Pediatric COVID-19 extracorporeal membrane oxygenation transport during the pandemic.

Introduction: ExtraCorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) in pediatric patients with COVID-19 has a survival rate similar to adults. Occasionally, patients may need to be cannulated by an ECMO team in a referring hospital and transported to an ECMO center. The ECMO transport of a COVID-19 patient has additional risks than normal pediatric ECMO transport for the possible COVID-19 transmissibility to the ECMO team and the reduction of the ECMO team performance due to the need of wearing full personal protective equipment.

Mediastinitis After Congenital Heart Surgery: Epidemiology, Clinical Features and Outcomes.

Mediastinitis after surgery for congenital heart disease has a great impact on morbidity and mortality. However, there are scarce studies focused on the epidemiology of postsurgical mediastinitis in pediatric patients. In this 18-year period retrospective study, the cumulative incidence of mediastinitis was low: 0.

Primary neonatal and pediatric ECMO transport: First experience in Spain.

Introduction: The organization of primary Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) transport is highly variable.

Methods: To present the experience of the first mobile pediatric ECMO program in Spain, we designed a prospective descriptive study of all primary neonatal and pediatric (0-16 years) ECMO transports carried out over 10 years. The main variables recorded include demographic information, patient background, clinical data, ECMO indications, adverse events, and main outcomes.

Common Arterial Trunk in Fetal Life: Accuracy of Diagnosis and Prediction of Outcome.

Introduction: Common arterial trunk (CAT) is a congenital heart disease with significant perinatal mortality in which diagnostic agreement remains low.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study on fetuses with suspected CAT. Diagnostic accuracy was tested considering gold-standard postnatal ultrasound or necropsy.

Percutaneous transhepatic and transseptal dilatation of a surgically implanted Melody Valve in the mitral position in a 2-year-old child.

The use of the Melody (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA) biological prosthesis in mitral position has shown acceptable short-term results. Furthermore, it allows its expansion with a balloon when the patient grows up, and this procedure can be performed by a venous catheterization through transseptal approach through an interatrial communication or puncturing the septum. Patients with complex congenital heart disease undergoing multiple surgical and percutaneous interventions may present with vascular complications such as thrombosis of the femoral venous system that make percutaneous access impossible.

Vocal cord paralysis after cardiovascular surgery in children: incidence, risk factors and diagnostic options.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of vocal cord paralysis (VCP) in children after cardiovascular surgery. The secondary aims were to identify the factors potentially associated with VCP and to assess the diagnostic utility of laryngeal ultrasound (US).

Methods: This study is a retrospective review of patients who underwent aortic repair, patent ductus arteriosus ligation and left pulmonary artery surgeries from 2007 to 2017.

Atrioventricular valves dysplasia in a newborn.

A newborn with prenatally diagnosed dysplasia of both atrioventricular valves presented after birth with signs and symptoms of low cardiac output, severe regurgitation of both mitral and tricuspid valves. This combination is as rare as challenging, since it regards both the timing and management of this complex cardiac malformation. We report an early surgical repair of both atrioventricular valves in a symptomatic newborn, which improved his clinical status and, so far, delayed valve replacement.

Fetal Aortic Valvuloplasty: Experience and Results of Two Tertiary Centers in Spain.

Objective: Fetal aortic valvuloplasty (FAV) may avoid progression of critical aortic stenosis (CAS) to hypoplastic left ventricle, improving the options for biventricular circulation (BVC). We describe the results of FAV in 2 referral centers in Spain.

Methods: We analyzed all FAVs performed in the period 2007-2015.

End-stage ischemic heart failure and Williams-Beuren syndrome: A unique scenario for pediatric heart transplantation.

WBS is a rare disorder caused by mutations in the chromosomal sub-band 7q11.23 involving the elastin gene. The clinical features (craniofacial, developmental, and cardiovascular abnormalities) are variable.

Left arm underdevelopment secondary to an isolated left subclavian artery in tetralogy of Fallot.

The anomalous origin of the left subclavian artery is known to be associated with right aortic arch and tetralogy of Fallot. In our case, the left subclavian artery arose from the left pulmonary artery. Therefore, the left arm was perfused by poorly oxygenated blood from pulmonary arteries and some retrograde vertebral artery flow.