Cardiac morphology for the millennial cardiology fellow: Nomenclature and advances in morphologic imaging

Abstract

Cardiology fellows‐in‐training, both in adult and pediatric hospitals, need structured education in regards to congenital heart disease (CHD) nomenclature. With improved survival of patients with CHD, it is not uncommon for these patients to seek care in multiple adult and pediatric hospitals. A deep understanding of CHD nomenclature would aid in providing accurate medical and surgical care for these patients. In this forum, we share our experience with such structured education and also comment on recent advances in morphologic imaging that would aid in understanding the nomenclature.

Virtual Dissection: Emerging as the Gold Standard of Analyzing Living Heart Anatomy

“…There has been interest in using three-dimensional printed models for education albeit with the limitations of availability and costs. On most occasions, the assessment using printed models is also restricted to a singular plane of dissection [ 35 ]. Furthermore, similar to the heart specimens, freedom of moving the printed model extracted out of the chest cavity makes the assessment prone to errors.…”

“…Even at centers with a well-maintained archive of heart specimens, virtual dissection has a complementary role in educating students and health professionals. The ease of storing computed tomographic datasets in electronic format with the feasibility of creating endocast and/or virtual dissection images at any time practically immortalizes the anatomic details of any patient ( Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 6 and Figure 7 ) [ 35 ]. The electronic format also eliminates problems related to sharing of knowledge across institutions which is severely restricted with the use of heart specimens.…”

Heart University: a new online educational forum in paediatric and adult congenital cardiac care. The future of virtual learning in a post-pandemic world?

“…Millennial medical learners (those born 1981-2000) have grown up with personal computers and smartphones and have quite different expectations for the way they train and learn. 3 For example, in a recent online survey of adult CHD trainees, respondents stated they were more likely to search information online (58%) than consult a faculty member (29%) or textbook (3%). Over two-thirds of respondents stated they used their smartphones at least once daily to search for information during regular clinical work.…”