Intrapericardial Ectopic Hepatic Tissue Masquerading as a Fetal Pericardial Tumor.

Prenatal diagnosis of pericardial mass, with associated large pericardial effusion, resected postnatally and diagnosed to be ectopic hepatic tissue on pathology.

Overlapping and Distinct Features of Cardiac Pathology in Inherited Human and Murine Ether Lipid Deficiency.

Inherited deficiency in ether lipids, a subgroup of glycerophospholipids with unique biochemical and biophysical properties, evokes severe symptoms in humans resulting in a multi-organ syndrome. Mouse models with defects in ether lipid biosynthesis have widely been used to understand the pathophysiology of human disease and to study the roles of ether lipids in various cell types and tissues. However, little is known about the function of these lipids in cardiac tissue.

Incremental Detection of Severe Congenital Heart Disease by Fetal Echocardiography Following a Normal Second Trimester Ultrasound Scan in Québec, Canada.

Background: The benefit of fetal echocardiograms (FE) to detect severe congenital heart diseases (SCHD) in the setting of a normal second-trimester ultrasound is unclear. We aimed to assess whether the increase in SCHD detection rates when FE are performed for risk factors in the setting of a normal ultrasound was clinically significant to justify the resources needed.

Methods: This is a multicenter, population-based, retrospective cohort study, including all singleton pregnancies and offspring in Quebec (Canada) between 2007 and 2015.

The utility of echocardiography and pulmonary function testing in the preoperative evaluation of pectus excavatum.

Purpose: Echocardiography (ECHO) and pulmonary function testing (PFT) are routinely performed during the preoperative evaluation of pectus excavatum (PE). We hypothesized that these investigations may be performed selectively based on patient symptoms and pectus severity.

Methods: A retrospective review of all PE patients who underwent a Nuss procedure during a 15-year period (2004-2018) was conducted.

Alternative to Body Surface Area as a Solution to Correct Systematic Bias in Pediatric Echocardiography z Scores.

Background: Z scores are the method of choice to report dimensions in pediatric echocardiography. Z scores based on body surface area (BSA) have been shown to cause systematic biases in overweight and obese children. Using aortic valve (AoV) diameters as a paradigm, the aims of this study were to assess the magnitude of z score underestimation in children with increased body mass index z score (BMI-z) and to determine if a predicting model with height and weight as independent predictors would minimise this bias.

Rationale and Design of the FREQUENCY Study: The Fetal Cardiac Registry of Québec to Improve Resource Utilization in Fetal Cardiology.

Objective: Prenatal detection of congenital heart diseases (CHD) decreases morbidity and cost. To improve detections rates, most physicians refer pregnant women with high-risk pregnancies to fetal cardiologists even when there is no suspicion of CHD at the second trimester screening. This paper presents the rationale and detailed method of the Fetal Cardiac Registry of Québec to Improve Resource Utilization in Fetal Cardiology (FREQUENCY) study.

Rationale and design of the Canadian Outcomes Registry Late After Tetralogy of Fallot Repair: the CORRELATE study.

Background: Chronic hemodynamically relevant pulmonary regurgitation (PR) resulting in important right ventricular dilation and ventricular dysfunction is commonly seen after tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) repair. Late adverse clinical outcomes, including exercise intolerance, arrhythmias, heart failure and/or death accelerate in the third decade of life and are cause for considerable concern. Timing of pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) to address chronic PR is controversial, particularly in asymptomatic individuals, and effect of PVR on clinical measures has not been determined.

In Vitro Feasibility and Accuracy of Three-Dimensional Echocardiography for Ventricular Volume Assessment in Very Small Hearts.

To evaluate the in vitro accuracy of three-dimensional echocardiography (3-DE) for estimation of ventricular volume in very small hearts, left ventricular (LV) volume was determined by 3-DE in the excised hearts of 10 guinea pigs and 10 rabbits, and right ventricular (RV) volume was determined in 20 rabbits. The effect of edge enhancement, Sigma filter, and slice distance (1 mm versus 0.5 mm) was assessed in each heart.