Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesCohort study
Reverse Remodeling in Pediatric Myocarditis With Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) Phenotype Impact of rASD and Pulmonary Artery Banding (PAB)
- retrospective analysis
Authors' conclusion
A staged, pathophysiology-guided strategy incorporating left atrial decompression and PAB may promote myocardial recovery in selected young children with myocarditis-associated DCM.
Study context
- Population
- Children <3 years with biopsy-proven myocarditis and a DCM phenotype treated between 2013 and 202455% female, median age 312 days
- Participants
- 31 children
- Exposure
- restrictive atrial communication vs PAB
- restrictive atrial communicationn = 17
- PABn = 17
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Overall survival · median follow-up of 2 years (IQR: 1-7)
overall survival
90%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
- Sustained functional recovery among patients selected for PAB
- 76%
- Characteristics of patients meeting PAB criteria
- mean 19% ± 6% · left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction · LV dilatation z-score +6 ± 1.6
Heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support
- Heart transplantation
- 19%
- mechanical circulatory support
- 6%
Baseline characteristics at presentation
- Ross functional class > III
- all patients
- median BNP
- 2,258 pg/mL (IQR: 770-4331)
- required inotropic support
- 90%
- mean LV ejection fraction at admission
- 24% ± 6.2%
- LV dilatation (mean z-score)
- +5
- median LV end-diastolic pressure
- 20 mm Hg (IQR: 15-23)
Original publication
Reverse Remodeling in Pediatric Myocarditis With DCM Phenotype Impact of rASD and PAB. JACC Adv. Published 17 July 2026. doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2026.103006
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it