Results of international assistance for a paediatric heart surgery programme in a single Ukrainian centre.

Background: Surgery for CHD has been slow to develop in parts of the former Soviet Union. The impact of an 8-year surgical assistance programme between an emerging centre and a multi-disciplinary international team that comprised healthcare professionals from developed cardiac programmes is analysed and presented.Material and methodsThe international paediatric assistance programme included five main components - intermittent clinical visits to the site annually, medical education, biomedical engineering support, nurse empowerment, and team-based practice development.

Novel use of extracellular matrix graft for creation of pulmonary valved conduit.

We report the use of a commercially available graft material to create a trileaflet pulmonary valved conduit, which was implanted in a 12-year-old girl with mixed aortic valve disease as part of a Ross procedure. The patient presented with severe aortic insufficiency and left ventricular dilatation following balloon valvuloplasty. The patient lives in Ecuador, where most commonly used replacements for the pulmonary valve are either unavailable or unaffordable.

Anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery: intermediate results of coronary elongation.

A two coronary system is preferred for correcting anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA); however, translocation is not always possible. In countries where neonatal arterial switch operations have not been perfected coronary transfer can be difficult. The purpose of this report is to describe the intermediate results using the coronary elongation and translocation technique in developing countries.

Use of the Quest Myocardial Protection System (MPS) for modified ultrafiltration during pediatric cardiac surgery.

Modified ultrafiltration generally is considered a standard of care for treating children undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass for congenital heat surgery. Different methods, incorporating a variety of devices and technologies, have been described. The present report describes a technique of modified ultrafiltration using arterial-venous flow with the Quest Myocardial Protection System (MPS).