Cardiology in the young
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Cardiology in the young · Jun 2015
Collaborative quality improvement in the cardiac intensive care unit: development of the Paediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium (PC4).
Despite many advances in recent years for patients with critical paediatric and congenital cardiac disease, significant variation in outcomes remains across hospitals. Collaborative quality improvement has enhanced the quality and value of health care across specialties, partly by determining the reasons for variation and targeting strategies to reduce it. ⋯ The Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium (PC4) has been modelled after successful collaborative quality improvement initiatives, and is positioned to provide the data platform necessary to realise these objectives. We describe the development of PC4 including the philosophical, organisational, and infrastructural components that will facilitate collaborative quality improvement in paediatric cardiac critical care.
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Cardiology in the young · Jun 2015
Dexmedetomidine utilisation and outcomes of children with trisomy 21 undergoing congenital heart disease surgery.
The diagnosis of trisomy 21 in children has been associated with failed extubation after CHD surgery. Dexmedetomidine may be a useful agent to improve postoperative outcomes in these patients, such as ventilator time, ICU length of stay, or hospital length of stay. ⋯ The use of dexmedetomidine was not associated with the decreased ventilatory time. Routine use of dexmedetomidine is not warranted in this patient population.
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It is an honour to present the Anthony Chang lecture at this 10th International Conference of the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society. I have had the privilege of knowing Dr Chang for over 20 years, and although we only worked for a short period of time together at the Children's Hospital, Boston, in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, we have remained close colleagues and friends since that time. The contributions of Dr Chang to the development of paediatric cardiac intensive care are very clear, based on his clinical expertise, research and scholarship, and the development of the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society in its early days. More than this, Dr Chang is an individual with vision; in many respects, he has been ahead of the curve, anticipating and leading the direction of paediatric cardiac intensive care.
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Cardiology in the young · Apr 2015
Incidence and clinical features of acute rheumatic fever in Kayseri, Central Anatolia, 1998-2011.
In developing countries, acute rheumatic fever is the most common cause of acquired heart disease in the paediatric and adolescent population. It is believed that vulnerability to developing acute rheumatic fever is associated with several factors such as socio-economic and living conditions. Aim Determine the incidence and clinical characteristics of acute rheumatic fever in the Central Anatolia region of Kayseri within the last 14 years, and to make a comparison of two 7-year periods. Material and methods We performed a retrospective analysis of 624 patients who were diagnosed with acute rheumatic fever at the Department of Pediatric Cardiology in the Medical Faculty of Erciyes University between January, 1998 and December, 2011. ⋯ Although there has been socio-economic development in Turkey in the recent years, the incidence of acute rheumatic fever is still high in the Central Anatolia region of Kayseri.
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Cardiology in the young · Apr 2015
Case ReportsUnusual cases of right-sided and left-sided May-Thurner syndrome.
May-Thurner syndrome is a rare clinical entity involving venous obstruction of the left lower extremity. The May-Thurner syndrome is a phenomenon commonly described as an acquired stenosis of the left common iliac vein secondary to compression of the left common iliac vein between the right common iliac artery and the underlying vertebral body. We report one case of May-Thurner syndrome, and another rare case of reverse May-Thurner syndrome, incidently detected during intervention, in a case of aortic stenosis and mitral stenosis with dextrocardia and situs inversus.