They Deserve to Live: Impact of the Berlin Heart EXCOR on Small Children's Heart Transplant Waitlist in Low-Resource Settings.

In newly emerging economy countries, the shortage of pediatric donor hearts and poor healthcare infrastructure poses a significant challenge. Although mechanical circulatory support (MCS) has been proven effective in enhancing heart transplant waiting list outcomes, economic barriers hinder its widespread adoption. A single-center retrospective study reviewed children under 10 kg on the heart transplant (HTx) list from 2012 to 2023.

Long-Term Effects of Pulmonary Valve Implantation and Prosthesis Evolution in Patients with Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot.

Background: Pulmonary valve regurgitation is a significant long-term complication in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF).

Objective: This study aims to investigate the effects of pulmonary valve implantation (PVI) on the anatomy and function of the right ventricle (RV) and the long-term evolution of the implanted prosthesis in the pulmonary position.

Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort analysis was performed in 56 consecutive patients with TOF who underwent PVI.

Myocardial tissue expression of mRNA and preoperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in children undergoing congenital heart surgery.

Background: The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an easily accessible and inexpensive biomarker that has been shown to predict morbidity and mortality in congenital cardiac surgery. However, its regulatory mechanism remains unclear. This study aims to compare and correlate the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and IL-10 messenger RNAs (mRNAs) with the NLR in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) and ventricular septal defect (VSD).

Heart Transplantation in Children and Adults With Congenital Heart Disease: 3 Decades of Evolution.

Heart transplantation is the treatment of choice for children and adults with congenital heart disease. We report the heart transplant single-center experience. The number of transplantations has increased over the last 3 decades.

Initial experience with del Nido cardioplegia solution at a Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Surgery Program in Brazil.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate outcome measures between our standard multidose cardioplegia protocol and a del Nido cardioplegia protocol in congenital heart surgery patients.

Methods: Retrospective single-center study including 250 consecutive patients that received del Nido cardioplegia (DN group) with a mandatory reperfusion period of 30% of cross clamp time and 250 patients that received a modified St. Thomas' solution (ST group).

Heart Retransplantation for Coronary Allograft Vasculopathy in Children: 25 Years of Single-Center Experience.

Background: Pediatric end-stage heart disease is surgically managed by heart transplantation. A major complication of primary transplantation (PTx) is coronary allograft vasculopathy (CAV), a form of accelerated atherosclerosis. Retransplantation (RTx) has been the management of CAV; however, there is limited comprehensive literature on this subject.

Prognostic value of the preoperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in patients undergoing the bidirectional Glenn procedure.

Introduction: The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been associated with worse outcomes in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Little is known about this association in the pediatric population who require surgery for congenital heart defects, especially in patients with a single ventricle (SV).

Objective: To analyze the association of the preoperative NLR with outcomes in patients undergoing the bidirectional Glenn procedure.

Early and Long-Term Outcomes of Surgical Treatment of Ebstein's Anomaly.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate Ebstein's anomaly surgical correction and its early and long-term outcomes.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 62 consecutive patients who underwent surgical repair of Ebstein's anomaly in our institution from January 2000 to July 2016. The following long-term outcomes were evaluated: survival, reoperations, tricuspid regurgitation, and postoperative right ventricular dysfunction.

Outcomes of the Conversion of the Fontan-Kreutzer Operation to a Total Cavopulmonary Connection for the Failing Univentricular Circulation.

Background: The Fontan-Kreutzer procedure (FK) was widely performed in the past, but in the long-term generated many complications resulting in univentricular circulation failure. The conversion to total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) is one of the options for treatment.

Objective: To evaluate the results of conversion from FK to TCPC.

Rational Use of Mechanical Circulatory Support as a Bridge to Pediatric and Congenital Heart Transplantation.

Introduction: Donor shortage and organ allocation is the main problem in pediatric heart transplant. Mechanical circulatory support is known to increase waiting list survival, but it is not routinely used in pediatric programs in Latin America.

Methods: All patients listed for heart transplant and supported by a mechanical circulatory support between January 2012 and March 2016 were included in this retrospective single-center study.

Lessons Learned From a Critical Analysis of the Fontan Operation Over Three Decades in a Single Institution.

Background: The Fontan operation (FO) has evolved and many centers have demonstrated improved results relative to those from earlier eras. We report a single-institution experience over three decades, describing the outcomes and evaluating risk factors.

Methods: Successive patients undergoing primary FO were divided into era I (1984-1994), era II (1995-2004), and era III (2005-2014).

Post-cardiotomy ECMO in pediatric and congenital heart surgery: impact of team training and equipment in the results.

Introduction: Post-cardiotomy myocardial dysfunction requiring mechanical circulatory support occurs in about 0.5% of cases. In our environment, the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation has been increasing in recent years.

Palliative Senning in the Treatment of Congenital Heart Disease with Severe Pulmonary Hypertension.

Background: Transposition of the great arteries (TGA) is the most common cyanotic cardiopathy, with an incidence ranging between 0.2 and 0.4 per 1000 live births.

Pediatric and congenital heart transplant: twenty-year experience in a tertiary Brazilian hospital.

Introduction: Cardiac transplantation remains the gold standard for end-stage cardiomyopathies and congenital heart defects in pediatric patients.

Objective: This study aims to report on 20 years of experience since the first case and evaluate our results.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the database and outpatient follow-up.

Use of short-term circulatory support as a bridge in pediatric heart transplantation.

Background: Heart transplantation is considered the gold standard therapy for the advanced heart failure, but donor shortage, especially in pediatric patients, is the main limitation for this procedure, so most sick patients die while waiting for the procedure.

Objective: To evaluate the use of short-term circulatory support as a bridge to transplantation in end-stage cardiomyopathy.

Methods: Retrospective clinical study.

Heart neoplasms in children: retrospective analysis.

Background: The advancement of noninvasive imaging methods has resulted in the increase in diagnosis of heart neoplasms. However, the literature has few studies involving primary cardiac neoplasms in children.

Objective: To retrospectively review cases of primary heart neoplasms in children, considering the initial clinical manifestations, diagnostic tests used, surgical indication, histopathological types and immediate postoperative course.

Evaluation of surgical treatment of congenital heart disease in patients aged above 16 years.

Background: The increasing number of children with evolving congenital heart diseases demands greater preparation of professionals and institutions that handle them.

Objective: To describe the profile of patients aged over 16 years with congenital heart disease, who have undergone surgery, and analyze the risk factors that predict hospital mortality.

Method: One thousand five hundred twenty patients (mean age 27 ± 13 years) were operated between January 1986 and December 2010.

Coronary dominance patterns in hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Introduction: Although hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) be extensively studied, this disease still has a high mortality rate compared to other diseases treated as univentricular physiology. In this way, morphological differences between phenotypes within the spectrum of HLHS may be risk factors and their identification can assist in choosing treatment between subgroups.

Objective: To identify the most prevalent form of coronary artery dominance in hearts with HLHS groups with mitral atresia (MA) and mitral stenosis (MS).

Calcified amorphous tumor of the heart: case report.

Calcified amorphous tumor of the heart consists of a cardiac mass of rare nonneoplastic nature that mimics malignancy and causes symptoms due to obstruction or embolization of calcific fragments. We present a case of tumor 17-year-old young, male, in tricuspid valve, with classic pathological findings. It was preferred to approach for classic median esternotomy, installation of the circuit of extracorporal circulation and right atriotomy, exereses of tumor, DeVega's plasty in tricuspid valve and bicuspidization.

Surgical treatment of patent ductus arteriosus in adults.

Objective: To analyze 34 patients submitted to surgical treatment of patent arterial duct with age beyond 18 years old.

Methods: Retrospective data collected from patient's charts with more than eighteen years old, submitted to surgical correction of patent arterial duct between 1997 and 2008 at Instituto do Coração da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo.

Results: The mean age was 28.

Surgical treatment of pulmonary venous tunnel stenosis [corrected] after modified Senning procedure.

A 13-year-old male was admitted to undergoing correction of a pulmonary venous baffle stenosis (PVBS) after a modified Senning procedure was performed by the age of five months. Recurrent Pulmonary congestion and pneumonia episodes were followed by echocardiography and cardiac catheterization that confirmed PVBS. Previous catheter balloon angioplasty was attempted, and a surgical revision was done under cardiopulmonary bypass.

Outcomes of aortic coarctation surgical treatment in adults.

Objective: The aim of this study is to describe our experience in aortic coarctation surgery in adult patients by assessing the immediate and mid-term outcomes.

Methods: From January 1987 to March 2000, 50 consecutive adult patients underwent surgery for correction of aortic coarctation, through left lateral thoracotomy. Of these, forty two (84%) patients presented high blood pressure, with mean systolic arterial pressure of 170.