Congenital diverticulum of the left ventricle is a rare cardiac malformation usually associated with midline thoraco-abdominal defects and other congenital cardiac malformations.

Development of a new defect following transcatheter closure of an atrial septal defect has yet to be reported. In this study, we present an acutely successful atrial septal defect closure with a STARFlex device, resulting in surgical explantation after discovery of device fracture, thrombus formation, and a second atrial defect 5 years after catheterisation. This case highlights the need for ongoing device surveillance, even in late follow-up.

Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries is commonly associated with left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. We describe a case of congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries and previous surgical ventricular septal defect repair with recurrent left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. The patient underwent a hybrid procedure to stent the left ventricular outflow tract, which was successful with no re-intervention through 3 years of follow-up.

Supraventricular tachycardia is the most common significant arrhythmia in children. If prolonged, it may cause heart failure and progress to cardiogenic shock warranting prompt treatment. The recommended interventions following vagal manoeuvres are intravenous adenosine and in the unstable patient electrical cardioversion. We present an infant with an unstable supraventricular tachycardia that was resistant to electrical cardioversion and recommended doses of adenosine. He reverted to sinus rhythm with a higher dose of adenosine, suggesting that such doses may be required in refractory supraventricular tachycardia.

Accelerated junctional rhythm has been reported in children in the setting of acute rheumatic fever; however, we describe a hitherto unreported case of isolated junctional tachycardia in a child with streptococcal pharyngitis, not meeting revised Jones criteria for rheumatic fever. A previously healthy, 9-year-old girl presented to the emergency department with complaints of sore throat, low-grade fever, and intermittent chest pain. She was found to have a positive rapid streptococcal antigen test. The initial electrocardiogram showed junctional tachycardia with atrioventricular dissociation in addition to prolonged and aberrant atrioventricular conduction. An echocardiogram revealed normal cardiac anatomy with normal biventricular function. The patient responded to treatment with amoxicillin for streptococcal pharyngitis. The junctional tachycardia and other electrocardiogram abnormalities resolved during follow-up.

Cardiac haemangiomas are exceedingly rare; however, they can cause significant haemodynamic impairment and disturbances in heart rhythm. Rarely, cardiac tumours may also coexist with congenital heart lesions. We present an extremely unusual case of a cardiac haemangioma in the setting of complex transposition of the great arteries that caused functional tricuspid atresia. To our knowledge, this is the first such case described in the literature.

Infants of diabetic mothers are at risk for transient hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. These infants are typically asymptomatic, but may develop signs of poor cardiac output from left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. This case illustrates the successful use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to support cardiac output in an infant of a diabetic mother with outflow tract obstruction until hypertrophy improved.

Catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia is often difficult in patients after surgery for CHD. In patients with a ventricular septal defect patch, it is necessary to decide which ventricular side is appropriate for catheter ablation. In this article, we report a case of successful point catheter ablation of re-entrant ventricular tachycardia. Identification of the ventricular septal defect patch using intra-cardiac echocardiography was useful.

We describe three cases of newborns with complex CHD characterised by communication challenges. These communication challenges were categorised as patient, family, or system-related red flags. Strategies for addressing these red flags were proposed, for the goal of optimising care and improving quality of life in this vulnerable population.

Disseminated intravascular coagulation is a rare complication of Kawasaki disease and appears in <0.1% of Kawasaki disease patients. We report a case of refractory Kawasaki disease complicated with disseminated intravascular coagulation and giant coronary aneurysm. A 5-month-old boy presented with Kawasaki disease with coagulopathy. Although the coagulopathy improved after fresh-frozen plasma and antithrombin-III administration, the fever persisted despite two rounds of intravenous immunoglobulin, along with intravenous methylprednisolone pulse therapy and infliximab administration. Despite all efforts to treatment, the patient had giant coronary aneurysms and died suddenly.

Isolated right superior caval vein drainage into the left atrium is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly usually presenting with hypoxaemia and cyanosis. Surgical repair is the definitive treatment for this condition. In this report, we present the case of a 72-year-old patient with uncorrected anomalous drainage of a right superior caval vein into the left atrium, first diagnosed in the 1960s. To the best of our knowledge, this is the oldest reported unrepaired case.

A 45-year-old man with dyspnoea and palpitations exhibited a unique systemic-to-pulmonary veno-venous connection on preoperative CT images. A window of 31.5-mm diameter was evident between the superior caval vein and the middle pulmonary vein, which was normally connected to the left atrium via a 30-mm-diameter orifice. The atrial septum was intact.

Previous studies have identified that receiving specialist care close to home can positively influence patients’ experience. Despite this, a review of cardiology outpatient appointments at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow demonstrated that a large number of families are bypassing their local children’s cardiology centre to attend cardiac clinics at the specialist children’s surgical centre. We used patient questionnaire, audit of local facilities, and examined the relationship between diagnosis and bypass numbers to better understand factors influencing this trend. Our results suggest that patient preference, short travelling distance to specialist children’s cardiac centre, a more severe cardiac diagnosis, and inconsistent local facilities, expertise, and support are likely to influence a family’s decision to bypass their local children’s cardiology centre.

Persistence of the fifth aortic arch is a very rare anomaly, but is clinically relevant when it is associated with coarctation. We report a case of a neonate with type A interrupted aortic arch and severe coarctation of a persistent fifth aortic arch, which was discovered after repair of a left congenital diaphragmatic hernia. The combination of anomalies was discovered intra-operatively following left thoracotomy, and was treated with aortic arch advancement. The postoperative course was uneventful.

The arterial switch operation is currently the gold standard technique for repair of transposition of the great arteries. Some atypical coronary patterns such as intramural, interarterial, and a unique posterior button are associated with more complexity and surgical risk. We report a successful Aubert operation for transposition of the great arteries associated with a single and interarterial coronary artery arising from a posterior sinus.

We describe the case of an infant with DiGeorge syndrome born with a right aortic arch and left arterial duct. Despite the remote location of the right aortic arch from the left arterial duct, he developed coarctation of the aorta during treatment with indomethacin. This was relieved by prostaglandin treatment. This case highlights the fact that, even in the absence of an arterial duct, ductal tissue can still be present in the aorta, and cause coarctation when exposed to indomethacin. We also demonstrate the utility of prostaglandin for relief of this type of obstruction.