Background-Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) with intact or very restrictive atrial septum is a highly lethal combination. We review our 13-year institutional experience treating this high-risk subgroup of patients with emergent catheter therapy. Methods and Results-Infants with HLHS requiring catheter septostomy within the first 2 days of life were compared with a matched control group with adequate interatrial communication. Preoperative, early postoperative, and medium-term survival were evaluated. Earlier experience was compared with recent results to assess the effect of changes in catheterization and surgical and intensive care unit management strategies over the study period. From 1990 to 2002, 33 newborns with HLHS (11% of newborns with HLHS managed during this period) underwent urgent/semiurgent catheterization to create or enlarge an interatrial communication before surgical palliation. Preoperative and early postoperative mortality were high (48%) compared with control HLHS patients, regardless of prenatal diagnosis and despite successful catheter-based atrial septostomy with clinical stabilization. Mortality trended down during the later part of the study period. Those who survived the neonatal period had late survival, pulmonary artery pressure, and resistance similar to those of control subjects. Conclusions-Neonatal mortality in the subgroup of HLHS patients with intact or highly restrictive atrial septum remains high despite successful urgent septostomy. Persistently poor outcomes for these patients have prompted efforts at our center to develop techniques for fetal intervention for this condition, in the hope that prenatal relief of left atrial and pulmonary venous hypertension may promote normal pulmonary vascular and parenchymal development and improve both short-and long-term outcomes.

Background-Although most neonates with d-transposition of the great arteries (TGA) have an uncomplicated preoperative course, some with a restrictive foramen ovale (FO), ductus arteriosus (DA) constriction, or pulmonary hypertension may be severely hypoxemic and even die shortly after birth. Our goal was to determine whether prenatal echocardiography can identify these high-risk fetuses with TGA. Methods and Results-We reviewed the prenatal and postnatal echocardiograms and outcomes of 16 fetuses with TGA/intact ventricular septum or small ventricular septal defect. Of the 16 fetuses, 6 prenatally had an abnormal FO (fixed position, flat, and/or redundant septum primum). Five of the 6 had restrictive FO at birth. Five fetuses had DA narrowing at the pulmonary artery end in utero, and 6 had a small DA (diameter z score of ϽϪ2.0). Of 4 fetuses with the most diminutive DA, 2 also had an abnormal appearance of the FO, and both died immediately after birth. One other fetus had persistent pulmonary hypertension. Eight fetuses had abnormal Doppler flow pattern in the DA (continuous high-velocity flow, nϭ1; retrograde diastolic flow, nϭ7). Conclusions-Abnormal

Background-Ebstein anomaly and tricuspid valve dysplasia are rare congenital tricuspid valve malformations associated with high perinatal mortality. The literature consists of small, single-center case series spanning several decades. We performed a multicenter study to assess the outcomes and factors associated with mortality after fetal diagnosis in the current era. Methods and Results-Fetuses diagnosed with Ebstein anomaly and tricuspid valve dysplasia from 2005 to 2011 wereincluded from 23 centers. The primary outcome was perinatal mortality, defined as fetal demise or death before neonatal discharge. Of 243 fetuses diagnosed at a mean gestational age of 27±6 weeks, there were 11 lost to follow-up (5%), 15 terminations (6%), and 41 demises (17%). In the live-born cohort of 176 live-born patients, 56 (32%) died before discharge, yielding an overall perinatal mortality of 45%. Independent predictors of mortality at the time of diagnosis were gestational age <32 weeks (odds ratio, 8.6; 95% confidence interval, 3.5-21.0; P<0.001), tricuspid valve annulus diameter z-score (odds ratio, 1.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-1.5; P<0.001), pulmonary regurgitation (odds ratio, 2.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.4-6.2; P<0.001), and a pericardial effusion (odds ratio, 2.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-6.0;© 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.Circulation characterized by apical displacement of the valve or leaflet deformation, respectively. 3 In severe cases of dysplasia, the tricuspid valve orifice may become unguarded. 4,5 Although there is a broad morphologic spectrum, these malformations lead to the same hemodynamic burden, namely, tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and its pathophysiological sequelae. Although older children and adults with EA/TVD may be asymptomatic for years, the diagnosis of EA/TVD in the perinatal period carries a poor prognosis. In the fetus, severe TR may lead to cardiomegaly, hydrops, and arrhythmia, with demise rates as high as 48%.6 Among prenatally diagnosed patients who survive to live birth, hemodynamic instability, cyanosis, and respiratory compromise are common. Although neonatal mortality approached 80 to 85% in early series, 7,8 various single-center series have reported reduced mortality in the past 2 decades, ranging from 17% to 56%. 9-12 Clinical Perspective on p 489Fetal risk factors for perinatal mortality have been identified, including lack of antegrade flow across the pulmonary valve and retrograde duct flow 9-12 and fetal distress. 12However, studies were limited by small sample sizes, with Yu et al 12 reporting the largest series to date with 46 prenatally diagnosed patients. The prognostic value of indices of cardiomegaly, such as the cardiothoracic area (CTA) ratio and the right atrial area index, has been mixed. [9][10][11][12][13] Importantly, hemodynamic factors with potentially important influences on perinatal mortality, such as right ventricular pressure and the presence of pulmonary regurgitation (PR), have not been investigated.Since our understanding of fetuses diagnose...

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