Intra-operative predictors of left atrioventricular valve reoperation after repair of complete atrioventricular septal defect.

Objective: Although outcomes of repair of complete atrioventricular septal defect (cAVSD) have improved in recent years, the burden of reoperation on the left atrioventricular valve (LAVV) remains high. We investigated predictors of LAVV reoperation on the intra-operative echocardiogram that may help guide surgical decision making.

Methods: All patients who underwent repair of cAVSD at the Royal Children's Hospital from 2010 to 2020 were included in the study.

Endocarditis of Bovine Jugular Vein Conduits.

Transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) has been associated with an increased risk of infective endocarditis. However, there are few reports investigating the risk of endocarditis with the specific prostheses used in TPVR-the Melody valve and SAPIEN valve. Rarely, endocarditis of the pulmonary valve may also extend to adjacent tissue, resulting in the need for more complex surgical management.

Maturation of human cardiac organoids enables complex disease modeling and drug discovery.

Maturation of human pluripotent stem (hPS) cell-derived cardiomyocytes is critical for their use as a model system. Here we mimic human heart maturation pathways in the setting of hPS cell-derived cardiac organoids (hCOs). Specifically, transient activation of 5' AMP-activated protein kinase and estrogen-related receptor enhanced cardiomyocyte maturation, inducing expression of mature sarcomeric and oxidative phosphorylation proteins, and increasing metabolic capacity.

Tumour thrombus of the pulmonary arteries: the value of precise imaging for segmental resection.

We present a 12-year-old patient with periosteal osteosarcoma and bilateral pulmonary arterial tumour thrombi. The utility of a three-dimensional model to assess the feasibility of segmental resection is demonstrated.

Symptomatic Neonates With Tetralogy of Fallot: Shunt or Primary Repair?

Background: The optimal management strategy for symptomatic neonates with tetralogy of Fallot is unclear. We compared the outcomes of staged repair (SR) (shunt palliation followed by complete repair) and primary repair (PR) in two institutions that have each exclusively adopted one of these strategies.

Method: We retrospectively compared 65 symptomatic neonates who underwent shunt palliation between 1993 and 2021 at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia with 38 symptomatic neonates who underwent PR between 2005 and 2018 at the Children's National Hospital, Washington, USA.

Long-Term Outcomes of Repair of Pulmonary Atresia With Ventricular Septal Defect and Major Aortopulmonary Collateral Arteries.

Background: While complete repair of pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect and major aortopulmonary collateral arteries (PA/VSD/MAPCAs) is achieved with low surgical mortality, this condition poses ongoing mid- and late-term mortality. The long-term data for repair of pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect and major aortopulmonary collateral arteries at a single institution are presented in this paper.

Methods: We reviewed the outcomes for 100 patients with PA/VSD/MAPCAs who had surgery between January 1987 and July 2018.

The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) 2025 Expert Consensus Document: Management of Ebstein anomaly in children and adults.

Objectives: Patients with Ebstein anomaly (EA) require complex management. A group of experts was commissioned by the American Association for Thoracic Surgery to provide a framework on this topic, focusing on preoperative assessment, indications for intervention, and medical management before and after surgical intervention in older children and adults. This is a companion document to a recently issued document regarding management of EA in neonates and infants.

Outcomes of Fontan operation in patients with conotruncal anomalies from Australia and New Zealand Fontan Registry: a review of 1835 patients†.

Objectives: The impact of conotruncal anomalies (CTAs), including tetralogy of Fallot, truncus arteriosus, ventriculo-arterial discordance, double-outlet right ventricle and interrupted aortic arch type B, on long-term outcomes remains poorly described in the Fontan cohort. We sought to review the outcomes of Fontan patients with CTAs in Australia and New Zealand.

Methods: We reviewed the data from 1835 patients who underwent a Fontan operation between 1975 and 2023 from the Australia and New Zealand Fontan Registry.

Staged biventricular repair in aortic hypoplasia: the value of intraoperative myocardial perfusion.

The patient had a hypoplastic aortic arch with coarctation, a right aberrant subclavian artery, a bicuspid aortic valve, a ventricular septal defect and severe long-segment left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. The patient underwent initial univentricular palliation with subsequent biventricular conversion. Initially the patient had a Norwood operation with a Sano conduit at 23 days of age.

Atrial septal defect closure via a partial lower ministernotomy.

Patients with secundum atrial septal defects preferentially undergo device closure;  however, this procedure is not always feasible. Instead, patients can safely undergo surgical closure. At a time when minimally invasive surgery can now be utilized with improved cosmetic results and the same excellent outcomes as a conventional sternotomy for an atrial septal defect closure, we propose the partial lower ministernotomy as the new standard for surgical atrial septal defect closure.

Bicuspid aortic valve repair with autologous aortic wall patches in an adolescent with acute severe regurgitation after balloon dilatation.

An adolescent with bicuspid aortic valve presented with severe aortic stenosis and underwent a balloon valvuloplasty, that resulted in severe acute aortic insufficiency. Herein we demonstrate an aortic valve repair using an autologous aortic wall patch and aortic root stabilisation.

Outcomes after hospital discharge in children requiring post-cardiotomy extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: A binational retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: To describe longer-term survival and morbidity outcomes after hospital discharge in a binational cohort of children who required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation after cardiac surgery.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study from the Australia and New Zealand Congenital Outcomes Registry for Surgery database. All patients younger than 18 years of age (n = 12,290) undergoing pediatric cardiac surgical procedures between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2021, who required post-cardiotomy extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in the same admission were included.

A quest of Vera M. Danchakoff, a pioneer of stem cell research.

Vera Mikhailovna Danchakova (1877-1950), also written in English as Danchakoff and in German as Dantschakoff, was the first woman to graduate with a PhD in Russia. She was a person of many interests and a strong passion for teaching and social justice that may have interfered with her pioneering stem cell research and cell biology, which was far ahead of its time. Danchakova significantly contributed to the unitarian theory of haematopoiesis along with its founder Alexander A.