Current Status of Training and Certification for Congenital Heart Surgery Around the World: Proceedings of the Meetings of the Global Council on Education for Congenital Heart Surgery of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery.

The optimal training of the highly specialized congenital heart surgeon is a long and complex process, which is a significant challenge in most parts of the world. The World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery (WSPCHS) has established the Global Council on Education for Congenital Heart Surgery as a nonprofit organization with the goal of assessing current training and certification and ultimately establishing standardized criteria for the training, evaluation, and certification of congenital heart surgeons around the world. The Global Council and the WSPCHS have reviewed the present status of training and certification for congenital cardiac surgery around the world. There is currently lack of consensus and standardized criteria for training in congenital heart surgery, with significant disparity between continents and countries. This represents significant obstacles to international job mobility of competent congenital heart surgeons and to the efforts to improve the quality of care for patients with Congenital Heart Disease worldwide. The purpose of this article is to summarize and document the present state of training and certification in congenital heart surgery around the world.

Surgical repair of the anomalous origin of the right pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta.

The anomalous origin of the right pulmonary artery (AORPA) from the ascending aorta is a rare congenital malformation. We describe an infant who underwent a surgical correction with direct anastomosis between the right pulmonary artery and the pulmonary trunk. Eighteen months later, the patient remains asymptomatic, and no significant residual stenosis was detected on angioresonance.

Cardiac myxoma with prenatal diagnosis.

The presentation of myxoma in the neonatal period is quite rare. We report the case of a female patient in whom two cardiac tumors were diagnosed prenatally. Surgery was performed at eight days of age, using cardiopulmonary bypass and circulatory arrest to facilitate excision of two polypoid tumors from within the right atrium. Pathology studies were consistent with myxoma. The postoperative course was satisfactory and the patient was discharged 14 days after surgery, at 22 days old.

Tratamiento quirúrgico de la transposición de grandes arterias y factores asociados con la mortalidad / Surgical treatment of great arteries transposition and risk factors for mortality

La transposición de grandes arterias se define como una discordancia en la conexión ventrículo-arterial; su incidencia varía entre 0,02 y 0,05% de todos los nacidos vivos, correspondiendo a 5 - 8% de todas las cardiopatías congénitas. El tratamiento de elección es la cirugía de Jatene. Objetivos: Describir las características de los pacientes con transposición de grandes arterias sometidos a tratamiento quirúrgico y explorar factores asociados con mortalidad. Material y métodos: Estudio descriptivo, retrospectivo de pacientes con diagnóstico de transposición de grandes arterias tratados quirúrgicamente con la técnica de Jatene entre enero del 2001 y diciembre del 2010. Se creó una base datos en SPSS v19.0 y se analizaron las posibles variables asociadas a la mortalidad temprana. Resultados: De los 52 pacientes, 77% fueron varones, presentando un peso aproximado de 3 500 g. La edad promedio fue 54,83 días. La mayoría de los casos fueron de transposición con septum interventricular intacto con una distribución normal de las coronarias. La mortalidad hospitalaria global fue 31% y en los tres últimos años se redujo a 16%. La variable edad mayor de 23 días tuvo 6 veces más riesgo de muerte intrahospitalaria. Conclusiones: Los hallazgos observados coinciden con lo descrito internacionalmente. La edad superior a 23 días se asocia a mayor mortalidad la cual se ha logrado reducir hasta 16% en los últimos tres años del estudio. Aún queda implementar un protocolo institucional con todo el arsenal farmacológico y tecnológico que logre reducir la mortalidad a valores internacionales.

Great arteries transposition is a discordant atrioventricular connection whose incidence varies between 0.02% to 0.05% of all newborns and represents 5-8% of all congenital cardiopathies. The tratment of choice for this conditionis the Jatene ìs surgical procedure.Objectives: To describe clinical features of patients with great arteries transposition in whom Jatene ìs procedure was performed and to explore risk factors for mortality among them. Methods: A retrospective and descriptive study was conducted between January 2001 and December 2010. A database in SPSS v19.0 was created. Results: 52 patients were analyzed; 77% were male; mean body weight was 3500 g; mean age was 54.83 days. Most of the cases presented with artery transposition with intact interventricular septum and withnormal coronary arterial distribution. Overall in-hospital mortality was 31%, which was reduced to 16% in the last3-year period. Age above 23 days was associated with six times more mortality. Conclusions: Our findings are in agreement with previous international reports. Age above 23 days was a risk factor for mortality, which was reduc.

Correção cirúrgica da origem anômala de artéria pulmonar direita em aorta ascendente / Surgical repair of the anomalous origin of the right pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta

A origem anômala da artéria pulmonar direita em aorta ascendente é uma malformação congênita rara. Descrevemos o caso de uma criança submetida à correção cirúrgica com anastomose direta entre a artéria pulmonar direita e o tronco pulmonar. Após 18 meses a paciente permanece assintomática sem apresentar estenose residual significativa na angioressonância.