Effectiveness of intraoperative use of dexmedetomidine in reducing the incidence of tachyarrhythmia after congenital cardiac surgery in neonates and infants: a doubly robust method estimation analysis.

Objectives: The antiarrhythmic effects of dexmedetomidine (DEX) have been suggested, but there are controversial reports on the effectiveness of intraoperative use of DEX to reduce the incidence of postoperative tachyarrhythmia (POT).

Methods: From a local European Congenital Heart Surgery Association database, we included patients operated for congenital heart diseases under cardiopulmonary bypass within a 5-year period (2017-2021), during which intraoperative use of high dose of DEX (1-1.4 µg/kg/h) was implemented.

Atrial septal defect closure: indications and contra-indications.

Transcatheter closure has become an accepted alternative to surgical repair for ostium secundum atrial septal defects (ASD). However, large ASDs (>38 mm) and defects with deficient rims are usually not offered transcatheter closure but are referred for surgical closure. Transcatheter closure also remains controversial for other complicated ASDs with comorbidities, additional cardiac features and in small children.

Coronary angiography of pregnancy-associated coronary artery dissection: a high-risk procedure.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare cause of acute coronary syndrome occurring predominantly in young women without any cardiovascular risk factors, especially during the peripartum and early postpartum period. Here, we report a case of a 28-year-old pregnant woman who was found to have an isolated distal SCAD of the left anterior descending artery (LAD). Coronary angiography was complicated by extensive LAD and circumflex arteries dissection, requiring an emergency coronary artery bypass grafting associated with ventricular assist device implantation and underlying the extreme fragility of coronary arteries in pregnant women.