Mitral valve stenosis caused by a discrete supravalvular membrane is a rare congenital malformation haemodynamically leading to significant mitral valve stenosis. When the supravalvular mitral stenosis consists of a discrete supravalvular membrane adherent to the mitral valve, it is usually not clearly detectable by routine echocardiography. We report about the typical echocardiographic finding in three young patients with this rare form of a discrete membranous supravalvular stenosis caused by a membrane adherent to the mitral valve. These cases present a typical echocardiographic feature in colour Doppler generated by the pathognomonic supramitral flow acceleration. Whereas typical supravalvular mitral stenosis caused by cor triatriatum or a clearly visible supravalvular ring is easily detectable by echocardiography, a discrete supravalvular membrane adjacent to the mitral valve leaflets resembling valvular mitral stenosis is difficult to differentiate by routine echocardiography. In our opinion, this colour phenomenon does resemble the visual impression of polar lights in the northern hemisphere; owing to its typical appearance, it may therefore be named as “Polar Light Sign”. This phenomenon may help to detect this anatomical entity by echocardiography in time and therefore improve the prognosis for repair.

Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common form of cardiomyopathy in the paediatric population and an important cause of heart transplantation in children. The clinical profile and course of dilated cardiomyopathy in children have been poorly characterised. A retrospective review of 61 patients (37 female; 24 male) diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy from January, 2005 to June, 2012 at a single institution was performed. The median age at diagnosis was 15 months. Heart failure was present in 83.6% of patients and 44.3% required intensive care. The most prevalent causes were idiopathic (47.5%), viral myocarditis (18.0%) and inherited metabolic diseases (11.5%). In viral myocarditis, Parvovirus B19 was the most common identified agent, in concurrence with the increasing incidence documented recently. Inherited metabolic diseases were responsible for 11.5% of dilated cardiomyopathy cases compared with the 4–6% described in the literature, which reinforces the importance of considering this aetiology in differential diagnosis of paediatric dilated cardiomyopathy. The overall mortality rate was 16.1% and five patients underwent heart transplantation. In our series, age at diagnosis and aetiology were the most important prognosis factors. We report no mortality in the five patients who underwent heart transplantation, after 2 years of follow-up.

Background: Few data are available on the neuropsychological, behavioural, or structural brain imaging outcomes in adolescents who underwent corrective surgery in infancy for tetralogy of Fallot. Methods: In this single-centre cross-sectional study, we enrolled 91 adolescents (13–16 years old) with tetralogy of Fallot and 87 referent subjects. Assessments included tests of academic achievement, memory, executive functions, visual-spatial skills, attention, and social cognition, as well as brain magnetic resonance imaging. Results: Genetic abnormalities or syndromes were present in 25% of tetralogy of Fallot patients, who had markedly greater neuropsychological morbidities than did patients without a syndrome. However, even patients without a syndrome performed significantly worse than the referent group or population norms in all of the neuropsychological domains assessed. In multivariable regression in those without a genetic/phenotypic syndrome, the strongest predictors of adverse late neurodevelopmental outcomes included a greater number of complications at the first operation, more total surgical complications across all operations, and occurrence of post-operative seizures. The presence of at least one abnormality on structural magnetic resonance imaging was more frequent in tetralogy of Fallot patients than the referent group (42% versus 8%). Conclusions: Adolescents with tetralogy of Fallot are at increased neurodevelopmental risk and would benefit from ongoing surveillance and educational supports even after childhood.

A preterm 29-week gestation baby was delivered because of gross foetal hydrops secondary to congenital complete heart block. Despite a poor prognosis, she survived stabilisation and received emergency epicardial pacing followed by permanent pacemaker insertion on day 13, weighing 1.2 kg.

A 4.5-year-old child with severe idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension underwent right-heart catheterisation, showing suprasystemic pulmonary pressure and a tiny patent ductus arteriosus with trivial right-to-left shunting. The ductus arteriosus was successfully stented with a bare metal stent. At 1-year follow-up, a remarkable improvement was observed in clinical status, functional capacity, and serology. Echocardiography confirmed a favourable cardiac remodelling.

We present the case of a 29-year-old man with mutation-positive Duchenne muscular dystrophy and mutation-positive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. His cardiac phenotype has characteristics of both disorders; he manifests sub-epicardial left ventricular free wall late gadolinium enhancement that is consistent with Duchenne cardiomyopathy, as well as asymmetric ventricular septal hypertrophy, hyperdynamic left ventricular systolic function, and septal mid-myocardial late gadolinium enhancement, which are characteristic of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Post-infective pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle in children is very rare, with only five cases reported in English medical literature so far. Patients usually have a short history of infection by Staphylococcus aureus. Timely surgical intervention has generally a good outcome. We present a case of post-infectious pseudoaneurysm in a 2-year-old girl with a review of literature.

A 2-year-old boy developed fibromyxoid excrescence of the aortic valve 2 years after balloon dilatation for simple coarctation. Transthoracic echocardiography showed a mobile mass on the non-coronary cusp of the aortic valve. Definitive diagnosis was achieved after operative resection. This pathology was attributed to injury during catheter manipulation. Catheterised patients should be followed up carefully to avoid missing morphological changes.

A 21-year-old man underwent mitral valve replacement and tricuspid annuloplasty for severe mitral regurgitation and moderate tricuspid regurgitation. Until the operation, he had been treated for hypermobility type Ehlers–Danlos syndrome. Gene examination revealed a mutation in filamin A gene, which is the gene responsible for X-linked myxomatous valvular dystrophy.

Background: Children with pulmonary hypertension routinely undergo pulmonary vascular resistance studies to assess the disease severity and vasodilator responsiveness. It is vital that results are accurate and reliable and are not influenced by the choice of anaesthetic agent. However, there are anecdotal data to suggest that propofol and inhalational agents have different effects on pulmonary vascular resistance. Methods: A total of 10 children with pulmonary hypertension were selected sequentially to be included in the study. To avoid confounding because of baseline anatomic or demographic details, a crossover protocol was implemented, using propofol or isoflurane, with time for washout in between each agent and blinding of the interventionalist. Results: Pulmonary and systemic vascular resistance were not significantly different when using propofol or isoflurane. However, the calculated resistance fraction – ratio of pulmonary resistance to systemic resistance – was significantly lower when using propofol than when using isoflurane. Conclusions: Although no difference in pulmonary vascular resistance was demonstrated, this pilot study suggests that the choice of anaesthetic agent may affect the calculation of relative pulmonary and systemic vascular resistance, and provides some preliminary evidence to favour propofol over isoflurane. These findings require replication in a larger study, and thus they should be considered in future calculations to make informed decisions about the management of children with pulmonary hypertension.

We describe a case of an 11-year-old boy who underwent orthotopic heart transplant for dilated cardiomyopathy. He developed a normocytic, normochromic anaemia with a low reticulocyte count 1 month after transplant. A bone marrow biopsy was performed, which showed a mildly hypocellular bone marrow with few red blood cell precursors with giant pro-erythroblasts indicative of a pure red cell aplasia. Parvovirus B19 polymerase chain reaction in the blood was positive 2 months after transplant. Intravenous immunoglobulin administration resulted in a resolution of the anaemia over several months. Unexplained pure red cell aplasia in immunosuppressed patients should alert one to the possibility of parvovirus B19 infection.

Type 1 long QT syndrome is the most common long QT syndrome genetic subtype. Exercise and emotional stress can precipitate sudden cardiac events in patients with type 1 long QT syndrome; however, the precise mechanism remains elusive. We report the case of a teenage girl with type 1 long QT syndrome secondary to a rare frameshift mutation (p. L191fs+90X) in the KCNQ1-encoded Kv7.1 potassium channel. During emotional distress, her continuous QTc recordings precipitously increased, peaking within minutes to 669 ms and then returning to baseline (520 ms) as she calmed without concomitant increase in heart rate. This is the first described case documenting transient, marked accentuation of the QTc interval in a long QT syndrome patient during emotional distress. Such events may be triggered by transient accentuation of the intrinsic perturbation in cardiac repolarisation and increase the risk of degeneration to a ventricular arrhythmia. This case illustrates the need improved understanding of the complex interaction between emotion and cardiac stability in patients with long QT syndrome.

We present a case of congenital multiple coronary artery–left ventricle micro-fistulas, which were treated with propranolol disappearing within 6 months. She had a malformative syndrome associated with a chromosomal abnormality. The treatment for coronary artery fistula includes surgical ligation and transcatheter closure, but they are not indicated in congenital micro-fistulas. We propose propranolol as a treatment in this type of diffuse fistula.

Chondrosarcoma is a malignant bone tumour common in adults, third to myeloma and osteosarcoma, but is exceptionally rare in children. Here we discuss a 9-year-old girl presenting with occlusive right pulmonary artery neoplastic embolus, resulting from a primary right proximal humerus chondrosarcoma. To the best of our knowledge, this the first pediatric and only second overall case reported in the United States of a neoplastic pulmonary embolus resulting from a primary chondrosarcoma.

Here we report an infant with coronary artery fistulas. To clearly visualise the fistulas and surrounding materials, we utilised three-dimensional computed tomography, and the images were transferred as novel visualised three-dimensional images using a reconstruction technique. With the images, we could repair the fistulas accurately. We believe that these images are useful for repairing coronary artery fistulas in infants.

Torsades de Pointes is an extremely rare arrhythmia in children associated to LQT syndrome. Pheochromocytomas are also extremely rare tumours in the paediatric age. We present a case of a young patient with an acquired long QT syndrome complicating with Torsades de Pointes as first clinical manifestation of a pheochromocytoma.

We present a case of severe aortic coarctation in a donor of twin–twin transfusion syndrome. Patients underwent two angioplasty procedures at age 7 and 47 days, weighing 900 and 1500 g, respectively. Umbilical artery approach was used in the first procedure, and femoral artery approach was used in the second. Follow-up at the age of 13 months showed no recurrence of coarctation.

We present a case of a previously healthy adolescent male for outpatient evaluation of prolonged QT interval. He was ultimately found to have acquired QT interval prolongation secondary to hypocalcaemia related to undiagnosed hypoparathyroidism. This case report highlights the importance of routine electrolyte analysis, even in the outpatient setting, during initial diagnostic workup for QT interval prolongation.