Synopsis:

The Australian and New Zealand Fontan Registry has demonstrated that the expectations of survival for children born with the most extreme congenital cardiac conditions are much better than previously thought. The Registry has also shown the burden of complications of the Fontan circulation. We will present you with the avenues to improve the outcomes of this population. A selection of researchers will show the different facets of this work by exploring the following topics. What causes a Fontan patient’s demise? What is the impact of their abnormal valve function? What end-organ damage results from the Fontan circulation and can we prevent it? What is the impact on their neurodevelopmental outcomes, and can women with a Fontan circulation have babies?

Speakers:

Professor Yves d’Udekem is a paediatric cardiac surgeon at The Royal Children’s Hospital, a Senior Research Fellow at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and the University of Melbourne. He is the founder of the Australian and New Zealand Fontan Registry.

Dr Chin Poh is a PhD candidate at MCRI reviewing the mechanisms of Fontan failure and late death. She is also a cardiothoracic registrar at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Dr Greg King is a medical resident at Austin Hospital and a PhD student studying the function of the atrioventricular valve during single ventricle palliation.

Dr Ajay Iyengar is training to become a paediatric and adult congenital heart disease surgeon. He completed his PhD in 2015 on the Fontan Registry.

A/Professor Dominica Zentner is an adult cardiologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She completed a PhD in Cardiac Structure and Function during Human Pregnancy in 2006, and co-founded the Cardiac Pregnancy Clinic at the Royal Melbourne in 2013. She is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Fontan Registry Steering committee.

Karin du Plessis manages the Australian and New Zealand Fontan Registry and its associated research projects and clinical trials.