Severe Myocardial Involvement and Persistent Supraventricular Arrhythmia in a Premature Infant Due to Enterovirus Infection: Case Report and Literature Review.

Enterovirus (EV) infections in neonates can be transmitted vertically or horizontally, with symptoms ranging from mild to severe, including myocarditis, meningoencephalitis, and hepatitis. Neonates with EV-induced myocarditis may present severe cardiovascular disease with sudden onset of arrhythmia. Neonatal arrhythmias, particularly in low birth weight or critically ill infants, can impair cardiac function and worsen outcomes.

Corrigendum: Case Report: Epstein-Barr virus and constrictive pericarditis-an unusual combination.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fped.2023.

Changes in the Cath Lab in the Treatment of Adult Patients with Congenital Heart Disease: A 12-Year Experience in a Single Referral Center with the Establishment of a Dedicated Working Group.

Background: Adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) are a growing population needing ongoing care. The aim of this study was to investigate if a dedicated ACHD team impacted the timing and indication of invasive cardiology procedures in these patients at our hospital.

Methods: Our retrospective single-center study enrolled adult patients with moderate or complex congenital heart disease and with at least one cardiac catheterization between January 2010 and December 2021.

Case report: Epstein-Barr virus and constrictive pericarditis-An unusual combination.

Constrictive pericarditis is a chronic inflammatory process that can lead to heart failure if not diagnosed and treated correctly. Although Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-related pericarditis is a very rare condition, it should still be considered for a differential diagnosis. We report the case of an 18-year-old male, who was surgically treated for constrictive pericarditis, in which hybridization to Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA (EBER) probe of the excised pericardium led to the subsequent etiological diagnosis of chronic pericarditis caused by EBV.

Left ventricle dysfunction in patients with critical neonatal pulmonary stenosis: echocardiographic predictors. A single-center retrospective study.

Background: The aim of this study is to identify echocardiographic predictors of transient left ventricle dysfunction after pulmonary valve balloon dilatation (PVBD), in neonates with pulmonary valve stenosis (PVS) and atresia with intact septum (PAIVS) at birth.

Methods: The study includes patients admitted at the Bambino Gesù Children Hospital from January 2012 to January 2017. Clinical, echocardiographic and cardiac catheterization data before and after PVBD were retrospectively analyzed.

Endomyocardial Biopsy in Pediatric Myocarditis and Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A Tool in Search for a Role.

Endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) is a well-known diagnostic tool for the investigation and treatment of myocardial diseases and remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of myocarditis. Due to its invasiveness, with a complication rate ranging from 1 to 15%, its role in the diagnostic work-up of pediatric heart failure is not well established. The aim of this review is to define the role of EMB as diagnostic technique in the work up of children presenting with severe left ventricular dysfunction with the support of our center experience.

Impact of hard lockdown on interventional cardiology procedures in congenital heart disease: a survey on behalf of the Italian Society of Congenital Heart Disease.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has thoroughly and deeply affected the provision of healthcare services worldwide. In order to limit the in-hospital infections and to redistribute the healthcare professionals, cardiac percutaneous intervention in Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) patients were limited to urgent or emergency ones. The aim of this article is to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Pediatric and ACHD cath laboratory activity during the so-called 'hard lockdown' in Italy.

Transcatheter Closure of PFO and ASD: Multimodality Imaging for Patient Selection and Perioperative Guidance.

Transcatheter closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) and secundum type atrial septal defect (ASD) are common transcatheter procedures. Although they share many technical details, these procedures are targeting two different clinical indications. PFO closure is usually considered to prevent recurrent embolic stroke/systemic arterial embolization, ASD closure is indicated in patients with large left-to-right shunt, right ventricular volume overload, and normal pulmonary vascular resistance.

Use of Transcarotid IMPELLA 2.5 Axial-Flow Pump Device for Left Ventricle Unloading During VA-ECMO Support in Pediatric Acute Heart Failure.

An alternative strategy for left ventricular (LV) venting during short-term mechanical circulatory support is use of Impella axial-flow pump. We present our transcarotid Impella 2.5 implantation technique using a polytetrafluoroethylene graft, in two children with acute heart failure treated primarily with venoarterial ECMO.

Point of view of the Italians pediatric scientific societies about the pediatric care during the COVID-19 lockdown: what has changed and future prospects for restarting.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently rare in children and they seem to have a milder disease course and better prognosis than adults. However, SARS-Cov-2 pandemic has indirectly caused problems in pediatric medical assistance. In view of this we wanted to draw a picture of what happened during health emergency and analyze future prospects for restarting.

Resilience and response of the congenital cardiac network in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

: The worldwide response to the current COVID-19 pandemic has been focused on how to prevent the disease and to protect the high-risk patient from a potentially lethal infection. Several consensus and guidelines articles have been published dealing with the cardiac patient with systemic hypertension, heart transplant or heart failure. Very little is known about the patients, both in the pediatric as well as in the adult age, with congenital heart disease.

Atypical cardiac defects in patients with RASopathies: Updated data on CARNET study.

Background: RASopathies are a set of relatively common autosomal dominant clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorders. Cardiac outcomes in terms of mortality and morbidity for common heart defects (such as pulmonary valve stenosis and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) have been reported. Nevertheless, also Atypical Cardiac Defects (ACDs) are described.

DATA in BRIEF of: Interventional Cardiac Catheterization in Neonatal Age: Results in a Multi-centre Italian Experience.

A comprehensive description of morbidity and mortality as well as risk factors of interventional cardiac catheterization performed in neonatal age was reported in our paper recently published on the (). Eight Italian high-volume centres of Paediatric Cardiology were involved in this observational, retrospective data collection and analysis. In this dataset, clinical and procedural characteristics of 1423 newborns submitted to 1551 interventional cardiac catheterization procedures were analyzed.

Interventional cardiac catheterization in neonatal age: results in a multicentre Italian experience.

Background: Despite recent technical advances, interventional cardiac catheterization is still challenging in neonatal age and no specific data concerning early outcome are so far published in literature.

Methods: Neonatal trans-catheter cardiac interventions performed in high-volume Italian referral centers were retrospectively analyzed. Primary outcomes were procedural major adverse events, in-hospital mortality and procedural failure.

Predicting the pressure of the total cavopulmonary connection: clinical testing of a mathematical equation.

Introduction: Some authors advocate the use of a dedicated formula to predict the Fontan pressure starting from pre-Fontan catheterisation data. This paper aims at testing the predictive value of the mentioned formula through a retrospective clinical study.

Methods And Results: Pre-Fontan catheterisation data and Fontan pressure measured at the completion were retrospectively collected.

Multimodality imaging, single center, cross-sectional study in adolescents or young adults with repaired tetralogy of Fallout.

Background: Proper integration of multiple imaging modalities in the routine follow-up of patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallout (TOF) is poorly supported by data. We report our single center comparative study between cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and echocardiography to assess equipoise in the clinical utility of these two imaging methods in an unselected consecutive cohort of TOF patients referred to our outpatient clinic.

Material And Methods: In this cross-sectional study, repaired TOF patients who underwent CMR and echocardiography within a 4-week period between 2010 and 2011 at our Center were included.

Data on cardiac defects, morbidity and mortality in patients affected by RASopathies. CARNET study results.

A comprehensive description of morbidity and mortality in patients affected by mutations in genes encoding for signal transducers of the RAS-MAPK cascade (RASopathies) was performed in our study recently published in the International Journal of Cardiology. Seven European cardiac centres participating to the CArdiac Rasopathy NETwork (CARNET), collaborated in this multicentric, observational, retrospective data analysis and collection. In this study, clinical records of 371 patients with confirmed molecular diagnosis of RASopathy were reviewed.

Recurrent Stroke after Transcatheter PFO Closure in Cryptogenic Stroke or Tia: Long-Term Follow-Up.

Background: There are few data on the mechanism of recurrent neurological events after transcatheter closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) in cryptogenic stroke or TIA.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed PFO closure procedures for the secondary prevention of cryptogenic stroke/TIA performed between 1999 and 2014 in Bologna, Italy.

Results: Written questionnaires were completed by 402 patients.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy in a young adult with transplanted heart: what happened to denervation?

This manuscript describes the first report of takotsubo cardiomyopathy in a young heart transplant recipient following angry debate. Our patient is a 21-year-old woman with cardiac transplant performed owing to right ventricular failure in congenital heart disease. Positive echocardiography with typical asymmetry of regional function, positive enzymes, and negative biopsy and angiography met the criteria for the diagnosis of takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

Acquired intracranial arterial aneurysm and stroke after vessel dissection in a child with coarctation of the aorta.

Vascular events in patients with coarctation of the aorta have been extensively reported and account for the majority of morbidity and mortality in untreated patients. The exact mechanism for this association is not completely understood and may include acquired anomalies or congenital abnormalities of intracranial vessel. Here we report a case of intracranial internal carotid artery dissection with subsequent formation of acquired large carotid aneurysm in a child with severe systemic hypertension and coarctation of the aorta.

Natural and modified history of single-ventricle physiology in adult patients.

Objective: To define the evolution of the single-ventricle (SV) heart in adult patients in terms of morbidity, mortality and quality of life.

Methods: Sixty-two patients with SV physiology and aged older than 16 years were retrospectively reviewed. Three patients (5%) were in natural history, one had received a Blalock-Taussig shunt, one a Waterstone anastomosis, one a pulmonary artery banding, three a bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis, eight a classic Fontan procedure and 46 a total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC).