Cardiology in the young
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Cardiology in the young · Aug 2011
Review Case ReportsCardiac strangulation from epicardial pacemaker: early recognition and prevention.
Cardiac strangulation from epicardial pacemaker leads is a rare event that can be difficult to recognise and can cause serious complications such as cardiac failure or death. We describe a 3-year-old girl who received an epicardial pacing system as a neonate for complete congenital cardiac block and developed cardiac strangulation from the leads. The clinical presentation modes are reviewed and technical aspects for lead and generator positioning are discussed.
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Cardiology in the young · Aug 2011
Comparative StudyPoor post-operative growth in infants with two-ventricle physiology.
Adequate nutritional support is essential for normal infant growth and development. Infants with congenital cardiac disease are known to be at risk for growth failure. We sought to describe perioperative growth in infants undergoing surgical repair of two-ventricle congenital cardiac disease and assess for predictors of their pattern of growth.Materials and methodsFull-term infants who underwent surgical repair of two-ventricle congenital cardiac disease at a single institution were enrolled in a retrospective cohort study performed following a larger prospective study. Infants with facial, gastrointestinal, or neurologic anomalies, trisomy chromosomal abnormality, birth weight less than 2500 grams, or those transferred to another institution before discharge home were excluded. The primary outcome was change in weight-for-age z score from surgery to discharge. Our secondary outcome variable was post-operative hospital length of stay. ⋯ Infants undergoing repair of two-ventricle congenital cardiac disease had poor growth in the post-operative period. This may be mitigated by early initiation of post-operative nutrition.
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Cardiology in the young · Aug 2011
Comparative StudyQTc prolongation in children following congenital cardiac disease surgery.
IntroductionQTc prolongation has been reported in adults following cardiopulmonary bypass; however, this phenomenon has not been studied in children with congenital cardiac disease. This study's aim was to formally assess QTc in children undergoing cardiac surgery. ⋯ In all, 59 children were included, out of which 26 had new QTc over 440 milliseconds and 6 of 59 had new QTc over 480 milliseconds post-operatively. The mean increase in post-operative QTc was 25 milliseconds, p=0.0001. QTc over 480 was associated with longer cross-clamp time, p=0.003. Other risk factors were not associated with post-operative QTc prolongation. This phenomenon was transient with normalisation occurring in 67% of patients over 60 hours on average. One patient with post-operative QTc over 440 milliseconds developed ventricular tachycardia. There was no correlation between prolonged QTc and duration of mechanical ventilation, or hospital stay.ConclusionA significant number of children undergoing cardiac surgery showed transient QTc prolongation. The precise aetiology of QT prolongation was not discerned, though new QTc over 480 milliseconds was associated with longer cross-clamp time. In this cohort, transient QTc prolongation was not associated with adverse sequela.
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Cardiology in the young · Aug 2011
Comparative StudyIs the function of all cardiac valves after the arterial switch operation influenced by an associated ventricular septal defect?
A ventricular septal defect in transposition of the great arteries is frequently closely related to the cardiac valves. The valvar function after arterial switch operation of patients with transposition of the great arteries and ventricular septal defect or intact ventricular septum was compared. We analysed the function of all cardiac valves in patients who underwent the arterial switch operations pre- and post-operatively, 1 year after the procedure and on follow-up. ⋯ Tricuspid regurgitation was more frequent 1 year post-operatively in transposition of the great arteries/ventricular septal defect (n = 4) than in transposition of the great arteries/intact ventricular septum. The prevalence of neo-aortic regurgitation and pulmonary stenosis increased over time, especially in patients with transposition of the great arteries/intact ventricular septum. The presence of a ventricular septal defect in patients undergoing arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries only has a minor bearing for the development of valvar dysfunction on the longer follow-up.
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Cardiology in the young · Aug 2011
Comparative StudyProcalcitonin as a marker of bacterial infection in children undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.
Owing to systemic inflammatory response syndrome, the diagnosis of post-operative infection after cardiopulmonary bypass is difficult to assess in children with the usual clinical and biological tools. Procalcitonin could be informative in this context. ⋯ Procalcitonin seems to be a discriminating marker of bacterial infection during the post-operative days following cardiopulmonary bypass in children.