Implantable Cardiac Devices and Congenital Heart Disease Survival of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) continues to improve in lockstep with advances in surgical and medical therapy, and more than…
Definition and Morphology Ventricular septal defects (VSDs) are openings in the ventricular septum and occur both in isolation and in conjunction with other cardiac defects. The classification of VSDs is…
Definition and Morphology An atrial septal defect (ASD) is a direct communication between the cavities of the atrial chambers that permits shunting of blood. In the normal heart the true…
In 1885, Sir William Osler summarized beautifully the main aspects of clinical infective endocarditis (IE) in the Gulstonian Lectures delivered at the Royal College of Physicians of London. Despite all…
Patent Ductus Arteriosus Embryology The patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a remnant of the distal left sixth aortic arch, which connects the proximal descending aorta to the main pulmonary artery…
Introduction The main causes of congenital left atrial and ventricular inflow obstruction are pulmonary vein stenosis, cor triatriatum sinister (CTS), and mitral stenosis. Congenital pulmonary vein stenosis is usually a…
Definition and Morphology Truncus arteriosus (also known as persistent truncus arteriosus, truncus arteriosus communis, common arterial trunk, or common aorticopulmonary trunk) naturally involves a single arterial vessel exiting the base…
Etiology Aortic regurgitation (AR) rarely occurs as an isolated lesion, but is a common finding in patients with concomitant congenital heart lesions. It can result from primary disease of the…
The term pulmonary hypertension (PH) is broad and applicable to a group of conditions. The early 1990s saw major changes in the understanding of the spectrum of disease affecting the…
In 1966, Barlow and Bosman described a constellation of clinical findings consisting of nonejection systolic clicks and a late systolic murmur, T-wave abnormalities, and systolic aneurysmal billowing of the posterior…
