Percutaneous closure is the gold standard treatment for atrial septal defects, but the procedure can be complex in case of femoral thrombosis. Although unusual for congenital interventionists, transhepatic atrial septal defect closure is an attractive alternative to the internal jugular vein, especially when approaching the interatrial septum. Herein, we report the case of an adult patient with significant co-morbidities who had successful transhepatic atrial septal defect closure after a failed transjugular attempt. We describe the use of an absorbable haemostatic gelatin sponge to efficiently and safely achieve haemostasis after the use of a large vascular sheath with combined anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy.

We present our recent experience with a 6-month-old infant with a personal history of short bowel syndrome that presented with fever, cyanosis, and cardiogenic shock secondary to severe pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular failure without pulmonary thromboembolism. He did not present signs of toxin-mediated disease or Kawasaki disease. He was finally diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection. If this presentation is confirmed in future research, the severe cardiovascular impairment in children with COVID-19 could be also attributable to the primary pulmonary infection, not only to a multisystem inflammatory syndrome but also in children without heart disease.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a global pandemic which has affected patients and healthcare systems around the world. Patients with underlying health conditions seem to be more severely affected. There are limited reports of patients with univentricular circulations and COVID 19; thus, we report a case of COVID-19 in a patient with a univentricular circulation.

Two paediatric congenital heart disease patients presented with a brief history of low-grade fever without any focal symptoms. Their clinical features and laboratory tests were unremarkable; however, their blood cultures were positive that prompted further work-up. Infective endocarditis should be considered in any paediatric congenital heart disease patient who presents with fever without any other associated clinical features.

Techniques for performing the Fontan completion procedure after Kawashima procedure have developed in recent years. This paper presents a case in which we performed an off-pump hepatic-to-azygos connection by autologous pericardial roll via thoracotomy as a modified Fontan completion. The operation wound was limited, and the short-term follow-up was satisfactory. Notably, it was found that the autologous pericardium might require a shorter period of anticoagulation treatment than what is needed for artificial prosthetic materials.

A 16-year-old girl with history of treated congenital mitral valve disease and signs of respiratory infection was admitted to our paediatric cardiology department. She was tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Despite her severe pre-existing cardiac conditions with pulmonary hypertension, atrial arrhythmias and mitral valve stenosis, the infection did not lead to any cardiac or pulmonary deterioration. In adults, cardiac co-morbidities are known risk factors for a severe course of coronavirus disease 2019 infections. This case illustrates that in children even severe cardiac disease is not necessarily associated with a severe course of coronavirus disease 2019.

Aneurysm formation around the site of coarctation of aortic arch is a well-recognised complication of untreated coarctation and is associated with an increased risk of aortic rupture and mortality. We present a rare case in a teenage girl with the combination of significant aortic arch coarctation, a “cauliflower-like” saccular aneurysm, and stenosis at the origin of the left subclavian artery. She was successfully managed with a hybrid approach, which is a combination of an endovascular surgical repair (a bypass graft placement from left carotid artery to subclavian artery by a vascular surgeon) and a transcatheter covered stent placement across the stenosis and aneurysm. This case highlights the successful role of a hybrid approach in patient’s who present with a combination of coarctation of the aorta and aortic arch aneurysms. This approach avoids the conventional surgical aortoplasty, which carries a higher mortality and morbidity risk in teenage patients.

Cryptogenic cerebral ischemia in young patients is commonly ascribed to paradoxical embolism. We report the clinical case of a young patient with cryptogenic stroke and a patent foramen ovale, undergoing percutaneous closure of atrial septal defect. Contrast transoesophageal echocardiography at the end of the procedure demonstrated massive late residual right-to-left shunt, due to the coexistence of pulmonary arteriovenous fistulas that were subsequently closed. Routinary adoption of contrast transoesophageal echocardiography at the end of patent foramen ovale closure interventions may be useful to detect early and late residual shunts. Late residual shunts may be due to pulmonary fistulas, a well-known risk factor for recurrent thromboembolic events.

This article is to commemorate and celebrate achievements of Professor Milan Šamánek who passed away on 29 April, 2020. Milan was an excellent and visionary paediatric cardiologist who helped to establish paediatric cardiology as a speciality in Czechoslovakia and several other east European countries in the late 1970s. Milan was also paramount for connecting the East and West, helping in no small way to establish the Association for European Paediatric Cardiology (AEPC) as the leading learned society in Europe.