Cardiovascular events in perimembranous ventricular septal defect with left ventricular volume overload: a French prospective cohort study (FRANCISCO).

The long-term prospective multi-centre nationwide (French) observational study FRANCISCO will provide new information on perimembranous ventricular septal defect with left ventricular overload but no pulmonary hypertension in children older than 1 year. Outcomes will be compared according to treatment strategy (watchful waiting, surgical closure, or percutaneous closure) and anatomic features of the defect. The results are expected to provide additional guidance about the optimal treatment of this specific population, which is unclear at present. BACKGROUND: The management of paediatric isolated perimembranous ventricular septal defect (pmVSD) with left ventricle (LV) volume overload but no pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains controversial. Three therapeutic approaches are considered: watchful waiting, surgical closure, and percutaneous closure. We aim to investigate the long-term outcomes of these patients according to anatomic pmVSD characteristics and treatment strategy. METHODS: The Filiale de Cardiologie Pediatrique et Congénitale (FCPC) designed the FRANCISCO registry, a long-term prospective nationwide multi-centre observational cohort study sponsored by the French Society of Cardiology, which enrolled, over 2 years (2018­2020), patients older than 1 year who had isolated pmVSD with LV volume overload. Prevalent complications related to pmVSD at baseline were exclusion criteria. Clinical, echocardiographic, and functional data will be collected at inclusion then after 1, 5, and 10 years. A core lab will analyse all baseline echocardiographic data to depict anatomical pmVSD features. The primary outcome is the 5-year incidence of cardiovascular events (infective endocarditis, sub-aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitation, right ventricular outflow tract stenosis, tricuspid regurgitation, PAH, arrhythmia, stroke, haemolysis, heart failure, or death from a cardiovascular event). We plan to enrol 200 patients, given the 10% estimated 5-year incidence of cardiovascular events with a 95% confidence interval of ±5%. Associations linking anatomical pmVSD features and treatment strategy to the incidence of complications will be assessed. CONCLUSIONS: The FRANSCICO study will provide the long-term incidence of complications in patients older than 1 year with pmVSD and LV volume overload. The results are expected to improve guidance for treatment decisions.

Discordances Between Pre-Natal and Post-Natal Diagnoses of Congenital Heart Diseases and Impact on Care Strategies.

BACKGROUND: Pre-natal diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD) allows anticipation of urgent neonatal treatment and provides adequate information to the parents on cardiac outcomes. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to analyze the discordances between expert fetal cardiac diagnosis and final diagnosis of CHD and their impact on neonatal and long-term care strategies. METHODS: We included 1,258 neonates with a pre-natally diagnosed CHD and 189 fetopsies following termination of pregnancy at our tertiary center over a 10-year period. Pre-natal echocardiographic and final diagnoses were compared. RESULTS: For live births, we identified 368 (29.3%) discordances between pre- and post-natal diagnoses. The pre-natal diagnosis was different from the post-natal diagnosis in 36 cases (2.9%) and partially different with a major impact on neonatal treatment of the CHD in 97 cases (7.7%). In 235 cases (18.7%), the diagnosis was partially different with no impact on neonatal planned treatment. The discordances had a negative impact on late care strategy in 62 cases (4.9%): more complex CHD that was unsuitable for biventricular repair, leading to unplanned compassionate care, additional surgery or increase of the complexity level of the Aristotle score. A positive impact was found in 31 cases (2.5%): less complex CHD that allowed biventricular repair, fewer surgical procedures, or decrease of the complexity of the Aristotle score. For 275 patients (21.9%), there was no impact on late care strategy. Of the 872 terminations of pregnancy and intrauterine fetal deaths, 189 fetopsies were available: 16 (8.5%) different diagnoses, 27 (14.3%) major differences, and 60 (31.7%) minor differences. CONCLUSIONS: Correcting fetal cardiac diagnosis after birth can lead to significant changes in neonatal (10.6%) and late (7.4%) care strategies. Tools should be developed to try to improve the accuracy of pre-natal diagnosis of CHD. Clinicians should be cautious when predicting required treatment and outcomes during pre-natal counseling.