Percutaneous patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure by traditional, double disc occluder devices was shown to be safe for patients with PFO, and more effective than prolonged medical therapy in preventing recurrent thromboembolic events. The novel suture-mediated “deviceless” PFO closure system overcomes most of the risks and limitations associated with the traditional PFO occluders, appearing to be feasible in most interatrial septum anatomies, even if data about its long-term effectiveness and safety are still lacking. The aim of the present review was to provide to the reader the state of the art about the traditional and newer techniques of PFO closure, focusing both on the procedural aspects and on the pivotal role of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in patient’s selection, peri-procedural guidance, and post-interventional follow-up.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify clinical, hemodynamic, or echocardiographic predictive features of persistent duct‐dependency of pulmonary circulation (PDDPC) after effective percutaneous relief of pulmonary atresia with the intact ventricular septum (PA‐IVS) or critical pulmonary stenosis (CPS).Methods: From 2010 to 2021, 55 neonates with PA‐IVS or CPS underwent percutaneous right ventricle (RV) decompression at our Institution. After successfully relief of critical obstruction, 27 patients (group I) showed PDDPC, whereas RV was able to support the pulmonary circulation in the remaining 28 patients (group II). Clinical, hemodynamic, and echocardiographic features of these two groups were compared.Results: No significant difference in clinical and hemodynamic data was found between the groups, although the group I had a lower oxygen saturation at hospital admission. However, tricuspid valve (TV) diameter <8.8 mm, TV z‐score ←2.12, tricuspid/mitral valve annular ratio <.78, pulmonary valve diameter <6.7 mm, pulmonary valve z‐score ←1.17, end‐diastolic RV area 2.45 cm², percentage amount of interatrial right‐to‐left shunt >69.5%, moderate/severe tricuspid regurgitation, RV systolic pressure >42.5 mmHg, tricuspid E/E′ ratio >6.6 showed each significant predictive value of PDDPC. These parameters were used to build a composite echocardiographic score (PDDPC‐score), assigning one point each above the respective cut‐off value. A score ≥4.00 showed high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (86%) in predicting PDDPC.Conclusion: Clinical and hemodynamic features fail to predict the short‐term fate of the pulmonary circulation after successful treatment of PA‐IVS/CPS. However, a simple, composite echocardiographic score is useful to predict PDDPC and could be crucial in the management of this frail subset of patients.

Background: Aortopulmonary window is a congenital heart disease requiring a surgical approach to achieve a complete correction. Case summary: We report on a case of a young female symptomatic adult patient with a significant aortopulmonary window. The patients refused surgical approach and since the defect was far enough from the pulmonary and aortic valve a percutaneous approach was proposed. The large aortopulmonary window was closed effectively with an Amplatzer Muscular Septal Occluder device (Abbott, Plymouth, MN, USA). At 1-year follow-up, the device was in a good position with no residual shunt. Discussion: Transcatheter closure of an aortopulmonary window is an effective and safe procedure in specific anatomic defects.

Congenital absence of the pericardium (CAP) is an unusual condition discovered, in most cases, incidentally but can potentially lead to fatal complications, including severe arrhythmias and sudden death. Recently, the use of modern imaging technologies has increased the diagnosis of CAP, providing important findings for risk stratification. Nevertheless, there is not yet consensus regarding therapeutic decisions, and the management of patients with CAP remains challenging. In this paper, we discuss the pathophysiological implication of CAP, review the current literature and explain the role of multimodality imaging tools for its diagnosis, management and treatment.