Second-Trimester Ultrasound Receipt Mediates the Relationship Between Public Insurance and Prenatal Diagnosis of a Congenital Heart Defect.

Objective: To delineate the mechanism behind insurance-related disparities in the prenatal diagnosis of a congenital heart defect (CHD).

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of electronic health records of pregnant individuals whose infants received CHD surgery between 2019 and 2020 in the third-largest United States metropolitan area. The outcome was whether a prenatal diagnosis was received.

Ethical Considerations in Fetal Cardiology.

Fetal cardiology has evolved over the last 40 years and changed the timing of diagnosis and counseling of congenital heart disease, decision-making, planning for treatment at birth, and predicting future surgery from the postnatal to the prenatal period. Ethical issues in fetal cardiology transect multiple aspects of biomedical ethics including improvement in prenatal detection and diagnostic capabilities, access to equitable comprehensive care that preserves a pregnant person's right to make decisions, access to all reproductive options, informed consent, complexity in shared decision-making, and appropriate use of fetal cardiac interventions. This paper first reviews the literature and then provides an ethical analysis of accurate and timely diagnosis, equitable delivery of care, prenatal counseling and shared decision-making, and innovation through in utero intervention.

Perspectives of Challenges in Counseling for Congenital Heart Defects.

Prior work regarding counseling patients about congenital heart defects (CHD) has focused on their perceptions about accurate communication of cardiac anatomy, and the emotional support received from the provider. The objectives of this study were to identify the additional CHD counseling-specific challenges and areas for future intervention, using a practical communication framework. This is a secondary analysis of qualitative data provided by caretakers of infants who received congenital heart surgery from 2019 to 2020 in the Chicagoland area.

Impact of the Fetal Echocardiogram on Maternal Depression and Well-Being.

Fetal echocardiography allows for prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD). The objective of this study is to assess for the impact of fetal echocardiogram on levels of well-being and depression in pregnant women. Adult pregnant women carrying a fetus < 31-week gestational age were enrolled in the prospective observational study from February 2022 to June 2022.

Patient-reported barriers to prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart defects: A mixed-methods study.

Objective: To ascertain patient-reported, modifiable barriers to prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart defects (CHDs).

Methods: This was a mixed-methods study among caretakers of infants who received congenital heart surgery from 2019 to 2020 in the Chicagoland area. Quantitative variables measuring sociodemographic characteristics and prenatal care utilization, and qualitative data pertaining to patient-reported barriers to prenatal diagnosis were collected from electronic health records and semi-structured phone surveys.

Ventricular Arrhythmia and COVID-19 Vaccine-associated Myocarditis.

17-year-old male presented with COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis. Six months later, due to chest discomfort with exercise, the patient underwent an exercise stress test that revealed a 3-beat run of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia at 230 bpm at peak exercise. The long-term outcomes of COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis are unclear.

Utilization of a Prenatal Palliative Care Consultation Pathway for Congenital Heart Disease.

Over 4 decades, short- and long-term survival for children with congenital heart disease (CHD) has significantly increased. Those with complex CHD have a 1-year mortality rate of approximately 25%. Prenatal access to palliative care ensures a comprehensive approach to the infant's physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychosocial well-being and offers enhanced support for parents and families while providing an interprofessional approach to care.

COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy among health care workers, communication, and policy-making.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy in health care workers (HCWs) contributes to personal and patient risk in contracting COVID-19. Reasons behind hesitancy and how best to improve vaccination rates in HCWs are not clear.

Methods: We adapted a survey using the Health Belief Model framework to evaluate HCW vaccine hesitancy and reasons for choosing for or against COVID-19 vaccination.

Variation in COVID-19 Resource Allocation Protocols and Potential Implementation in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.

Background: Scarce resource allocation policies vary across the United States. Little is known about regional variation in resource allocation protocols and variation in their application. We sought to evaluate how Covid-19 scarce resource allocation policies vary throughout the Chicago metropolitan area and whether there are differences in policy application within hospitals when prioritizing hypothetical patients who need critical care resources.

Pediatric cardiology national education series: A remote education response to COVID-19.

Objective: Medical education experienced widespread disruption during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, members of the Society of Pediatric Cardiology Training Program Directors (SPCTPD) created a series of live, Zoom-based lectures for pediatric cardiology fellows. The goals were to support fellow didactic education and connect fellows and faculty during the pandemic.

Comparison of semi-automated versus manual quantitative right ventricular assessment in tetralogy of Fallot.

Background: Tetralogy of Fallot is a congenital heart defect diagnosed in infancy. Assessment of right ventricular size and function is important for evaluation of patients with tetralogy of Fallot, but these quantitative measures are challenging by echocardiography. This study evaluates a semi-automated software (EchoInsight®, Epsilon Imaging) by comparing its measures to manual measures in children with tetralogy of Fallot.

Comparison of Quantitative Versus Qualitative Assessment of Single Right Ventricular Function for the Prediction of Midterm Outcomes.

Multiple studies have shown that quantitative evaluation of right ventricular (RV) systolic function in children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is associated with outcomes. However, the most widely used method is qualitative, or subjective echocardiographic evaluation. Tricuspid annular displacement (TMAD) is a quantitative method and has been shown to be associated with transplant/death in a cohort of pediatric patients with HLHS.

Health Care Surrogacy Laws Do Not Adequately Address the Needs of Minors.

A couple and their five-year-old daughter are in a car accident. The parents are not expected to survive. The child is transported to a children's hospital, and urgent treatment decisions must be made.

Surrogate Decision Making for Children: Who Should Decide?

Objective: To identify caregivers' views on preferred surrogate decision makers for their children.

Study Design: A respondent-anonymous survey was distributed to a convenience sample of adults who accompanied a child to general and subspecialty pediatric care at 2 different institutions or were at the bedside of a child in the pediatric intensive care unit at a third institution in Chicago.

Results: We collected 462 valid surveys.

Intra-arterial calcifications in the recipient twin in twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.

Pulmonary artery, and rarely aortic, calcifications have been reported in sporadic case reports in the recipient twin of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. This presentation is more likely to be secondary to the haemodynamic alterations in the recipient twin, but must be differentiated from idiopathic infantile arterial calcification as the clinical implications, treatment, and prognosis may be drastically different.

Factors associated with in-hospital mortality in infants undergoing heart transplantation in the United States.

Objective: Infants undergoing heart transplantation have the highest early posttransplant mortality of any age group. We sought to determine the pretransplantation factors associated with in-hospital mortality in transplanted infants in the current era.

Methods: All infants under 12 months of age who underwent primary heart transplantation during a recent 10-year period (1999-2009) in the United States were identified using the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network database.