Identifying thrombus formation in Fontan circulation has been highly variable, with reports between 17 and 33%. Initially, thrombus detection was mainly done through echocardiograms. Delayed-enhancement cardiac MRI is emerging as a more effective imaging technique for thrombus identification. This study aims to determine the prevalence of occult cardiac thrombosis in patients undergoing clinically indicated cardiac MRI.

A retrospective chart review of children and adults in the Duke University Hospital Fontan registry who underwent delayed-enhancement cardiac MRI. Individuals were excluded if they never received a delayed-enhancement cardiac MRI or had insufficient data. Demographic characteristics, native heart anatomy, cardiac MRI measurements, and thromboembolic events were collected for all patients.

In total, 119 unique individuals met inclusion criteria with a total of 171 scans. The median age at Fontan procedure was 3 (interquartile range 1, 4) years. The majority of patients had dominant systemic right ventricle. Cardiac function was relatively unchanged from the first cardiac MRI to the third cardiac MRI. While 36.4% had a thrombotic event by history, only 0.5% (1 patient) had an intracardiac thrombus detected by delayed-enhancement cardiac MRI.

Despite previous echocardiographic reports of high prevalence of occult thrombosis in patients with Fontan circulation, we found very low prevalence using delayed-enhancement cardiac MRI. As more individuals are reaching adulthood after requiring early Fontan procedures in childhood, further work is needed to develop thrombus-screening protocols as a part of anticoagulation management.

Infants with prenatally diagnosed CHD are at high risk for adverse outcomes owing to multiple physiologic and psychosocial factors. Lack of immediate physical postnatal contact because of rapid initiation of medical therapy impairs maternal–infant bonding. On the basis of expected physiology, maternal–infant bonding may be safe for select cardiac diagnoses.

This is a single-centre study to assess safety of maternal–infant bonding in prenatal CHD.

In total, 157 fetuses with prenatally diagnosed CHD were reviewed. On the basis of cardiac diagnosis, 91 fetuses (58%) were prenatally approved for bonding and successfully bonded, 38 fetuses (24%) were prenatally approved but deemed not suitable for bonding at delivery, and 28 (18%) were not prenatally approved to bond. There were no complications attributable to bonding. Those who successfully bonded were larger in weight (3.26 versus 2.6 kg, p<0.001) and at later gestation (39 versus 38 weeks, p<0.001). Those unsuccessful at bonding were more likely to have been delivered via Caesarean section (74 versus 49%, p=0.011) and have additional non-cardiac diagnoses (53 versus 29%, p=0.014). There was no significant difference regarding the need for cardiac intervention before hospital discharge. Infants who bonded had shorter hospital (7 versus 26 days, p=0.02) and ICU lengths of stay (5 versus 23 days, p=0.002) and higher survival (98 versus 76%, p<0.001).

Fetal echocardiography combined with a structured bonding programme can permit mothers and infants with select types of CHD to successfully bond before ICU admission and intervention.

A few studies have evaluated the impact of clinical trial results on practice in paediatric cardiology. The Infant Single Ventricle (ISV) Trial results published in 2010 did not support routine use of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor enalapril in infants with single-ventricle physiology. We sought to assess the influence of these findings on clinical practice.

A web-based survey was distributed via e-mail to over 2000 paediatric cardiologists, intensivists, cardiothoracic surgeons, and cardiac advance practice nurses during three distribution periods. The results were analysed using McNemar’s test for paired data and Fisher’s exact test.

The response rate was 31.5% (69% cardiologists and 65% with >10 years of experience). Among respondents familiar with trial results, 74% reported current practice consistent with trial findings versus 48% before trial publication (p<0.001); 19% used angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor in this population “almost always” versus 36% in the past (p<0.001), and 72% reported a change in management or improved confidence in treatment decisions involving this therapy based on the trial results. Respondents familiar with trial results (78%) were marginally more likely to practise consistent with the trial results than those unfamiliar (74 versus 67%, p=0.16). Among all respondents, 28% reported less frequent use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor over the last 3 years.

Within 5 years of publication, the majority of respondents was familiar with the Infant Single Ventricle Trial results and reported less frequent use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor in single-ventricle infants; however, 28% reported not adjusting their clinical decisions based on the trial’s findings.

Aortic arch obstruction can be evaluated by catheter peak-to-peak gradient or by Doppler peak instantaneous pressure gradient. Previous studies have shown moderate correlation in discrete coarctation, but few have assessed correlation in patients with more complex aortic reconstruction.

We carried out retrospective comparison of cardiac catheterisations and pre- and post-catheterisation echocardiograms in 60 patients with native/recurrent coarctation or aortic reconstruction. Aortic arch obstruction was defined as peak-to-peak gradient ⩾25 mmHg in patients with native/recurrent coarctation and ⩾10 mmHg in aortic reconstruction.

Diastolic continuation of flow was not associated with aortic arch obstruction in either group. Doppler peak instantaneous pressure gradient, with and without the expanded Bernoulli equation, weakly correlated with peak-to-peak gradient even in patients with a normal cardiac index (r=0.36, p=0.016, and r=0.49, p=0.001, respectively). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identified an area under the curve of 0.61 for patients with all types of obstruction, with a cut-off point of 45 mmHg correctly classifying 64% of patients with arch obstruction (sensitivity 39%, specificity 89%). In patients with aortic arch reconstruction who had a cardiac index ⩾3 L/min/m2, a cut-off point of 23 mmHg correctly classified 69% of patients (71% sensitivity, 50% specificity) with an area under the curve of 0.82.

The non-invasive assessment of aortic obstruction remains challenging. The greatest correlation of Doppler indices was noted in patients with aortic reconstruction and a normal cardiac index.