In the last four decades, enormous progress has been made in the treatment of congenital heart diseases (CHD); most patients now survive into adulthood, albeit with residual lesions. As a consequence, the focus has shifted from initial treatment to long-term morbidity and mortality. An important predictor for long-term outcome is right ventricular (RV) dysfunction, but knowledge on the mechanis...

Congenital heart disease (CHD), the most common type of birth defect, is an abnormal cardiocirculatory structure or function present at birth, although the disease is often discovered later in life. During prenatal life, the incidence of cardiac defect is higher due to affected fetuses that are aborted. CHD stems from an alteration in the embryonic development from a normal structure, or a fail...

Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is an important procedure in pediatric cardiology in terms of evaluating myocardial ischemia, infarction and damage associated with various congenital or acquired heart diseases, such as Kawasaki disease, anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery and complete transposition of the great arteries after arterial switch surgery. This t...