The cardiac morphology unit at Royal Brompton Hospital specialises in the structure of the heart from the fetus through to adulthood. Professor S Yen Ho, Dr Karen P McCarthy and Dr Jan Lukas Robertus have developed an internationally recognised centre for research and education in congenital heart disease and acquired heart disease.
Our mission: To help in the understanding of congenital and pathological cardiac anatomy.
Cardiac morphology at the Royal Brompton Hospital has a long tradition of providing educational resources such as hands-on short courses and training for healthcare professionals; research – translational and observational; and diagnostic analysis of complex cardiac cases.
Our courses
Royal Brompton cardiac morphology runs various courses during the year, many of which are in association with other departments.
Courses include:
- cardiac morphology applied to cross-sectional imaging
- congenital heart disease in fetal
- paediatric and adult patients
- cardiac surgery
- cardiac electrophysiology.
Upcoming courses
Effective prenatal screening of congenital heart disease course
2027 - dates TBC
Hands-on cardiac morphology
Spring/summer 2027
Multimodality imaging in adult cardiac congenital heart disease (ACHD) and pulmonary hypertension (PH) course
September 4 and September 5 2026
Morphology for heart defects - the essentials
9 July 2026, 3 September 2026, 1 October 2026, 5 November 2026
Cardiac anatomy for radiographers and AHP
15 September 2026
Anatomy for electrophysiologists
16 September 2026
Other courses
Dates for these courses will be added when they are confirmed.
Structural heart intervention webinar series
Exploring holes in the heart webinar
Morphology of congenital heart defects made simple - RB&HH Education
Access online through Royal Brompton and Harefield Education
Echocardiography in congenital heart disease
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy from the foetus to adulthood
Cardiac morphology for physiologists
Postop morphology of the congenital heart
Practicalities and controversies in the treatment of congenital heart disease course
7th annual exam orientated congenital echocardiography course
- The morphologically right and left ventricles cannot be distinguished by their coronary aterial pattern By Hosseinpour AR, Juvin-Bouvier C, Adsuar-Gomez A, Gonzalez-Calle A, Borrego-Dominguez JM, Ordonez-Fernandez A, McCarthy KP, Ho SY. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2019 Jun 1; 28 (6):968-971.
- Primary Tumors of the Aorta and Pulmonary Arteries: Insights from Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance By Arzanauskaite M, Vassiliou VS, Robertus JL, Mohiaddin RH. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2019 May 9; pii: S1936-878X (19) 30345-6.
- Anatomical Considerations for His Bundle Pacing By Nagarajan VD, Ho SY, Ernst S. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2019 Jul 12; (7): e006897.
- Anatomy of the atrial septum and interatrial communications By Naqvi N, McCarthy KP, Ho SY. J Thorac Dis. 2018 Sep 10; (Suppl 24): S2837-S2847.
- Personalized computational modeling of left atrial geometry and transmural myofiber architecture By Fastl TE, Tobon-Gomez C, Crozier A, Whitaker J, Rajani R, McCarthy KP, Sanchez-Quintana D, Ho SY, O'Neill MD, Plank G, Bishop MJ, Niederer SA. Med Image Anal. 2018 Jul; 47: 180-190.
- Intracardiac anatomical relationships and potential for streaming in double inlet left ventricles By Meyer SL, Jongbloed MR, Ho SY, Bartelings MM, McCarthy KP, Uemura H, Ebels T. PLoS One. 2017 Nov 30; 12 (11): e0188048.
- Immediate and Midterm Cardiac Remodeling After Surgical Pulmonary Valve Replacement in Adults with Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot: A Prospective Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance and Clinical Surgery By Heng, EL, Gatzoulis MA, Uebing A, Sethia B, Uemura H, Smith GC, Diller GP, McCarthy KP, Ho SY, Li W, Wright P, Spadotto V, Kilner PJ, Oldershaw P, Pennell DJ, Shore DF, Babu-Narayan SV. Circulation. 2017 Oct 31; 136 (18): 1703-1713.
- Catheter Ablation of the Superolateral Mitral Isthmus Line: A Novel Approach to Reduce the Need for Epicardial Ablation By Maurer T, Metzner A, Ho SY, Wohlmuth P, Reissman B, Heeger C, Lemes C, Hayashi K, Saguner AM, Riedl J, Sohns C, Mathew S, Kuck KH, Wissner E, Ouyang F. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2017 Oct 10; (10). pii: e005191.
- Etiology of Sudden Death in Sports: Insights from a United Kingdom Regional Registry By Finocchiaro G, Papadakis M, Robertus JL, Dhutia H, Steriotis AK, Tome M, Mellor G, Merghani A, Malhotra A, Behr E, Sharma S, Sheppard MN. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2016 May 10; 67 (18): 2108-2115.
- Distinct genetic architectures for syndromic and non-syndromic congenital heart defects identified by exome sequencing By Sifrim A, Hitz MP, Wilsdon A, Breckpot J, Turki SH, Thienpont B, McRae J, Fitzgerald TW, Singh T, Swaminathan GJ, Prigmore E, Rajan D, Abdul-Khaliq H, Banka S, Bauer UM, Bentham J, Berger F, Bhattacharya S, Bu'Lock F, Canham N, Colgiu IG, Cosgrove C, Cox H, Daehnert I, Daly A, Danesh J, Fryer A, Gewillig M, Hobson E, Hoff K, Homfray T; INTERVAL Study, Kahlert AK, Ketley A, Kramer HH, Lachlan K, Lampe AK, Louw JJ, Manickara AK, Manase D, McCarthy KP, Metcalfe K, Moore C, Newbury-Ecob R, Omer SO, Ouwehand WH, Park SM, Parker MJ, Pickardt T, Pollard MO, Robert L, Roberts DJ, Sambrook J, Setchfield K, Stiller B, Thornborough C, Toka O, Watkins H, Williams D, Wright M, Mital S, Daubeney PE, Keavney B, Goodship J; UK10K Consortium, Abu-Sulaiman RM, Lkaassen S, Wright CF, Firth HV, Barrett JC, Devriendt K, FitzPatrick DR, Brook JD; Deciphering Developmental Disorders Study, Hurles ME. Nat Genet. 2016 Sep; 48 (9): 1060-5.
- Anatomy and pathology of the sinus node By Ho SY, Sanchez-Quintana D. Interv Card Electrophysiol. 2016 Jun; 46 (1): 3-8.
- Histological evidence of inflammatory reaction associated with fibrosis in the atrial and ventricular walls in a case-control study of patients with history of atrial fibrillation By Mitrofanova LB, Orshanskaya V, Ho SY, Platonov PG. Europace. 2016 Dec 18; (suppl 4): iv156-iv162.
- Systemic right ventricular fibrosis detected by cardiovascular magnetic resonance is associated with clinical outcome, mainly new-onset atrial arrhythmia, in patients after atrial redirection surgery for transposition of the great arteries By Rydman R, Gatzoulis MA, Ho SY, Ernst S, Swan L, Li W, Wong T, Sheppard M, McCarthy KP, Roughton M, Kilner PJ, Pennell DJ, Babu-Narayan SV. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2015 May 8; (5). pii: e002628.
- Transcatheter Closure of Perimembranous Ventricular Septal Defects with Left Ventricular to Right Atrial Shunt By Kerst G, Moysich A, Ho SY, Apitz C, Latus H, Schranz D. Pediatr Cardiol. 2015 Oct; 36 (7): 1386-92.
- Percutaneous interventions for left atrial appendage exclusion: options, assessment, and imaging using 2D and 3D echocardiography By Wunderlich NC, Beigel R, Swaans MJ, Ho SY, Siegel RJ. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2015 Apr 8; (4): 472-488.
- In vivo cardiovascular magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging shows evidence of abnormal myocardial laminar orientations and mobility in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy By Ferreira PF, Klner PJ, McGill LA, Nielles-Vallespin S, Scott AD, Ho SY, McCarthy KP, Haba MM, Ismail TF, Gatehouse PD, de Silva R, Lyon AR, Prasad SK, Firmin DN, Pennell DJ. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2014 Nov 12; 16: 87.
- Surgical repair of pulmonary artery branches By Ghez O, Saeed I, Serrato M, Quintero DB, Kreitmann B, Uemura H, Seale A, Daubeney P, McCarthy KP, Ho SY. Multimed Man Cardiothorac Surg. 2013; 2013: mmt 014.
- Substrates of atrial arrhythmias: histological insights from patients with congenital heart disease By Ueda A, Adachi I, McCarthy KP, Li W, Ho, SY, Uemura H. Int J Cardiol. 2013 Oct 3; 168 (3): 2481-6.
- Histopathology of the great vessels in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension in association with congenital heart disease: large pulmonary arteries matter too By Prapa M, McCarthy KP, Dimopolous K, Sheppard MN, Krexi D, Swan L, Wort SJ, Gatzoulis MA, Ho SY. Int J Cardiol. 2013 Oct 3; 168(3): 2248-54.
- Reproducibility of in-vivo diffusion tensor cardiovascular magnetic resonance in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy By McGill LA, Ismail TF, Nielles-Vallespin S, Ferreira P, Scott AD, Roughton M, Kilner PJ, Ho SY, McCarthy KP, Gatehouse PD, de Silva R, Speier P, Feiweier T, Mekkaoui C, Sosnovik DE, Prasad SK, Firmin DN, Pennell DJ. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2012 Dec 24; 14: 86. Erratum in: J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2013; 15: 22.
- Right atrial appendage and vestibule: further anatomical insights with implications for invasive electrophysiology By Ueda A, McCarthy KP, Sanchez-Quintana D, Ho SY. Europace. 2013 May 15; (5): 728-34.
- Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection: outcome of postoperative pulmonary venous obstruction by Seale AN, Uemura H, Webber SA, Partridge J, Roughton M, Ho SY, McCarthy KP, Jones S, Shaughnessy L, Sunnegardh J, Hanseus K, Berggren H, Johansson S, Rigby ML, Keeton BR, Daubeney PE; British Congential Cardiac Association. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2013 May; 145 (5): 1255-62.
- Anatomic assessment of variations in myocardial approaches to the atrioventricular node By Matsuyama TA, McCarthy KP, Ueda A, Makimoto H, Satomi K, Kamakura S, Inoue S, Ishibashi-Ueda H. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2012 Apr 23; (4): 398-403.
- Anatomy of the left atrium for interventional echocardiography By Ho SY, McCarthy KP, Faletra FF. Eur J Echocardiogr. 2011 Oct 12; (10): i 11-5.
- Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection: morphology and outcome from an international population-based study By Seale AN, Uemura H, Webber SA, Partridge J, Roughton M, Ho SY, McCarthy KP, Jones S, Shaughnessy L, Sunnegardh J, Hanseus K, Berggren H, Johansson S, Rigby ML, Keeton BR, Daubeney PE; British Congenital Cardiac Association. Circulation. 2010 Dec 21; 122 (25): 2718-26.
- Three-dimensional imaging of the atrial septum and patent foramen ovale anatomy: defining the morphological phenotypes of patent foramen ovale By Rana BS, Shapiro LM, McCarthy KP, Ho SY. Eur J Echocardiogr. 2010 Dec 11; (10): i 19-25.
- Anatomy of the left atrium for interventional electrophysiologists By Ho SY, McCarthy KP. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 2010 May; 33 (5): 620-7.
- Morphologic spectrum of truncal valvar origin relative to the ventricular septum: correlation with the size of ventricular septal defect By Adachi I, Seale A, Uemura H, McCarthy KP, Kimberley P, Ho SY. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2009 Dec; 138 (6): 1283-9.
- Structural abnormalities of the pulmonary trunk in tetralogy of Fallot and potential clinical implications: a morphological study By Bedard F, McCarthy KP, Dimopoulos K, Giannakoulas G, Gatzoulis MA, Ho SY. I Am Coll Cardiol. 2009 Nov 10; 54 (20): 1883-90.