Landmark lecture on interventional cardiology: interventional cardiac catheterisation for CHD: the past, present, and the future

CHD affects millions of patients worldwide. Interventional therapies for CHD goes back to the mid-1960s when Bill Rashkind performed balloon atrial septostomy on a cyanotic baby with transposition of the great vessels. This was followed by development of balloon catheters to perform balloon valvuloplasties and angioplasties in the early to late 1980s. Although King and Mills performed the first transcatheter closure of secundum atrial septal defect in the mid-1970s, this procedure was better realised in the mid-1990s. More intracardiac defect closures were performed in the late 1990s and early 2000. This brings us to the current era of percutaneous valve implantation as developed by Bonhoeffer. In this paper, we will discuss the past, present, and future of interventional cardiac catheterisation for CHD patients.

Platypnea-Orthodeoxia Syndrome after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Progressive dyspnea and hypoxaemia in the subacute phase after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) are uncommon and warrant immediate assessment of valve and prosthesis leaflet function to exclude thrombosis, as well as investigation for other causes related to the procedure, such as left ventricular dysfunction, pulmonary embolism, and respiratory sepsis. In this case, we report the observation of a patient presenting two weeks after TAVI with arterial hypoxaemia in an upright position, relieved by lying flat, and coupled with an intracardiac shunt detected on echocardiography in the absence of pulmonary hypertension, raising the suspicion of Platypnea-Orthodeoxia Syndrome (POS). Invasive intracardiac haemodynamic assessment showed a significant right-to-left shunt (Qp/Qs = 0.74), which confirmed the diagnosis, with subsequent closure of the intracardiac defect resulting in immediate relief of symptoms and hypoxaemia. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an interatrial defect and shunt causing Platypnea-Orthodeoxia Syndrome after transcatheter aortic valve implantation, resolved by percutaneous device closure.

Diagnosis of Pentalogy of Cantrell in the First Trimester Using Transvaginal Sonography and Color Doppler

We report the prenatal diagnosis of Cantrell syndrome in the first trimester. During a routine transabdominal ultrasonographic examination, a midline supraumbilical abdominal wall defect including herniated liver and ectopia cordis with a large omphalocele containing the intestines and cystic hygroma was incidentally identified at the 12th week of gestation. A transvaginal sonography examination revealed a severe lumbosacral scoliosis in addition to the inability to visualize the abdominal aorta which was indicative of a severe intracardiac defect. The parents opted for pregnancy to be terminated. In this case report, we discuss the complementary role of transvaginal sonography and Doppler imaging in the diagnosis of Cantrell syndrome in early pregnancy.