, Bhawna Arya

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.4, pp. 571-577, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12611

Abstract Background: Accurate prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD) allows for appropriate delivery and postnatal management. Geographic constraints limit access to fetal cardiology subspecialists. In our approach, general pediatric cardiologists are first line in regional prenatal cardiac screening. We aim to demonstrate the utility of this approach in diagnosing CHD requiring cardiac interventions within 30 days of life.
Methods: This is a retrospective review of fetal echocardiograms performed at Seattle Children’s Hospital regional cardiology sites (SCH-RC) from December 2008 to December 2015. Referrals to Seattle Children’s Hospital Prenatal Program (SCH-PNP) were evaluated for referral timing, indication, diagnostic accuracy, and postnatal… More >

Rohit S. Loomba¹, Robert H. Anderson²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.2, pp. 163-166, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12593

Abstract Impact factor has been used as a metric by which to gauge scientific journals for several years. A metric meant to describe the performance of a journal overall, impact factor has also become a metric used to gauge individual performance as well. This has held true in the field of pediatric cardiology where many divisions utilize impact factor of journals that an individual has published in to help determine the individual’s academic achievement. This subsequently can impact the individual’s promotion through the academic ranks. We review the purpose of impact factor, its strengths and weaknesses, discuss why impact factor is… More >