Reduced Biventricular Volumes and Myocardial Dysfunction Long-term After Pediatric Heart Transplantation Assessed by CMR.

Background: Long-term cardiac remodeling after heart transplantation (HT) in children has been insufficiently characterized. The aim of our study was to evaluate ventricular size in HT patients using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, to find underlying factors related to potentially abnormal cardiac dimensions and to study its impact on functional class and ventricular function.

Methods: Seventy-five pediatric HT recipients (age 14.

Creation of a transcatheter fenestration in children with failure of Fontan circulation: Focus on extracardiac conduit connection.

Objectives: We report our experience with a transcatheter technique to bypass the lung and to thus improve single-ventricle preload and reduce venous congestion in Fontan patients.

Background: In the absence of a dedicated power source to serve the pulmonary circulation and a significantly elevated transpulmonary pressure gradient, fenestration of the Fontan circulation is an option to improve hemodynamics in patients by relieving excessive systemic venous pressure.

Methods And Results: From 2005 to 2011, 22 transcatheter fenestrations were performed without any major complications in 19 patients (median age 3.

Focal myocardial fibrosis assessed by late gadolinium enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance in children and adolescents with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: Different patterns of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) including mid-wall fibrosis using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) have been reported in adult patients presenting with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). In these studies, LGE was associated with pronounced LV remodelling and predicted adverse cardiac outcomes. Accordingly, the purpose of our study was to determine the presence and patterns of LGE in children and adolescents with DCM.