Congenital heart disease (CHD), a severe cardiac defect in children, has unclear influences on young patients. We aimed to find the impacts of differently structure heart defects and various treatments on psychology and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in CHD children and adolescents. CHD patients aged between 6 and 18 years old visited our hospital from 1 May 2018 to 31 September 2018, and their principal caregivers were asked to participate. We used two validated questionnaires, Children Depression Inventory-TW (CDI-TW) and Child Health Questionnaire—Parent Form 50 (CHQ-PF 50), to evaluate CHD patients’ psychological and HRQoL conditions. Participants were grouped based on their cardiac defects and previous treatments. We analyzed the results via summary independent-samples t-test with post hoc Bonferroni correction and multivariant analysis. Two hundred and seventy-seven children and their principal caregivers were involved. There was no apparent depressive condition in any group. Single cardiac defect patients exhibited similar HRQoL to controls; simultaneously, those with cyanotic heart disease (CyHD), most multiple/complex CHDs children and adolescents, and those who received invasive treatments had poorer HRQoL. CyHD impacted the most on patients’ psychological and HRQoL status. Patients with sole cardiac defect could live near-normal lifes; on the other hand, CyHD had the worst effects on patients’ psychology and HRQoL.

This is a descriptive analysis of a cohort of 59 Taiwanese patients with Fabry disease and either classical Fabry or cardiac variant IVS4+919G>A (IVS4) mutations from a disease registry, the Fabry Outcome Survey (FOS; sponsored by Shire). Most of our classical Fabry patients were symptomatic and were identified upon seeking medical advice at our clinics, whereas most of our IVS4 patients attended our clinics after newborn screening identified this mutation in their grandsons. The objective was to determine differences in cardiac manifestations between patients with classical Fabry or IVS4 mutations by comparing age at onset of selected cardiac symptoms. Data were extracted in August 2013 and analyzed retrospectively. Fifty-nine Taiwanese patients (median age at extract 60.7 years [range 15.0–86.9]; n = 36 [61%] male) with proven IVS4 (n = 41 [69%]) or classical Fabry mutations (n = 18 [31%]) had available data on cardiac symptoms. Of 55 (93%) patients with reported left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), mean [SD] age (years) at first symptom was lower in classical Fabry males (30.0 [15.1]; n = 4) than classical Fabry females (49.6 [8.9]; n = 11; p < 0.05), but not in IVS4 females (57.4 [13.7]; n = 10) compared with IVS4 males (55.9 [11.3]; n = 30). Mean age at first LVH diagnosis was significantly lower in classical Fabry males versus IVS4 males (p < 0.05). No significant difference in age at onset of arrhythmia or conductive abnormality, chest pain, or palpitations or cardiac syncope was found between the groups. The most noteworthy finding of this study is the lack of a significant gender sex difference in age at onset of cardiac symptoms in IVS4 patients.