research

Basic Info on Blood Transfusion

What is a blood transfusion? When a child has low blood levels or is missing a part of the blood that the body needs, she is given blood through an IV. This is called a blood transfusion. Donated blood, which is stored in sterile plastic sacks, is given to the child through a needle orContinue Reading

What is Transesophageal Echocardiography?

Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) is a technique that uses a small ultrasound probe placed into a childs esophagus to closely evaluate the heart and blood vessels within the chest. Echocardiography is a procedure used to assess the heart’s function and structures through the use of sound waves. A transducer (similar to a microphone) sends out ultrasonicContinue Reading

Brief Overview of Aortic Translocation (Nikaidoh Procedure)

Dr. Hisashi Nikaidoh has received international recognition for the landmark procedure that bears his name following 20 years of successful surgeries. Children diagnosed with the rare triad of Transposition of the Great Arteries, Ventricular Septal Defect and Pulmonary Stenosis have a significantly improved prognosis after undergoing aortic translocation with reconstruction of the right ventricular outflowContinue Reading

First-degree Fetal Heart Block may be reversible

There is an increased risk of fetal heart problems when mothers carry particular antibodies associated with rheumatic diseases, according to an abstract presented by Yale School of Medicine researchers at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Conference February 9 in San Francisco. Congenital heart block (CHB) is present at or before birth and impairs the heart’sContinue Reading

CHD Babies At Risk For Learning Disabilities?

For months I’ve been working on a post regarding a possible link between learning disabilities and CHD, specifically in children who have undergone open heart surgery. We all know that every child is different. Every CHD is different. Every pregnancy is different. Every labor and delivery is different. Time spent with an undiagnosed CHD afterContinue Reading

Some Types of Cardiac Catheterizations

The Catheterization Lab is used for a variety of heart tests and to make corrections to the heart. Many defects that required open heart surgery in the past can now be corrected in the cath lab. Because cath procedures are less invasive and not as hard on the body, your child will recover quickly andContinue Reading

Catheter-delivered Heart Valve In CHD Patients May Eliminate Need For Repeat Surgeries

Children born with certain heart defects have impaired blood flow from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery leading to the lungs, requiring implanted devices (known as right-ventricular outflow tract conduits) to maintain the flow. However, these conduits fail over time, and children typically face multiple open-heart operations during their lives to reopen the passage.Continue Reading

Overview of Pacemakers

What is a permanent pacemaker? A permanent pacemaker, a small device that is implanted under the skin (most often in the shoulder area just under the collarbone), sends electrical signals to start or regulate a slow heartbeat. A permanent pacemaker may be used to make the heartbeat if the heart’s natural pacemaker (the SA node)Continue Reading

Sudden Arrhythmias – What Causes SADS?

The conditions responsible for SADS cause a cardiac arrest by bringing on a ‘ventricular arrhythmia’ (a disturbance in the heart’s rhythm), even though the person has no structural heart disease. There is a group of relatively rare diseases called ion channelopathies that affect the electrical functioning of the heart without affecting the heart’s structure. ThisContinue Reading

Risk of Seizures (ANEs) with Prolonged Deep Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest (DHCA) during Open Heart Surgery

Objective. To identify pre- and intraoperative variables associated with postoperative acute neurologic events (ANEs), including seizures and coma, in newborn survivors of congenital heart surgery undergoing deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA), and to risk-stratify this population on the basis of preoperative risk variables for the purpose of designing future neuroprotection trials. Methods. Survivors of newbornContinue Reading