Enhanced congenital cardiac surgery knowledge with multidisciplinary collaborative education series for paediatric cardiology fellows and nurse practitioners.

INTRODUCTION: Paediatric cardiologists and nurse practitioners lack structured education tools focused on basic cardiac surgery principles. However, non-surgical specialties caring for surgical patients require this knowledge for comprehensive clinical care. We created a cardiac surgical educational curriculum focused on improving knowledge and attitudes towards communication for non-surgical trainees and advanced practice providers. METHODS: Over one academic year, six paediatric cardiology fellows and seven paediatric cardiac surgery nurse practitioners at Seattle Children's Hospital participated in this study. With surgical supervision, six lectures were prepared by each fellow and delivered monthly. Sessions were hybrid and recorded for later viewing. Pre- and post-intervention survey of attitudes regarding surgical topics and pre- and post- test-based knowledge assessments were administered. RESULTS: Participants positively rated the usefulness of the lecture series (4.2/5) and would recommend it to a colleague (4.5/5). Self-reported confidence discussing surgical concepts with patients increased from 2.3 to 3.4 among paediatric cardiology fellows (p < 0.001) and from 2.8 to 3.9 among nurse practitioners (p < 0.001), out of 5. In both groups, knowledge assessment scores improved from 54 to 79% post-intervention (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: After a six-part educational series taught by paediatric cardiology fellows, both paediatric cardiology fellows and paediatric cardiac surgery nurse practitioners demonstrated improved knowledge and reported increased comfort counselling families on basic cardiac surgery topics. Structured, active-learning lessons taught by fellows for non-surgical audiences can improve attitudes and build clinically relevant knowledge. Creating an effective level-appropriate multidisciplinary curriculum accessible to various types of medical providers could enhance comprehensive care of complex congenital cardiac surgery patients.

Cryoablation to improve catheter stability and ablation success in the right atrioventricular groove.

Catheter instability can limit ablation success of arrhythmia substrates at the right atrioventricular groove. We describe cases where cryoablation improved catheter stability, enabling ablation success. METHODS AND RESULTS: Four patients with supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) substrates at the right atrioventricular groove had radiofrequency ablation procedures limited by poor catheter contact. Cryoablation offered improved catheter stability, and all four patients achieved acute ablation success using cryoablation. Three patients had long-term success and one patient later required repeat radiofrequency ablation. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with arrhythmia substrates at the right atrioventricular groove, cryoablation may be a useful adjunctive technique in cases with catheter instability.