We report a case of an alternative transcatheter use of the modified Medtronic microvascular plug to modify fenestration stent flow in a patient with a rapidly deteriorating clinical condition. This four-year-old boy developed severe cyanosis following fenestration stent insertion, initially placed due to prolonged drainage post-Fontan with extra-cardiac conduit. In April 2023, he underwent urgent cardiac catheterisation and had partial occlusion of fenestration stent with a modified 9Q microvascular plug. His oxygen saturations improved from 50 to 89% in room air with no re-emergence of raised cavopulmonary pressures.

Insertable cardiac monitors are minimally invasive devices designed for implantation in the chest wall of patients to record heart rhythms and relate them to symptoms over prolonged periods. The Jot Dx™ (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL, USA) is the latest Food and Drug Administration-cleared insertable cardiac monitor that is Bluetooth™ enabled allowing for near-immediate transmission of data from patients to physicians. We report on the first paediatric patient, in a patient weighing 11.7 kg, to undergo a modified, vertical, parasternal implantation of a Jot Dx™.

This paper presents a new immersed finite volume element method for solving second-order elliptic problems with discontinuous diffusion coefficient on a Cartesian mesh. The new method possesses the local conservation property of classic finite volume element method, and it can overcome the oscillating behaviour of the classic immersed finite volume element method. The idea of this method is to reconstruct the control volume according to the interface, which makes it easy to implement. Optimal error estimates can be derived with respect to an energy norm under piecewise $H^{2}$ regularity. Numerical results show that the new method significantly outperforms the classic immersed finite volume element method, and has second-order convergence in $L^{\infty }$ norm.

Aspiration frequently occurs in patients with a competent glottis. Analysis using a modified barium swallow (MBS) can reveal an extraglottic mechanism of aspiration in these patients. The MBS examination guided the design of two surgical procedures in patients with severe aspiration. The surgery corrected the underlying extraglottic cause of aspiration while preserving glottic function. In one case the epiglottoplasty controlled aspiration due to spillage over the epiglottis into the airway. In the other case translaryngeal resection of the cricoid lamina combined with cricopharyngeal myotomy controlled aspiration of residue in the hypopharynx. After surgery, both patients had their gastrostomy and cuffed tracheostomy tubes removed and were discharged home on a normal oral diet. Detailed analysis of deglutition by a modified barium swallow canprovide a scientific basis to guide the surgical management of patients with severe dysphagia.