Impact of exposure to extreme heat events during pregnancy on the incidence of congenital heart disease in offspring: a meta-analysis.

Background: The aetiology of congenital heart disease (CHD) is multifactorial. Environmental risk factors have emerged as an important modifiable determinant of several congenital cardiac conditions. Previous studies have shown a strong relationship between CHD and air pollution.

Successful Mitral Valve Replacement in a 13-Year-Old With Active Carditis and Acute Severe Mitral Regurgitation.

A 13-year-old girl from the rural northeastern part of India presented with progressively worsening dyspnea on exertion. She was diagnosed with active carditis, severe acute mitral regurgitation, and heart failure. Intensive medical management was ineffective in controlling her heart failure.

Immersive 3-Dimensional Visualization Aids Transcatheter Management of a Patient With Multiple Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformations.

Cutting-edge 3-dimensional technologies like 3-dimensional printing and extended reality visualization provide novel, immersive ways to understand and interact with volumetric medical imaging data for preprocedural planning. We present a case that illustrates the utility of these techniques in a patient requiring a complex transcatheter intervention.

Phenotypic expression, genotypic profiling and clinical outcomes of infantile hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a retrospective study.

Background: Infantile hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a heterogeneous disorder. Apart from registries in high-income nations, there is a shortage of data on the aetiological basis of infantile HCM in low- and middle-income nations. This study attempts to characterise the phenotypic expression, genetic architecture and short-term clinical outcomes of infantile HCM from a South Asian tertiary referral centre.

Open-heart surgery in preterm infants: A single-center experience.

Background: Open-heart surgery is challenging in preterm neonates and infants, and its feasibility in low-resource settings has not been defined. We describe our institutional experience with open-heart surgeries performed on consecutive preterm infants.

Materials Methods And Results: This was a single-center retrospective cohort from a tertiary hospital in Southern India and included consecutive preterm neonates (<37 weeks) admitted for open-heart surgery.

Distribution and reference values of peripheral perfusion index in neonates from population-wide screening.

Background: Peripheral perfusion index (PPI) is useful in a variety of neonatal settings. Currently, available reference values are from small numbers and highly variable.

Methods: We sought to generate reference values of PPI by analysing previously collected data from newborns who underwent mandated universal pulse oximetry and PPI screening from 2018 to 2021 using uniform protocol and equipment.

Closing the gap between acceptable and ideal in catheterisation for paediatric and congenital heart disease-A global view.

In recent issues of the and the , Holzer and colleagues presented an Expert Consensus Document titled: "" This Expert Consensus Document is a massively important contribution to the community of paediatric and congenital cardiac care. This document was developed as an Expert Consensus Document by the Pediatric and Congenital Interventional Cardiovascular Society, the Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology, the Asia-Pacific Pediatric Cardiac Society, the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and the Latin American Society of Interventional Cardiology, as well as the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.As perfectly stated in the Preamble of this Expert Consensus Document, "This expert consensus document is intended to inform practitioners, payors, hospital administrators and other parties as to the opinion of the aforementioned societies about best practices for cardiac catheterisation and transcatheter management of paediatric and adult patients with congenital heart disease, with added accommodations for resource-limited environments.

Ductal Stenting in Low-Resource Environments.

Duct-dependent pulmonary circulation has traditionally been addressed by the Blalock-Taussig-Thomas shunts (BTTS). Recently, catheter-based alternatives such as ductal stenting have emerged as a particularly advantageous option, especially in resource-constrained settings. This article delves into the nuances of ductal stenting within low-resource environments, highlighting its relative ease of application, reduced morbidity, and cost-effectiveness as key factors in its favor.

Transcatheter Closure of Perimembranous Ventricular Septal Defect Using KONAR-MF™: A Multicenter Experience.

Transcatheter closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defect (PmVSD) is an established procedure. However, the occurrence of complete heart block limits its scope. The newer KONAR-MF™ occluder has specific design characteristics that may improve the safety of PmVSD closure.

Cardiology across continents: an interactive, case-based learning series.

Heart University [https://www.heartuniversity.org/] is a free educational website providing structured training curricula with knowledge-based testing and access to webinars and conference recordings for practicing and in-training providers of paediatric and congenital cardiac care.

Early and long-term outcomes of mitral valve replacement with mechanical valve in rheumatic heart disease.

Background: Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease is endemic in India. Mitral valve replacement with mechanical valve is the commonest surgical procedure performed in rheumatic heart disease (RHD). However, there are no studies reporting the long-term outcomes of mechanical mitral valve replacement in rheumatic heart disease from India.

Three-dimensional/four-dimensional spatiotemporal image correlation morphology of the ductus arteriosus in fetuses with pulmonary atresia undergoing neonatal ductal stenting.

Background: The value of prenatal identification of morphology of ductus arteriosus in fetuses with congenital heart defects (CHD) with pulmonary atresia and duct-dependent pulmonary circulation (DDPC) in planning neonatal ductal stenting procedure is untested. The aim of the study is to analyze the utility of three-dimensional/four-dimensional (3D/4D) spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) fetal echocardiography in delineating the morphology of ductus arteriosus in fetuses with DDPC undergoing neonatal ductal stenting.

Methods: In this retrospective study (2017-22), prenatal imaging of pulmonary artery (PA) anatomy, aortic arch sidedness, and morphology of ductus arteriosus (ductal origin was classified as vertical/horizontal and ductal course as tortuous/straight) was done using 3D/4D STIC imaging and volume datasets.

BMPR2 mutation and clinical response to imatinib in a case of heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Bone morphogenetic protein receptor 2 (BMPR2) mutation is the most common gene mutation implicated in the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We describe, for the first time, an excellent clinical response to tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib in a patient with heritable PAH from BMPR2 mutation.

Global Access to Comprehensive Care for Paediatric and Congenital Heart Disease.

Paediatric and congenital heart disease (PCHD) is common but remains forgotten on the global health agenda. Congenital heart disease is the most frequent major congenital anomaly, affecting approximately 1 in every 100 live births. In high-income countries, most children now live into adulthood, whereas in low- and middle-income countries, over 90% of patients do not get the care they need.

Cardiovascular disease in low- and middle-income countries associated with environmental factors.

There is a growing recognition that the profound environmental changes that have occurred over the past century pose threats to human health. Many of these environmental factors, including air pollution, noise pollution, as well as exposure to metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, and other metals, are particularly detrimental to the cardiovascular health of people living in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs). Low-to-middle income countries are likely to be disproportionally burdened by cardiovascular diseases provoked by environmental factors.

Enhancing Quality of Congenital Heart Care Within Resource-Limited Settings.

Over 90% of the world's children with congenital heart disease (CHD) are born in the resources poor settings of low- to middle-income countries (LMICs). The shortfall in human and material resources and dysfunctional health systems leads to poor quality of care (QoC) which contributes substantially to suboptimal outcomes of patients with CHD in LMICs. Notwithstanding these challenges, it is possible to develop a quality improvement (QI) framework that can have a significant impact on outcomes and prevent a number of deaths.

2023 World Heart Federation guidelines for the echocardiographic diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease.

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is an important and preventable cause of morbidity and mortality among children and young adults in low-income and middle-income countries, as well as among certain at-risk populations living in high-income countries. The 2012 World Heart Federation echocardiographic criteria provided a standardized approach for the identification of RHD and facilitated an improvement in early case detection. The 2012 criteria were used to define disease burden in numerous epidemiological studies, but researchers and clinicians have since highlighted limitations that have prompted a revision.

Charting a roadmap for heart failure research in India: Insights from a qualitative survey.

Background & Objectives: Heart failure (HF) is emerging as a major health problem in India. The profile of HF in India is divergent from elsewhere in the world. While cardiologists must equip themselves with the requisite clinical management tools, scientists and health policymakers would need epidemiological data on HF and information on the resources required to meet the challenges ahead.

Incremental value of fetal spatiotemporal image correlation echocardiography in the diagnosis of tetralogy of Fallot with disconnected pulmonary arteries with ductus arteriosus supplying the left pulmonary artery.

Disconnected branch pulmonary arteries are sparsely reported cases in prenatal diagnosis literature. We report a case of tetralogy of Fallot with disconnected branch pulmonary arteries, the left pulmonary artery (LPA) arising from an indirect ductus arteriosus (DA) from the base of the innominate artery in a right aortic arch, diagnosed by fetal echocardiography with 3D/4D spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) imaging. Prenatal diagnosis led to early neonatal intervention to maintain blood flow to the LPA by stenting of the DA.

Simultaneous Double Balloon Dilatation for Supravalvar Pulmonary Obstruction After Arterial Switch Operation.

The optimal approach for supravalvar right ventricular outflow tract obstruction(RVOTO) after arterial switch operation(ASO) is unclear. The results of percutaneous balloon dilatation have been variable. We report the results of simultaneous double balloon dilation for RVOTO after ASO.

Advocacy at the Eighth World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery.

The (WCPCCS) will be held in Washington DC, USA, from Saturday, 26 August, 2023 to Friday, 1 September, 2023, inclusive. The will be the largest and most comprehensive scientific meeting dedicated to paediatric and congenital cardiac care ever held. At the time of the writing of this manuscript, has 5,037 registered attendees (and rising) from 117 countries, a truly diverse and international faculty of over 925 individuals from 89 countries, over 2,000 individual abstracts and poster presenters from 101 countries, and a Best Abstract Competition featuring 153 oral abstracts from 34 countries.