Cardiology in the young
-
Cardiology in the young · Feb 2018
Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin reflects inflammation and is not a reliable renal biomarker in neonates and infants after cardiopulmonary bypass: a prospective case-control study.
Introduction Acute kidney injury is a frequent complication after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass in infants. Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin has been suggested to be a promising early biomarker of impending acute kidney injury. On the other hand, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin has been shown to be elevated in systemic inflammatory diseases without renal impairment. In this secondary analysis of data from our previous study on acute kidney injury after infant cardiac surgery, our hypothesis was that neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin may be associated with surgery-related inflammation.
-
Cardiology in the young · Jan 2018
Review Historical ArticleThe history of paediatric cardiology on stamps.
Paediatric cardiology is arguably the sub-specialty in which the greatest advances have been made in both disease diagnosis and treatment over the past half a century. Paediatric cardiology emerged as a discipline in the 1930s. ⋯ The pioneers of paediatric cardiology are more than eponyms, for each used in new and original ways the tools and concepts available in his or her era. This brief overview of the history of paediatric cardiology on stamps begins from William Harvey up to our own time, and includes the milestones in paediatric cardiology.
-
Cardiology in the young · Jan 2018
Multicenter Study Observational StudyImpaired cerebral autoregulation and elevation in plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein level during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery for CHD.
Cerebrovascular reactivity monitoring has been used to identify the lower limit of pressure autoregulation in adult patients with brain injury. We hypothesise that impaired cerebrovascular reactivity and time spent below the lower limit of autoregulation during cardiopulmonary bypass will result in hypoperfusion injuries to the brain detectable by elevation in serum glial fibrillary acidic protein level. ⋯ Individual, dynamic non-invasive cerebrovascular reactivity monitoring demonstrated transient periods of impairment related to possible silent brain injury. The association between an impaired autoregulation burden and elevation in the serum brain biomarker may identify brain perfusion risk that could result in injury.
-
Cardiology in the young · Dec 2017
ReviewManagement of undernutrition and failure to thrive in children with congenital heart disease in low- and middle-income countries.
Poor growth with underweight for age, decreased length/height for age, and underweight-for-height are all relatively common in children with CHD. The underlying causes of this failure to thrive may be multifactorial, including innate growth potential, severity of cardiac disease, increased energy requirements, decreased nutritional intake, malabsorption, and poor utilisation of absorbed nutrition. These factors are particularly common and severe in low- and middle-income countries. ⋯ Close attention should be paid to nutritional support - primarily enteral feeding, with particular use of breast milk in infancy - in the perioperative period and in the paediatric ICU. This nutritional support requires specific attention and allocation of resources, including appropriately skilled personnel. Thereafter, it is essential to monitor growth and development and to identify causes for failure to catch-up or grow appropriately.
-
Cardiology in the young · Nov 2017
Anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in patients with paediatric bone sarcoma and soft tissue sarcoma.
Anthracycline cardiotoxicity is an important side-effect in long-term childhood cancer survivors. We evaluated the incidence of and factors associated with anthracycline cardiotoxicity in a population of patients diagnosed with bone or soft tissue sarcoma. Materials and methods We retrospectively enrolled patients diagnosed with bone or soft tissue sarcoma, from 1995 to 2011, treated with anthracycline chemotherapy at our Centre and with a follow-up echocardiography carried out ⩾3 years from cardiotoxic therapy completion. Cardiac toxicity was graded using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0. ⋯ In our population, the cumulative incidence of cardiotoxicity is comparable to rates in the literature. This underlines the need for primary prevention and lifelong cardiac toxicity surveillance programmes in long-term childhood cancer survivors.