Learning from deaths: the enduring value of mortality analysis to paediatric heart disease

Despite remarkable advances in paediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery over recent decades, congenital and acquired heart disease remain among the leading causes of death in neonates and children. Derridj et al 1 present findings from a large, contemporary, prospective cohort study that offers valuable insights into the causes and timing of death among children with heart disease managed at a single, high-volume tertiary referral centre caring for the most complex paediatric cardiac cases across France.