Children who had undergone cardiac surgery in Germany before the implementation of blood-donor screening for hepatitis C had a substantial risk of acquiring the infection. However, after about 20 years, the virus had spontaneously cleared in many patients. The clinical course in those still infected seems more benign than would be expected in people infected as adults.

In patients having had a Fontan operation with inadequate or without anticoagulation medication, we would recommend routine transesophageal echocardiography to exclude eventual thrombi. Because of the high incidence of thrombi, we suggest oral anticoagulation therapy in all patients.

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Background-Despite successful surgical correction, morbidity of patients with coarctation of the aorta is increased. It is well known that these patients have impaired elastic properties of the prestenotic arteries. To find out whether these abnormalities are primarily present or develop later, we studied 17 newborns before and early after surgical repair. Methods and Results-Aortic wall stiffness index and distensibility were calculated using ascending and abdominal aortic diameters determined by M-mode echocardiography and noninvasive estimation of aortic pulse pressure in the right arm and leg.

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Contemporary TCPC can be performed with low risk and provides excellent survival in the long-term. Classic morbidities of the original Fontan procedure, such as Fontan pathway revision, tachyarrhythmia and thromboembolism seem mitigated. However, exercise limitations, PLE and liver dysfunction remain an issue. AVV insufficiency and ventricular dysfunction are still a concern.

BACKGROUND Long-term trends of the incidence and outcome of cardiogenic shock (CS) patients are scarce. We analyze for the first time trends in the incidence and outcome of CS during a 20-year period in Switzerland. METHODS AND RESULTS The AMIS (Acute Myocardial Infarction in Switzerland) Plus Registry enrolls patients with acute myocardial infarction from 83 hospitals in Switzerland. We analyzed trends in the incidence, treatment, and in-hospital mortality of patients with CS enrolled between 1997 and 2017. The impact of revascularization strategy on outcome was assessed for the time period 2005 to 2017. Among 52 808 patients enrolled, 963 patients were excluded because of missing data and 51 842 (98%) patients remained for the purpose of the present analysis. Overall, 4090 patients (7.9%) with a mean age of 69.6±12.5 years experienced acute myocardial infarction complicated by CS. Overall, rates of CS declined from 8.

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