Tetralogy of Fallot News and Research

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Study validates long-term safety and efficacy of Harmony transcatheter pulmonary valve implant

A study of one year outcomes in the largest cohort to date of Harmony transcatheter pulmonary valve (TPV) patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) and severe pulmonary regurgitation (PR) was presented today as late-breaking clinical research at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions 2022 Scientific Sessions.

19 May 2022

Women born with heart defects can safely become pregnant and give birth to healthy babies

Most women who are born with heart defects can safely become pregnant and give birth to healthy babies with few or minor problems if they are supported by expert medical care and counselling, according to research published in the European Heart Journal .

13 Oct 2021

3D whole-heart imaging technique provides new insights on congenital heart disease

A cutting-edge technique that allows scientists to zoom into tiny details in a 3D image of a whole animal heart may lead to new insights on congenital heart disease.

20 Oct 2020

Ten-year follow-up study shows safety and efficacy of TPV device

Ten-year follow-up results of the U.S. Investigational Device Exemption Trial of the Melody transcatheter pulmonary valve were presented today during the SCAI 2020 Scientific Sessions Virtual Conference.

15 May 2020

β-blockers could regenerate infant heart muscle, mitigate effects of congenital heart disease

Surgery can mend congenital heart defects shortly after birth, but those babies will carry a higher risk of heart failure throughout the rest of their lives. Yet, according to a Science Translational Medicine study published today by UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh researchers, β-blockers could supplement surgery to regenerate infant heart muscle and mitigate the lasting effects of congenital heart disease.

9 Oct 2019

Men should stay alcohol-free for at least six months before conception

A new study has revealed that men hoping to conceive should stop drinking for at least six months before to prevent congenital heart diseases.

4 Oct 2019

International team receives $3.1 million NIH grant to find better ways to treat tetralogy of Fallot

An international team of researchers received a five-year, $3.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to discover new and better ways to treat a pediatric congenital heart condition known as tetralogy of Fallot, which affects a total of 85,000 individuals in the United States.

27 Aug 2019

Cancer incidence among children and young adults with congenital heart disease

Researchers led by Zacharias Mandalenakis from University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden, have looked at data from the National registry in Sweden to assess the risk of cancers among children and young adults who have been diagnosed with congenital heart disease compared to those who did not have such a diagnosis.

7 Jul 2019

Novel program offers new options for adult congenital heart patients

Experts at the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute are forging new ground in the development of a first-of-its-kind program aimed at adults with congenital heart disease.

29 Aug 2018

Researchers evaluate left ventricular systolic function after pulmonary valve replacement

In the current issue of Cardiovascular Innovations and Applications (Volume3, Number 1, 2018, pp. pp. 21-30(10); DOI 10.15212/CVIA.2017.0050, Ali N. Zaidi and W. Aaron Kay from Columbus Ohio Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program, The Heart Center, Nationwide Children's Hospital and Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA and the Division of Pediatric Cardiology, The Heart Center, Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA consider how following reparative surgery for tetralogy of Fallot or critical pulmonary stenosis, patients frequently present with severe right ventricular volume overload due to pulmonary regurgitation, resulting in decreased RV function.

12 Jun 2018

MDC researchers provide new insights on embryonic heart development

When it first starts to develop, the heart is a simple tube. Reporting in the journal Nature Communications, researchers at MDC have now described how it forms itself into a its characteristic S-shape and how the ventricles and atria finally develop.

4 Jun 2018

Alfred Blalock’s medical breakthroughs have been saving many lives

The year was 1925, and Alfred Blalock was already a failure at age 26. The born-and-raised Georgian earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia in 1918, then a medical doctorate from Johns Hopkins University four years later. But he didn't get the surgical residency he coveted at Hopkins; he ended up interning in urology instead.

29 Mar 2018

Fever in first trimester of pregnancy increases risk for birth defects, study shows

Fevers in a mother's first trimester of pregnancy increase the baby's risk for some heart defects and facial deformities such as cleft lip or palate, but exactly how this happens is unclear. Scientists have debated whether a virus or other infection causes the defects, or if fever alone is the problem.

12 Oct 2017

Duke researchers unravel how fever in early pregnancy increases risk for heart, facial birth defects

Researchers have known for decades that fevers in the first trimester of pregnancy increase risk for some heart defects and facial deformities such as cleft lip or palate. Exactly how this happens is unclear. Scientists have debated whether a virus or other infection source causes the defects, or if fever alone is the underlying problem.

10 Oct 2017

Study sheds new light on underlying genetic causes of congenital heart disease

Approximately one in every 100 babies is born with congenital heart disease (CHD), and CHD remains the leading cause of mortality from birth defects.

9 Oct 2017

Survivors of childhood diseases struggle to find care as adults

Rachael Goldring was born with congenital heart disease. Had she been born a few decades earlier, she probably would have died as a baby. Now 24, Goldring is part of a population of patients who present new challenges to a health care system unaccustomed to dealing with survivors of once-fatal conditions.

22 Jun 2017

TBX5 gene expression could play key role in congenital heart disease

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect and the leading cause of all infant deaths in the United States. Mutations in the gene TBX5 have been shown to cause both rare and more prevalent forms of congenital heart disease, yet the underlying mechanisms have remained unclear.

9 Feb 2016

Pregnant women with elevated blood-sugar levels more likely to have babies with heart defects

Pregnant women with elevated blood-sugar levels are more likely to have babies with congenital heart defects, even if their blood sugar is below the cutoff for diabetes, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford Children's Health.

12 Oct 2015

Children's Hospital Los Angeles successfully implants Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve in child actor

Cardiologists from Children's Hospital Los Angeles successfully implanted a Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve in child actor Max Page, the boy who made headlines playing mini Darth Vader in a 2011 Super Bowl ad for Volkswagen.

28 Aug 2015

Young age and small body weight predispose pediatric CHD patients toward re-intervention

A retrospective review of 633 adults and children who underwent bioprosthetic pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) for congenital heart disease between 1996 and 2014 indicated that the risk of re-intervention was five times greater for children than adults, with the likelihood of re-intervention decreasing by 10% for each increasing year of age at surgery.

29 Apr 2015