Pediheart: Pediatric Cardiology Today

Pediheart Podcast #130 Replay: What Are The Stressors And Fears Of The New Pediatric Cardiology Fellow?

This week we go back in time to 2020 to delve into the topic of fellow wellness and review a work from the Boston Children's group on fellow fears and stressors when beginning their training. Are there patterns amongst the fellow concerns that can be identified and used to inform interventions to help allay these fears and reduce the stress? We speak with Dr. David Brown, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School and also Dr. Tony Pastor who was then the ACHD Fellow at Boston Children's Hospital/Brigham and Women's Hospital about their thoughts on fellow fears and stressors as well as fellow (and doctor) wellness.  doi: 10.1007/s00246-019-02276-z.

Pediheart Podcast #363: Mitral Annular Disjunction Distance And Its Meaning In The Pediatric Connective Tissue Disease Patient

This week we review the topic of mitral annular disjunction ("MAD") and the possible association with ventricular arrhythmia or sudden death in the connective tissue disease patient. Is there a 'cut off' distance above which patients deserve more significant arrhythmia surveillance? What is the best way to measure the MAD distance? Can patients with low MAD distances have lower degrees or even no arrhythmic surveillance? How often should this distance be measured on CMR and can an echo measurement provide similar data? Dr. Daniel Castellanos, the first author of this work and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School shares his deep insights this week. * DOI: 10.1016/j.jocmr.2025.101954 [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocmr.2025.101954]

Pediheart Podcast #362: Outcomes Of Coronary Artery Fistulae

This week we review a recent retrospective review from Phoenix Children’s Hospital about coronary artery fistulae. How common are they and who needed intervention? How should the cardiologist think about the small fistula? Should they all be ‘followed’ or can they be discharged from cardiology follow-up? How small is ‘small enough’? We speak with Dr. Marie Chevenon who is a fetal cardiologist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital about her recent study on the Phoenix experience with coronary artery fistulae.   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-024-03600-y

Pediheart Podcast #361: Can The Adult Fontan Patient Medication List Offer Clues Into Long-Term Outcomes?

This week we speak with Ohio State ACHD fellow Andrew Freddo MD, PhD about a recent large single center study he conducted assessing the cardiovascular drugs that adult Fontan patients are taking and whether they might offer us insights into general well-being. Are there agents that are associated with worse outcomes? If so, is this a situation of the agent causing harm or is it a possible marker of illness? Are there agents associated with improved outcomes? These are amongst the questions reviewed with Dr. Freddo this week.  * DOI: 10.1016/j.jacadv.2025.102070 [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacadv.2025.102070]

Pediheart Podcast #360: Initial Results Of The Novel "Minima" Stent For Infants And Small Children

This week we review the results of the new pivotal trial of the 'Minima' stent by Renata Medical. What is special about this new device that makes it particularly desirable for use in small children? How strong is cobalt chromium and what evidence exists that it can be expanded repeatedly over 1-2 decades? Can this technology supplant surgery for certain diseases such as native coarctation? What are the limitations of this device? We speak with the first author of the pivotal trial, Dr. Patrick Sullivan of CHLA who is Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Keck Medicine at USC.  * DOI: 10.1161/CIRCINTERVENTIONS.125.015618 [https://doi.org/10.1161/circinterventions.125.015618]