Pediheart: Pediatric Cardiology Today

In this episode we review 2 wonderful recent works. The first reviews the use of perioperative EP studies to predict postoperative VT and SCD amongst TOF patients undergoing PVR. The second is an intriguing study on the relatively new concept of HIS BUNDLE pacing. Joining us this week is Dr. Edward Walsh from Boston Children's Hospital to discuss his thoughts on ventricular arrhythmias in the setting of TOF and their prevention. His insights are worth a listen!

In this episode we review 2 wonderful recent works. The first reviews the use of perioperative EP studies to predict postoperative VT and SCD amongst TOF patients undergoing PVR. The second is an intriguing study on the relatively new concept of HIS BUNDLE pacing. Joining us this week is Dr. Edward Walsh from Boston Children's Hospital to discuss his thoughts on ventricular arrhythmias in the setting of TOF and their prevention. His insights are worth a listen!

This week we learn about the exciting field of 3D printing in congenital heart disease. We discuss an interesting article on this topic that was recently published with one of the true world authorities on this topic, Dr. Kanwal Farooqi who is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University. Dr. Farooqi will take us through the basics of this rapidly evolving field and explain to us how the technology may one day lead to printing biological 'spare parts' like patches, conduits or even valves for the heart. You won't want to miss this peephole into an exciting future with Dr. Farooqi.

This week we learn about the exciting field of 3D printing in congenital heart disease. We discuss an interesting article on this topic that was recently published with one of the true world authorities on this topic, Dr. Kanwal Farooqi who is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University. Dr. Farooqi will take us through the basics of this rapidly evolving field and explain to us how the technology may one day lead to printing biological 'spare parts' like patches, conduits or even valves for the heart. You won't want to miss this peephole into an exciting future with Dr. Farooqi.

This week we delve into the exciting world of congenital interventional cardiology with 2 very different types of interventional cardiology research. In the first highly technical work from the group at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, we review an innovative approach to transcatheter management of pulmonary regurgitation in tetralogy when the RVOT is just too large for a valved stent. Dr. Tom Forbes, director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory and co-author of this work, discusses the challenges to and indications for bilateral branch pulmonary artery valve implantation in such cases. In the second work, the concept of practice variation and its impact on outcomes is explored by Dr. Andy Glatz and the team from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia reporting data from the IMPACT registry on compliance of interventionalists with established and published guidelines for proceeding with aortic or pulmonary valvuloplasty. Dr. Glatz will join us to discuss some of the interesting aspects of his work as well as trying to answer the question of whether 'homogenizing' our approach to a somewhat 'heterogeneous' group of patients makes good sense.

This week we delve into the exciting world of congenital interventional cardiology with 2 very different types of interventional cardiology research. In the first highly technical work from the group at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, we review an innovative approach to transcatheter management of pulmonary regurgitation in tetralogy when the RVOT is just too large for a valved stent. Dr. Tom Forbes, director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory and co-author of this work, discusses the challenges to and indications for bilateral branch pulmonary artery valve implantation in such cases. In the second work, the concept of practice variation and its impact on outcomes is explored by Dr. Andy Glatz and the team from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia reporting data from the IMPACT registry on compliance of interventionalists with established and published guidelines for proceeding with aortic or pulmonary valvuloplasty. Dr. Glatz will join us to discuss some of the interesting aspects of his work as well as trying to answer the question of whether 'homogenizing' our approach to a somewhat 'heterogeneous' group of patients makes good sense.

This week we review 2 works on the topic of aortic coarctation. The first reviews outcomes of arch repair in the setting of a bovine arch and the second reviews the possible long term impact of having mild transverse arch hypoplasia after repair - a common problem afflicting many patients who have undergone coarctation repairs. Dr. Emile Bacha, Professor of Surgery at Columbia University and Dr. Ashwin Prakash, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Cardiac MRI Service at Harvard University will speak to us directly about these papers and their thoughts on this important topic. Should coarctations be approached from the front or the side? Drs. Bacha and Prakash will offer us some answers.

This week we review 2 works on the topic of aortic coarctation. The first reviews outcomes of arch repair in the setting of a bovine arch and the second reviews the possible long term impact of having mild transverse arch hypoplasia after repair - a common problem afflicting many patients who have undergone coarctation repairs. Dr. Emile Bacha, Professor of Surgery at Columbia University and Dr. Ashwin Prakash, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Cardiac MRI Service at Harvard University will speak to us directly about these papers and their thoughts on this important topic. Should coarctations be approached from the front or the side? Drs. Bacha and Prakash will offer us some answers.

This week we review 2 works on pediatric ventricular assist devices and the most common adverse event associated with their use - specifically, infections. Dr. Scott Auerbach, medical director of the ventricular assist device program at Denver Children's Hospital and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at The University of Colorado will discuss the findings of the PEDIMACS registry data as well as share some new, hot off the presses information regarding outcomes of pediatric patients with infections who then undergo transplantation. His insights into this data set are deep and we are lucky to have him speak about this important multicenter work.

This week we review 2 works on pediatric ventricular assist devices and the most common adverse event associated with their use - specifically, infections. Dr. Scott Auerbach, medical director of the ventricular assist device program at Denver Children's Hospital and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at The University of Colorado will discuss the findings of the PEDIMACS registry data as well as share some new, hot off the presses information regarding outcomes of pediatric patients with infections who then undergo transplantation. His insights into this data set are deep and we are lucky to have him speak about this important multicenter work.

This week we explore the topic of Artificial Intelligence with a true expert in the field, Dr. Anthony Chang who is chief intelligence and innovation officer at Children's Hospital of Orange County. Dr. Chang recently earned a master’s degree in Biomedical Data Science and Artificial Intelligence from Stanford University and he reviews with us what AI is, what the potential value of this technology might be for medicine and discusses the obstacles that exist for full implementation and development for medical applications. Should we embrace or be fearful of this future? Dr. Chang will provide the answers….

This week we explore the topic of Artificial Intelligence with a true expert in the field, Dr. Anthony Chang who is chief intelligence and innovation officer at Children's Hospital of Orange County. Dr. Chang recently earned a master’s degree in Biomedical Data Science and Artificial Intelligence from Stanford University and he reviews with us what AI is, what the potential value of this technology might be for medicine and discusses the obstacles that exist for full implementation and development for medical applications. Should we embrace or be fearful of this future? Dr. Chang will provide the answers….

This week’s episode explores the sedative and anxiolytic agent dexmedetomidine and its use in the pediatric cardiac ICU. This agent, which was initially introduced for short term sedation, is increasingly used in our postoperative cardiac patients and we explore issues related to its use with particular attention to the issue of withdrawal. Dr. Michael Ushay, Director of Pediatric Critical Care at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore joins us to provide clinical insight and perspective.

This week’s episode explores the sedative and anxiolytic agent dexmedetomidine and its use in the pediatric cardiac ICU. This agent, which was initially introduced for short term sedation, is increasingly used in our postoperative cardiac patients and we explore issues related to its use with particular attention to the issue of withdrawal. Dr. Michael Ushay, Director of Pediatric Critical Care at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore joins us to provide clinical insight and perspective.

This week we devote the episode to congenital cardiac electrophysiology. We review 2 works - the first on outcomes of ablation for the treatment of atrial arrhythmias in Ebstein's anomaly and the second focuses on the ablation of posteroseptal accessory pathways in children, risks for coronary injury and strategies to avoid this potential serious complication. We are joined by Dr. Christopher McLeod of the Mayo Clinic to speak about his work on ablation of atrial arrhythmias in Ebstein's. His large experience and insights provide good perspective on this very challenging group of patients.