Low Ventricular Stiffness Is Associated With Suboptimal Outcomes in Patients With a Single Right Ventricle After the Fontan Operation: A Novel Phenotype.

Background: Despite a rigorous screening process, including cardiac catheterization, a subset of patients with a single right ventricle (SRV) demonstrates suboptimal short-term outcomes after the Fontan operation. The goal of this study was to perform a comprehensive assessment of diastolic function in pre-Fontan patients with an SRV using invasive reference-standard measures and determine their associations with post-Fontan outcomes.

Methods And Results: Children aged 2 to 6 years with SRV physiology undergoing pre-Fontan heart catheterization were recruited prospectively.

Clinical Significance of Coronary Arterial Dominance: A Review of the Literature.

Coronary dominance describes the anatomic variation of coronary arterial supply, notably as it relates to perfusion of the inferior cardiac territories. Differences in the development and outcome in select disease states between coronary dominance patterns are increasingly recognized. In particular, observational studies have identified higher prevalence of poor outcomes in left coronary dominance in the setting of ischemic, conduction, and valvular disease.