The Pulse – September 2019
The Pulse is a summary of relevant news and articles for Congenital Heart Professionals and highlights:
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What's Been Happening?
Pediatric Cardiology Links
- Arrhythmias in Athletes: Let's Make the Decision Together Care of the Athletic Heart 2019
Google: American College of Cardiology - NCDR Study: Complications Similar For Pediatric, Adult Patients After ICD Implantation
Google: American College of Cardiology - He's 26 years old but still sees a pediatrician: Why some young adults don't move on
Google: Washington Post - How Old Is Too Old to Go to the Pediatrician?
Google: Yahoo Lifestyle - Clinical Management of Fontan Circulation in children and adults: AHA Scientific Statement
Feedly: Specialty Medical Dialogues - The Children's Heart Foundation and Cardiac Networks United Partner to Advance Congenital Heart Research
Google: Yahoo Finance - Intraoperative corticosteroid fails to show benefit in neonates undergoing cardiac surgery
Google: Healio - Drug Protocol Resolves Most Fetal Tachyarrhythmia
Google: MedPage Today - Circulating plasma circular RNAs as novel diagnostic biomarkers for congenital heart disease in children
Google: Wiley Online Library - Environmental Toxins and Children
Google: Patch.com - Teaching pediatric cardiology with meaning and sense.
Google: Semantic Scholar - Revised AAP Hypertension Guidelines Identify Obese Youth With High CV Risk
Google: The Cardiology Advisor - Environmental Exposures During Pregnancy, Early Life May Lead to High BP in Children
Google: American College of Cardiology - Increased body weight in adolescent boys linked with heart attack before 65
Feedly: European Society of Cardiology - Nurses failed to respond to nearly 70% of alarms in pediatric unit study
Feedly: Becker’s Hospital Review - Massive Growth for Pediatric Interventional Cardiology Devices Market by 2019-2026 with Profiling Key Players like Abbott Vascular, GE Healthcare, Medtronic Inc., St. Jude Medical, Boston Scientific
Feedly: Marketexpert24.com
Children’s Hospital Links
- Spotlight on Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago: 4 quick facts
Google: Becker's Hospital Review - 'Hero' Hospital Staffers Move Babies to Safety in 'Mini ICU on Wheels' Ahead of Hurricane Dorian
Feedly: People - Cladding at Oxford's Churchill and Children's hospitals to be removed
Feedly: BBC News - Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital faces fine
Feedly: St. Pete Catalyst - All Children's Hospital to pay nearly $40 million to families of children left paralyzed after heart surgery
Feedly: WTSP.com - Texas Children's Hospital is using virtual reality to calm kids before surgery
Feedly: KHOU.com - MUSC dedicates new children’s hospital, Tourville Women’s Pavilion
Feedly: The Times and Democrat - Delayed Edinburgh children’s hospital may not open until 2021
Feedly: The Sunday Times - WATCH: Tim Tebow Opens 10th “Timmy’s Playroom” in Florida Children’s Hospital
Feedly: Yahoo Lifestyle
Science Links
- Genetics of Fabry Disease
Feedly: Fabry Disease News
Health Academics and Politics Links
- Brexit's impact on many cross-border initiatives finally revealed in report
Google Alerts: Belfast Telegraph - Northern Ireland Brexit impact 'mapping exercise' finally released
Google Alerts: The Guardian - IGNOU PGDCC not recognised by MCI Board of Governors: Health Minister tells parliament
Google Alerts: Medical Dialogues
Cardiomyopathy Links
- Possible treatment breakthrough for the rare disease arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy
Feedly: Medical Xpress - Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy Announces Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU as Their 26th Certified Duchenne Care Center
Feedly: StreetInsider.com - Novel risk model may predict sudden cardiac death in pediatric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Feedly: Healio
Adult Congenital Heart Disease
- Arrhythmias in Athletes: Let's Make the Decision Together Care of the Athletic Heart 2019
Google: American College of Cardiology - NCDR Study: Complications Similar For Pediatric, Adult Patients After ICD Implantation
Google: American College of Cardiology - He's 26 years old but still sees a pediatrician: Why some young adults don't move on
Google: Washington Post - How Old Is Too Old to Go to the Pediatrician?
Google: Yahoo Lifestyle - Clinical Management of Fontan Circulation in children and adults: AHA Scientific Statement
Feedly: Specialty Medical Dialogues - ACHD Board Certification Exam Study Session
Google: American College of Cardiology - Clinical outcomes during admissions for heart failure among adults with congenital heart disease
Google: MD Linx - Adults With Congenital Heart Disease Hospitalized for HF at Higher Risk for AEs
Google: The Cardiology Advisor - Prioritising transplantation for adult congenital heart disease, UK national data
Google: ScienceDirect.com
General Interest Links
- LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Camp offers hope to kids with heart disease
Google: Moultrie Observer - FDA expands indication for TAVR to low-risk patients
Google: Cardiovascular Business - Cover Story | Gearing Up For Back to School: The Basics of Sports Cardiology
Google: American College of Cardiology - The Case for a Course of Virtual Reality
Google: U.S. News & World Report - Heart regeneration: Scientists uncloak one of nature's deepest secrets
Feedly: Medical Xpress - High blood pressure affects young, healthy medical students
Feedly: Medical Xpress - CVD leading cause of death worldwide, but cancer rising cause in rich countries
Feedly: Medical Xpress - Do heart supplements work?
Feedly: Medical Xpress - What’s AI’s Holdup in Healthcare? The Answer Is In The Cloud
Feedly: HIT Consultant
International Links
- A Heart To Heart With Sunny Gavaskar
Google: India Currents - 43 Tibetan kids with heart disease to receive free treatment
Google: Xinhua - Cabinet may consider entry of four national medical institutions in health care reform at next meeting
Google: Interfax-Ukraine - Xinjiang hospitals treat over 20000 foreign patients from neighboring countries
Google: Global Times - President pledges coverage for congenital heart defects
Google: Maldives Independent (press release) - Batting for the Heart
Google: newsindiatimes.com - Siemens Healthineers Signs First Ever Master Research Agreement for Cardiac Diseases in Africa with Magdi Yacoub Foundation
Google: ZAWYA - Sunil Gavaskar scores double century in his new innings to save over 200 children with Free Heart Surgeries with USA Tour “Batting-for-Life”
Google: Valdosta Daily Times - Three medical colleges in upper Sindh face acute shortage of teachers
Feedly: Pakistan Today
Human interest Stories
- Shaq's son Shareef O'Neal feels blessed to play basketball again after open-heart surgery
Google: Los Angeles Times
Featured Science
Pediatric Cardiology Featured Science
Long-Term Survival of Patients With Coarctation Repaired During Infancy (from the Pediatric Cardiac Care Consortium).
Oster ME, McCracken C, Kiener A, Aylward B, Cory M, Hunting J, Kochilas LK.
Am J Cardiol. 2019 Jun 6. pii: S0002-9149(19)30626-5. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2019.05.047. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 31272703
Similar articles
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Take Home Points by Dr. Inga Voges (Kiel, Germany):
• The long-term survival in patients with aortic coarctation who underwent surgery before the age of 12 months is excellent.
• Weight <2.5 kg at the time of CoA repair, presence of a genetic syndrome and surgery before 1990 seems to be associated with increased late mortality.
Cardiomegaly on chest radiographs as a predictor of heart disease in the pediatric population.
Dasgupta S, Kelleman M, Slesnick T, Oster ME.
Am J Emerg Med. 2019 Jun 25. pii: S0735-6757(19)30426-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2019.06.045. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 31272753
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Take Home Points by Dr. Jared Hershenson (Greater Washington DC):
• Cardiomegaly on chest x-ray (CXR) has a relatively poor positive predictive value (PPV) for subsequent diagnosis of true heart disease.
• The addition of an EKG and BNP > 100 pg/ml improves the PPV, especially in patients < 1 year of age but does not negate the need for a subsequent echocardiogram.
Congenital and Pediatric Cardiac EP Featured Science
Different characteristics of postoperative atrial tachyarrhythmias between congenital and non-congenital heart disease.
Kondo M, Fukuda K, Wakayama Y, Nakano M, Hasebe Y, Satake H, Segawa M, Hirano M, Shimokawa H.
J Interv Card Electrophysiol. 2019 Jun 13. doi: 10.1007/s10840-019-00575-2. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 31197584
Take Home Points by Dr. Philip Chang (Gainesville, FL):
• Atrial tachyarrhythmias in ACHD vs. non-ACHD differ with regards to arrhythmia mechanism and substrate.
• Atrial tachyarrhythmias develop at earlier age and following longer duration after cardiac surgery in ACHD patients.
ACHD Featured Science (sponsored by ISACHD)
Mechanism and Risk Factors for Death in Adults With Tetralogy of Fallot.
Egbe AC, Kothapalli S, Borlaug BA, Ammash NM, Najam M, Bajwa N, Tarek K, Matthew J, Connolly HM.
Am J Cardiol. 2019 Jun 7. pii: S0002-9149(19)30627-7. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2019.05.048. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 31272701
Similar articles
Take Home Points by Dr. Timothy Roberts (Melbourne, Australia):
• Annual event rate of death or cardiac transplant was 0.9 % in a Mayo Clinic cohort of 465 TOF patients.
• Six independent risk factors associated with death/transplant were age > 42 years, atrial fibrillation, ³ moderate QRS fragmentation, LVEF < 50 %, RVEDP > 16 mmHg, and LVEDP > 16 mmHg.
• Nearly two-fold increased risk of death or transplant per unit increase in number of risk factors.
Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants in adults with a Fontan circulation: are they safe?
Yang H, Veldtman GR, Bouma BJ, Budts W, Niwa K, Meijboom F, Scognamiglio G, Egbe AC, Schwerzmann M, Broberg C, Morissens M, Buber J, Tsai S, Polyzois I, Post MC, Greutmann M, Van Dijk A, Mulder BJ, Aboulhosn J.
Open Heart. 2019 Jun 3;6(1):e000985. doi: 10.1136/openhrt-2018-000985. eCollection 2019.
PMID: 31245011 Free PMC Article
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Take Home Points by Dr. Blanche Cupido (Cape Town, South Africa):
• The 2014 PACES/HRS gave NOACS a class III recommendation for use in Fontan patients with atrial arrhythmias – this was based on a lack of data rather than reported adverse events.
• This is the first study providing prospective safety data for the use of NOACS in Fontan patients.
• They showed comparable safety and efficacy to VKA’s with an annual rate of 2.9% respectively for thromboembolism and major bleeding.
• Since the mean follow-up in this study was only 1.4 years, longer follow-up data is needed.
Interventional Cardiology Featured Science
A Low Residual Pressure Gradient Yields Excellent Long-Term Outcome After Percutaneous Pulmonary Valve Implantation.
Georgiev S, Ewert P, Tanase D, Hess J, Hager A, Cleuziou J, Meierhofer C, Eicken A.
JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2019 Jun 10. pii: S1936-8798(19)30846-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jcin.2019.03.037. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 31202951
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Take Home Points by Dr. Wendy Whiteside (Ann Arbor MI):
• Transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation has excellent long-term outcomes with surgery-free survival 92% at 5 years and 83% at 10 years.
• Significant risk factor for death and valve failure include an RV-PA gradient >15 mmHg. All efforts to adequate prepare the RVOT and minimize residual gradient leads to significant improvement in survival free of repeat interventions.
Congenital Cardiology Today
Congenital Cardiology Today publishes the one-of-a-kind Hospital Directory annually. It is a comprehensive list of Congenital Cardiac Care Providers in North America at Hospitals That Offer Open Heart Surgery for Children throughout the US and Canada.
See Featured Hospital Directory 2019

ACHA Webinars for Patients and Families
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Stanford Survey Request
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The survey is a short ( about 2 minutes), anonymous, online survey, and is designed to gather information on how to improve physicians’ training and interest in assuming leadership roles.
Your input will be greatly appreciated.
CHIP Network Partner Organizations
Adult Congenital Heart Association Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology
Asia Pacific Society for ACHD
Asia Pacific Pediatric Cardiac Society
British Congenital Cardiac AssociationCanadian Adult Congenital Heart Network
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Children’s National Medical Center
Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society
Congenital Cardiology Today
Congenital Heart Surgeons Society
International Society for Adult Congenital Heart Disease
Iranian Society of Pediatric Cardiology
Japanese Society for ACHD
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Heart Institute
Pediatric and Congenital Electrophysiology Society
Pediatric Cardiac Society of India
Paediatric Cardiac Society of South Africa
Pan Arab Congenital Heart Disease Association
PCICS
PICS
The Royal Brompton Hospital
Turkish Association of Pediatric Cardiology and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery
World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery
On behalf of the CHiP Network, thank you for reading!
Sincerely,
Gary Webb, MD
CHiP Network

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