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Background Treatment of newborns with univentricular hemodynamics in combination with an anomaly of pulmonary venous return has the worst correction results in modern cardiac surgical papers. According to the data obtained by different authors, postoperative mortality in this cohort of patients varies from 41.7 to 53%. The presence of the venous outflow tract obstruction, as well as the serious condition of a newborn, is one of the main factors that increase the risk of death in the postoperative period. Case presentation This article reveals a clinical case of a patient with a combined heart disease prenatally diagnosed in the form of a functionally single ventricle with a double outlet of the main vessels from it, mitral valve atresia, an intact atrial septum and an anomaly of venous return, when the blood outflow from the left atrium was carried out through a single fetal communication such as stenotic cardinal vein. In order to stabilize the patient's condition, the newborn urgently underwent stenting of the stenotic section of the cardinal vein. However, due to the lack of positive dynamics in the postoperative period, the child underwent repeated endovascular intervention and stenting of the intraoperatively created interatrial communication was performed. Taking into account the absence of obstruction of the outflow tract to the pulmonary artery, it was necessary to perform an open surgical intervention in a short time such as pulmonary artery banding. Conclusions Thus, palliative endovascular intervention in critically ill neonates with univentricular hemodynamics and anomalous pulmonary venous return can be considered as a method of choice that can become a new safer strategy for managing infants in order to stabilize the condition before the main stage of surgical intervention comes.

The Editors’ Network is a task force of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), representing the 44 National Society Cardiovascular Journals that are published across 37 countries (1). Among the operational goals enshrined in its mission statement is a commitment to improve the diffusion of scientific knowledge through distribution of common academic material and joint education initiatives (2). Heart already has a strong education section and its content, approved by the European Board for Accreditation in Cardiology (EBAC), is available for free access via the Heart and ESC websites. However, a recent joint publication of the Editors’ Network called for educational initiatives to be extended throughout the national cardiology journals of Europe (3), and it is in response to that call that a series of Almanac 2011 papers are appearing more or less simultaneously in many of the Network Journals. Almanac–a late Middle English word derived via medieval Latin from Greek almenikhiaka–is defined as an annual calendar containing important dates and statistical information. It provides an approximate description of the new series of papers presenting selected recent research that has driven clinical advances in six major topic areas. The content is educative and clinically relevant and its presentation across the national society cardiovascular journals of Europe represents a milestone in collaborative publishing. Plans for Almanac 2012 are yet more ambitious and pave the way for a new era of joint educational initiatives driven by the Editors’ Network of the ESC.

Objective To determine incidence and risk factors of adverse events associated with pediatric cardiac catheterization in the initial experience of our institution. Patients and methods The retrospective cohort study was conducted on 262 children with congenital heart disease who received cardiac catheterization in our catheterization between April 2010 and April 2013. Diagnostic CC was performed in 176 patients and therapeutic CC in 86 patients. All children’s electronic and paper chart records were reviewed to obtain demographic, procedural, and treatment data. The severities of AE were further classified into minor, moderate and higher severity AE including levels 3, 4 or 5 AE. Results Of 262 patients (147 females, 55.4%), AE occurred in 31 studies (11.8%), in children ranging in age from 3 days to 16 years. There were 7 patients with higher severity AE (2.7%), 7 patients with moderate AE (2.7%) and 17 patients (6.5%) with minor AE. Vascular complications represented the majority (n = 12; 38.7%). Two children died within 24 h (0.7% of total case numbers). The risk factors for a complication included patient low body weight and the second year of our institution experience. Conclusions Pediatric cardiac catheterization by well trained team of pediatric cardiologists in a new center is effective. The rate of occurrence of AEs approximated to those which are reported by various interventional pediatric cardiology centers around the world. The lower body weight and the second year of initial experience are risk factors for occurrence of AE.