Results of pulmonary balloon valvuloplasty persist and improve at late follow-up in isolated pulmonary valve stenosis.

Background: Pulmonary balloon valvuloplasty is a safe and effective treatment for children with pulmonary valve stenosis. A few studies evaluate the long-term outcomes of the procedure, particularly the degree of pulmonary regurgitation. We evaluated the outcomes of children >1 year following valvuloplasty for pulmonary valve stenosis.

Bone density in children with single ventricle physiology.

Children with chronic diseases are at risk for low bone mineral density (BMD). There are no studies of BMD in children with congenital heart disease and particularly single ventricle (SV). Children with this defect are often treated with warfarin, suspected to negatively impact BMD in adults.

Abdominal coarctation and associated comorbidities in children.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to report a single institution's experience with abdominal coarctation in children and report associated comorbidities.

Background: Abdominal coarctation is a rare condition, accounting for less than 2% of aortic coarctations. Single patients with abdominal coarctation have been reported with additional vascular disease in pediatric patients.

Balloon angioplasty of recoarctation of the neoaortic arch after the Norwood operation: factors affecting outcome and recurrence.

Background: Balloon angioplasty (BA) is effective in relieving neoaorta recoarctation (reCoa) after the Norwood procedure. However, recurrence is not uncommon and risk factors for success and recurrence require further elucidation. We report the results of BA for reCoa following the Norwood procedure.

Mid-term follow up of perventricular device closure of muscular ventricular septal defects.

Background: Surgical and transcatheter management of muscular ventricular septal defects (MVSD) have independent drawbacks. Hybrid procedures are becoming increasingly utilized to manage congenital cardiac lesions including MVSDs. This report describes the mid-term results of perventricular device closure of MVSDs at a single institution.

Catheter closure of atrial septal defect in anatomically corrected malposition with left juxtaposition of the atrial appendages using intracardiac echocardiography.

Anatomically corrected malposition is characterized by abnormally related great vessels and atrioventricular and ventriculoarterial concordance. It is often associated with juxtaposition of the atrial appendages where the plane of the atrial septum is abnormally oriented. We describe the device closure of an atrial septal defect in a patient with such a lesion under intracardiac echocardiography guidance.

Somatic growth after fontan and mustard palliation.

Objective: Patients with complex congenital heart disease frequently develop early growth failure; however, the long-term outcome for growth after surgery for single ventricle or anatomic right ventricle as systemic ventricle is not clear. This study was designed to determine long-term growth in patients following the Fontan and Mustard operations.

Method: We retrospectively reviewed the growth parameters of children who had previously undergone the Fontan (n = 80) or Mustard (n = 66) palliation at the Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana.

Outcome of cardiac thrombi in infants.

Use of central lines in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has led to the formation of intracardiac thrombi. A paucity of data exists on the management of neonatal cardiac thrombi, with the few reported cases focusing on outcomes following thrombolytic therapy. This study was undertaken to evaluate the outcome of cardiac thrombi in neonates who do not receive thrombolytic therapy.