Pediheart: Pediatric Cardiology Today

This week Dr. Nadine Choueiter of Mount Sinai hosts a special episode of Pediheart: Pediatric Cardiology Today in which we speak with emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto, Dr. Brian McCrindle about his career and life. How did he develop a love of pediatric cardiology? Who were some of his early mentors? How did he develop the international Kawasaki Disease Registry and how has he cultivated it despite minimal funding? How did he develop an interest in preventive cardiology? How can a young person make their clinical work also their academic work? Dr. McCrindle also shares some insights into navigating a successful life as well as retirement. This is a rare opportunity to be inspired by one of the great pediatric cardovascular researchers of the past 3 decades.

This week we speak with congenital heart surgeon T. Konrad Rajab of Arkansas Children's Hospital about a recent report he co-authored on piglet experiments on partial heart transplantation. How did transplanted heart valves grow in comparison to standard homografts and how did the valvular function differ with time? Is there a minimum dose of immunosuppresion that can protect these valves and can this dose be lower than full heart transplantation immunosuppresion therapy? Is partial heart transplantation considered a potential life-long approach to valve replacement or mostly something used to allow for growth of valves during childhood? What do we know about the world's limited experience in humans of this approach? Dr. Rajab shares the answers this week in an exciting 'sci-fi' episode. The future is now. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacbts.2024.10.015

This week we speak with Professor Vladimiro Vida of U. Padua about a recent ECHSA large scale study assessing surgical outcomes of newborn cardiac surgery in Europe. What trends have become apparent in the past 10 years and why are outcomes generally better overall in this complex patient group? Why have outcomes for single ventricle surgery not improved as much as other newborn surgeries? Is there a relationship between center volume and outcomes? What interventions might result in improvements in outcomes of Norwood palliation? Dr. Vida provides his insights this week.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.athoracsur.2024.07.023

This week we speak with Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Audrey Dionne about a recent work she co-authored on the topic of outcomes of ablation in the early postoperative period following congenital heart surgery. Who is a candidate for this intervention and what were the outcomes? How commonly were serious complications encountered and how successful were these procedures? Dr. Dionne reviews these and other aspects of this novel review this week.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrthm.2024.08.061

This week we venture back in time to 2023 to review the results of the update of the Single Ventricle Reconstruction trial, specifically SVR III. How are HLHS patients are faring post Norwood at age 12? What is the overall transplant-free survival rate in this group? Are there differences in survival seen at 12 years between BTTT shunt patients and RV-PA conduit shunt patients? How do they compare in exercise capabilities? What about rates of PLE or arrhythmias seen? Are there interventions that may improve outcomes going forward? These are amongst the questions reviewed this week with the first author, Dr. Caren Goldberg who is Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.123.065192