Pediheart: Pediatric Cardiology Today Robert Pass

This week we delve into the world of interventional cardiology and congenital heart surgery when we review a recent report from the team at Toronto Sick Children's Hospital about their experience with interventions in the pulmonary arteries following the arterial switch operation. How often are branch or main pulmonary artery narrowings serious enough to warrant intervention? What degree of RV pressure should warrant a cath or intervention? How commonly did simple balloon dilation result in a meaningful degree of reduction in pulmonary artery obstruction and/or RV pressure? How commonly were complications observed? These are amongst the questions reviewed this week with the work's first author, senior cardiology fellow at the University of Toronto, Dr. Michael N. Gritti.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-024-03408-w

This week we review a report from Italy regarding the observation of RA disk thrombus formation in some patients following GORE Cardioform ASD closure. How common is this complication seen and are there some patient or device characteristics that would be considered higher risk for this complication? How does this information square with the Assured trial data? Why might there be differences between the two data sources? We speak with Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Kravis Children's Hospital at Mount Sinai, Dr. Barry Love who is also Director of the Congenital Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Mount Sinai Hospital. 

 https://doi.org/10.1002/ccd.31002

This week we delve into the world of antibiotic prophylaxis for dental procedures. What are the data to support its use in the congenital heart patient? Why has this been such a difficult topic to study? What do we now know about this topic and what still remains unanswered? Given the low prevalence but dire consequences of this disease, how can investigators consider studying this topic in the future? Is there adequate equipoise to proceed with a randomized controlled trial? We speak with Advanced Imaging Fellow at Boston Children's Hospital, Dr. Francesca Sperotto of Harvard University about her recent multicenter meta-analysis of 30 studies including over one million cases of endocarditis. 

DOI: 10.1001/jamacardio.2024.0873

This week we review a recent work on the use of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors in the ACHD heart failure patient from Europe. Can these agents impact heart failure outcomes in this patient group? What is the mechanism by which they may improve outcomes? Are there data on their effects on the single ventricle patient? What sorts of side effects can be seen and are these more or less commonly observed in the ACHD patient? We speak with the corresponding author of this week's work, Dr. Anastasia Egorova of Leiden University in the Netherlands. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2024.02.017

This week we delve into the world of fetal cardiology when we review a recent large, multicenter study on the impact of prental diagnosis of 22.q11 deletion syndrome. How did the prenatally diagnosed patients differ from those diagnosed postnatally in regards to degree of heart disease and postnatal morbidity and mortality? What is the role of cell-free DNA testing in the screening for patients with this deletion syndrome? How do outcomes differ for this syndrome between the US and other countries and why might this be? These are amongst the many questions reviewed with the first author of this week's work, Dr. Lindsay Freud who is the director of fetal cardiology at Toronto Sick Kid's Hospital and also Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto. 

Also joining the podcast this week are the co-directors of this year's Mount Sinai Imaging Symposium entitled: Conversations in Care - The Single Ventricle. Dr. David Ezon, Dr. Jennifer Cohen, Dr. Kenan Stern and Mount Sinai Technical Director and Echo Lab Manager, Ms. Jen Lie Yau share their thoughts about the upcoming conference. This year's symposium will be taking place on May 4th, 2024 and the faculty are a who's who of important pediatric cardiac specialists from the worlds of imaging, interventional cardiology, sonography, surgery and more. 

For those interested, you can get more information about this wonderful conference at the following web address:

https://mssm.cloud-cme.com/assets/MSSM/data/Single%20Ventricle%20Symposium24G.pdf

Today's article link:
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2023.09.005

This week we delve into the world of cognitive bias when we review a recent review of this topic by the team at the University of Arkansas. What are some of the more important common cognitive biases that plague humans and are particularly deleterious for good decision making in 'case management/surgical' conference? What are some approaches to reducing the impact of these biases? How does the advent of ZOOM enhance or reduce bias for surgical conference decisions? We speak with noted authority on this topic, Dr. Joshua Daily who is Associate Professor of Pediatrics at The University of Arkansas in Little Rock for his deep insights into this topic. 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-024-03462-4

Other resources mentioned by Dr. Daily include:

- Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- Thinking In Bets by Annie Duke 
- Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
- How To Decide by Annie Duke