This Supplement, entitled “Controversies and Challenges in the Management of the Functionally Univentricular Heart”, is presented by The Congenital Heart Institute of Florida and All Children's Hospital. It includes selected items from the proceedings of the Fifth Annual International Symposium on Congenital Heart Disease held on February 11 through 15, 2005, in Saint Petersburg, Florida. This symposium was sponsored by The Congenital Heart Institute of Florida, All Children's Hospital, and The University of South Florida. The focus was “Controversies of the Functionally Single Ventricle”.
Our Symposium to be held in 2006, coinciding with the appearance of this Supplement, will mark the fifth consecutive year that Bob Anderson has travelled to Saint Petersburg, Florida, as a featured guest speaker. In 2002, at our second annual symposium, the focus of our 4-day meeting was the abnormalities of the ventricular inlets and atrioventricular valves, with a full day devoted to echocardiography, followed by three single days spent discussing respectively the tricuspid valve, the mitral valve, and the common atrioventricular valve. In 2003, at our third annual symposium, the focus was controversies concerning the hypoplastic left heart syndrome, again beginning with a full day devoted to echocardiography, followed by three single days, this time discussing staged palliation by means of the Norwood sequence, replacement therapy by cardiac transplantation, and biventricular repair of hypoplastic left heart syndrome. A feature of the symposium was the numerous debates. In 2003, our featured guest speakers, in addition to Bob, were Leonard L. Bailey and his wife Nancy, from Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, California. The proceedings of this meeting were published in 2004 as a supplement to Cardiology in the Young.1 In 2004, at our fourth annual symposium, the focus was controversies concerning the ventriculo-arterial junctions, again beginning with a full day devoted to echocardiography, followed by three single days, this time discussing the pulmonary valve and reconstructions of the right ventricular outflow tract, the aortic valve and the Ross procedure, and the arterial switch procedure. Once again, a feature of the symposium was the numerous debates. In 2004, our featured guest speaker, in addition to Bob Anderson, was Martin J. Elliott, also from Great Ormond Street. The proceedings of the meeting held in 2004 were also published, appearing in 2005 in combination with the proceedings of the symposium organized in 2004 by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and held in Orlando.2 In 2005, our featured guest speaker, in addition to Bob Anderson, was Marc deLeval, again from Great Ormond Street. The focus of our meeting in 2005 was controversies concerning the functionally univentricular heart, again beginning with a full day devoted to echocardiography, followed by three single days discussing shunts and bands, the Glenn and Fontan procedures, and cardiac transplantation, again with daily debates. In 2006, our meeting will expand to 5 days in length, and will take place from February 17 through 22. At this meeting, we will revisit the abnormalities involving the ventricular inlets and atrioventricular valves, with a full day devoted to echocardiography, followed by four single days spent discussing the tricuspid valve, the mitral valve, the common atrioventricular valve, and hearts with discordant atrioventricular connections. In 2006, our featured guest speakers, in addition to Bob Anderson, will be my good friends Ross M. Ungerleider, along with his wife, Jamie Dickey, of the Doernbecher Children's Hospital, Oregon Health Sciences University, in Portland, Oregon.
The Congenital Heart Institute of Florida, along with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, are also now pleased to confirm their ongoing partnership to continue “Heart Week in Florida”, combining the Annual International Symposium on Congenital Heart Disease of All Children's Hospital and The University of South Florida with the Annual Postgraduate Course in Neonatal and Pediatric Cardiovascular Disease organized by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. We thank Gil Wernovsky, Director of the meeting organized by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as Tina Mannices, Manager of Continuing Medical Education at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and also Tom Spray and Bill Gaynor, for their support. Beginning in 2006, the meetings organized by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia will alternate between Florida and Arizona on a yearly basis. Thus, “Heart Week in Florida” will occur every 2 years, but the supplement to appear in Cardiology in the Young will be an annual joint publication, combining the proceedings from these “sister” meetings.
The Supplement that you are now about to read, therefore, focuses on “Controversies and Challenges in the Management of the Functionally Univentricular Heart”. It includes the proceedings of the symposium that took place from 11 through 15 February 2005, in Saint Petersburg, Florida. It has three sections. In the first part, we review the anatomy, and discuss strategies relating basic science and diagnosis to the functionally univentricular heart. In the second part, we address the medical and surgical treatment of these often challenging patients. The third part is concerned with follow-up, and treatment of complications related to the functionally univentricular heart.
I would like to thank Bob Anderson for all of his help, support, trust, and patience during the preparation of this Supplement. I would also like to thank my good friends and co-editors of this Supplement, Gil Wernovsky and J. William Gaynor. I am especially grateful to Jean Francis, the Vice President of All Children's Hospital, for facilitating its publication. I would also like to thank several additional members of our team at All Children's Hospital, namely Gary Carnes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Joel Momberg, Cindy Rose, Pat Clark, Melodye Seals, Ron Volden, Tina Merola, Kas Sheehan, and all our cardiac nurses. I would also like to thank the other Directors of our Saint Petersburg meeting. They are James C. Huhta, Richard Martinez, and my partner James A. Quintessenza. This meeting was initiated by Jim Huhta, and I am grateful that he gave me the opportunity to work with him. The meeting would not have been possible without his leadership and vision. Finally, I would like to thank my current partners, Jim Quintessenza, Paul Chai, and Harald Lindberg, and my former partner Victor Morell, for their constant support and guidance, and my wife Stacy, and children Jessica and Joshua, for their understanding and patience. All of the family members of the authors of the reviews included in this Supplement are owed a debt of gratitude, because writing manuscripts markedly decreases the time available with them.
