Blogs

3 D Echocardiography 3D echo is in the process of revolutionizing pediatric echocardiography. It is like the difference between looking at a crude snapshot of an infant’s heart in the womb, as opposed to a 3D movie of that same infant’s heart. Many cities have 3D images of babies on their billboards advertising their hospitals, … Continued

I want to write about these two defects because they are very similar to each other. I also want to write about the embryological development of the heart. This is all very important to understanding the development of heart defects The heart begins as a bulbous muscular organ that within a few weeks begins to … Continued

Pulmonary Hypertension in Adults vs. Neonates   Adult Pulmonary Hypertension Pulmonary Hypertension remains an elusive and difficult to treat disease, and the pathways involved in pulmonary vascular disease, to this day, are not well understood; significant research is an on going process. There are virtually no dedicated fellowships concerning pulmonary hypertension and cardiologists, pulmonologists or … Continued

Anomalous Coronary Arteries Anomalous coronary arteries is a defect that is very rare, but it is the one defect that makes the news in every newspaper about once a year or so. “Marine Dies in Grueling Basic Training”. “Football Star Dies During Intense Workout”. “Track Star Dead Following Heavy Training”. Two years ago, in Milwaukee, … Continued

Congenital defects of the aortic arch are part of family of defects that range in severity from mild (coarctation of the aorta or COA) to serious (interrupted aortic arch). They are highly associated with other defects such as patent ductus arteriosis (PDA), patent foramen ovale (PFO), aortopulmonary  shunt (AP window), ventricular septal defect (VSD) and other … Continued

Aortic Stenosis in Children   Aortic stenosis in adults is quite different than the type aortic stenosis found in neonates. Aortic stenosis in adults begins as an inflammatory process that occurs in the endothelial tissue of the valve that attracts fatty deposits to be laid down upon the valve and is encapsulated by cholesterol deposits, … Continued

  Cardiomyopathies cover a lot of territory, from dilated to hypertrophic.  Think of the heart as having a wiring system, just like your house. Everything works on electricity; it is just bioelectric which is much slower. The impulses travel from cell to cell as opposed to a wire. Further, there are two nodes that these … Continued

Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy Cardiomyopathies cover a lot of territory, from dilated to hypertrophic.  Think of the heart as having a wiring system, just like your house. Everything works on electricity; it is just bioelectric which is much slower. The impulses travel from cell to cell as opposed to a wire. Further, there are two … Continued

Atherosclerosis in Children     Atherosclerosis is actually quite common in children and young adults, with a morbidity (prevalence) approaching 20% of the population having early lesions of atheroma (found as a result of autopsies of those who have died as a result of non-cardiac cause and verified by modalities such as intravascular ultrasound and … Continued

Atrial Malformations During embryonic development, the atria will configure themselves in one of three ways: the atria may be normally attached to their respective ventricles e.g. the right atrium is attached to the right ventricle and the left atrium is attached to the left ventricle; the atria maybe transposed e.g. the right atrium is attached … Continued