World journal for pediatric & congenital heart surgery
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World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg · Jan 2016
ReviewTraining Pathways in Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care: Proceedings From the 10th International Conference of the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society.
The increase in pediatric cardiac surgical procedures and establishment of the practice of pediatric cardiac intensive care has created the need for physicians with advanced and specialized knowledge and training. Current training pathways to become a pediatric cardiac intensivist have a great deal of variability and have unique strengths and weaknesses with influences from critical care, cardiology, neonatology, anesthesiology, and cardiac surgery. Such variability has created much confusion among trainees looking to pursue a career in our specialized field. This is a report with perspectives from the most common advanced fellowship training pathways taken to become a pediatric cardiac intensivist as well as various related topics including scholarship, qualifications, and credentialing.
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World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg · Jan 2016
ReviewEstablishment of Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Advanced Practice Provider Services.
The addition of advanced practice providers (APPs; nurse practitioners and physician assistants) to a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (PCICU) team is a health care innovation that addresses medical provider shortages while allowing PCICUs to deliver high-quality, cost-effective patient care. APPs, through their consistent clinical presence, effective communication, and facilitation of interdisciplinary collaboration, provide a sustainable solution for the highly specialized needs of PCICU patients. In addition, APPs provide leadership, patient and staff education, facilitate implementation of evidence-based practice and quality improvement initiatives, and the performance of clinical research in the PCICU. This article reviews mechanisms for developing, implementing, and sustaining advance practice services in PCICUs.
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World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg · Jan 2016
Multicenter StudyVasoactive Drugs and Hemodynamic Monitoring in Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care: An Italian Survey.
Little is known about practitioner preference, the availability of technology, and variability in practice with respect to hemodynamic monitoring and vasoactive drug use after congenital heart surgery. The aim of this study was to characterize current hospital practices related to the management of low cardiac output syndrome (LCOS) across Italy. ⋯ The survey shows that advanced hemodynamic monitoring is rarely performed. The most commonly used vasoactive drugs are milrinone, levosimendan, dopamine, epinephrine, vasopressin, and norepinephrine. Guidelines on the topic are warranted.
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World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg · Jan 2016
Case ReportsRepair of Concomitant Double Orifice Mitral and Tricuspid Valves.
The coexistence of double orifice mitral and tricuspid valves is rare. We report a five-year-old boy with double orifice mitral and tricuspid valves requiring surgical correction of hemodynamically significant mitral and tricuspid stenosis.
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Prolonged pleural effusion following Fontan operation is common and increases morbidity and hospital length of stay. Vasopressin (VP), a neurohypophysial hormone, has numerous effects on the cardiovascular system. The most notable is increased peripheral vascular resistance, but it may also reduce capillary leakage by tightening endothelial intercellular junctions and reducing capillary hydrostatic pressure We reviewed our experience with the perioperative administration of VP following Fontan operation. ⋯ The more recent group of patients undergoing Fontan operations, all of whom received VP perioperatively, had less chest tube output and shorter duration of chest tube drainage after the Fontan operation relative to the earlier patient group whose perioperative management did not include VP. They also experienced less positive fluid balance in the early postoperative period and shorter hospital length of stay than the patients from the earlier era.