congenital heart diseases

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Original Article

Functional Capacity of Patients with Pacemaker Due to Isolated Congenital Atrioventricular Block

Roberto Márcio de Oliveira Júnior et al. Kátia Regina da Silva Tatiana Satie Kawauchi Lucas Bassolli de Oliveira Alves … Elizabeth Sartori Crevelari Martino Martinelli Filho Roberto Costa

Background:

Isolated congenital atrioventricular block (CAVB) is a rare condition with multiple clinical outcomes. Ventricular remodeling can occur in approximately 10% of the patients after pacemaker (PM) implantation.

Objectives:

To assess the functional capacity of children and young adults with isolated CAVB and chronic pacing of the right ventricle (RV) and evaluate its correlation with predictors of ventricular remodeling.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study used a cohort of patients with isolated CAVB and RV pacing for over a year. The subjects underwent clinical and echocardiographic evaluation. Functional capacity was assessed using the six-minute walk test. Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used, considering a significance level of 5%.

Results:

A total of 61 individuals were evaluated between March 2010 and December 2013, of which 67.2% were women, aged between 7 and 41 years, who were using PMs for 13.5 ± 6.3 years. The percentage of ventricular pacing was 97.9 ± 4.1%, and the duration of the paced QRS complex was 153.7 ± 19.1 ms. Majority of the subjects (95.1%) were asymptomatic and did not use any medication. The mean distance walked was 546.9 ± 76.2 meters and was strongly correlated with the predicted distance (r = 0.907, p = 0.001) but not with risk factors for ventricular remodeling. (Arq Bras Cardiol. 2014; [online].ahead print, PP.0-0)

Conclusions:

The functional capacity of isolated CAVB patients with chronic RV pacing was satisfactory but did not correlate with risk factors for ventricular remodeling.

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Artigo Original

Congenital heart diseases in the newborn: from the pediatrician's request to the cardiologist's evaluation

Ivan Romero Rivera et al. Maria Alayde Mendonça da Silva José Maria Gonçalves Fernandes Ana Claire Pimenteira Thomaz … Cláudio Fernando Rodrigues Soriano Maria Goretti Barbosa de Souza

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the importance of symptoms as a reason for referral to pediatric cardiologists in the diagnosis of congenital heart diseases (CHD) in the newborn (NB). METHODS: Prospective study on live NB referred for cardiac evaluation, with performance of electrocardiogram, chest radiography and echocardiography. Cardiology consultation was requested by means of a multiple-choice form including signs and symptoms suggestive of CHD. Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) without clinical and/or hemodynamic consequences was not considered a heart disease. RESULTS: From 1999 to 2002, 358 out of 3716 NB were studied, and 49 cases of CHD and 128 of PDA were found. The prevalence of CHD was 13.2:1000 NB. The main reason for referral to the cardiologist was heart murmur in 256 (72%) NB, of which 39 (15%) had CHD, and in 91% of the 128 cases of PDA. In 14 (4%) NB, the reason for referral was cyanosis, and eight of these patients (57%) had a CHD. Heart failure was the reason for referral in 37 (10%) NB, of whom 17 (46%) had CHD. Arrhythmia, associated congenital malformations, or chromosome disorders were the reasons for referral in 14% of the cases. CONCLUSION: The main reason for referral was detection of a heart murmur on cardiac auscultation. Although cyanosis and heart failure were uncommon reasons for referral, their presence indicated a high probability of the diagnosis of heart disease. Pediatric screening plays a key role in this diagnosis.

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Artigo Original

Clinical efficacy and safety of the percutaneous treatment of secundum atrial septal defect with the Amplatzer occluder

Sérgio Luiz Navarro Braga et al. Amanda Guerra de Moraes Rego Sousa Carlos Augusto Cardoso Pedra César Augusto Esteves … Simone Rolim Fernandes Fontes Pedra Valmir Fernandes Fontes

OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of the Amplatzer occluder for percutaneous closure of secundum atrial septal defect. METHODS: Forty-nine patients underwent the procedure guided by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) while under general anesthesia, afterwards being clinically followed up for 12 months. RESULTS: The defect presented as a single orifice in 91.8% of the cases. The means of the longitudinal and transverse diameters were 14.3±5.0 mm and 14.4±4.9 mm, respectively. The means of the stretched diameters and prostheses were 19.3±5.1 mm and 20.3±4.9 mm, respectively. Technical success occurred in 97.9% of the cases. Immediate residual flow was observed in 54.1% of the patients, being minimum or small in 45.8% and moderate in 8.3%. After 24 hours, residual flow was observed in 25% of the patients (P = 0.0002). At the end of 13.1±1.3 months, the incidence of the overall residual flow decreased to 14.6%, only 4.1% being moderate. A significant reduction in the right ventricular diastolic diameter was observed in the different phases of clinical follow-up (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Implantation of the Amplatzer prosthesis proved to be effective and safe, constituting an option for the treatment of the secundum atrial septal defect in selected cases.

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Artigo Original

The reduction in hospital stay and costs in the care of patients with congenital heart diseases undergoing fast-track cardiac surgery

Alfredo Manoel da Silva Fernandes et al. Alfredo José Mansur Luis Fernando Canêo Domingos Dias Lourenço … Marilde Albuquerque Piccioni Sonia Mieken Franchi Cristina Machado C. Afiune Jorge Wiliam Gadioli Sérgio de Almeida Oliveira José Antonio Franchini Ramires

OBJECTIVE: To assess the care provided to patients with congenital heart diseases and ischemic heart diseases undergoing cardiac surgery according to the fast-track recovery protocol compared with those undergoing the conventional procedure. METHODS: The transfer of patients from one hospital unit to another was assessed for 175 patients, 107 (61%) men and 68 (39%) women, with ages ranging from 0.3 to 81 years. RESULTS: The discharge rate from the different hospital units per unit of time of the patients with congenital heart diseases treated according to the fast-track recovery protocol compared with that of patients conventionally treated was as follows: a) 11.3 times faster than the discharge rate of patients treated according to the conventional protocol, in regard to the time spent in the operating room; b) 6.3 times faster in regard to the duration of the surgical intervention; c) 6.8 times faster in regard to the duration of anesthesia; d) 1.5 times faster in regard to the duration of perfusion; e) 2.8 times faster in regard to the stay in the postoperative recovery I unit; f) 6.7 times faster in regard to hospital stay (time period between hospital admission and hospital discharge); g) 2.8 times faster in regard to the stay in the preoperative unit; h) 2.1 times faster in regard to the stay in the admission unit after discharge from postoperative recovery; i) associated with reduced costs. The difference was not significant for patients with ischemic heart disease. CONCLUSION: A reduction in the length of hospital stay and costs for the care of patients undergoing cardiac surgery according to the fast-track protocol was observed.

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Original Article

Surgical treatment of partial atrioventricular septal defect: functional analysis of the mitral valve in the postoperative period

Josué Viana Castro Neto et al. Paulo Chaccur Cláudio Leo Gelape Eliseu de Sousa Santos … Hélio Carlos Falcão Mário Issa Antoninho Sanfins Arnoni Flávio Sanches Almeida Camilo Abdulmassih Neto Jarbas Jackson Dinkhuysen Luís Carlos Bento Souza Paulo Paredes Paulista

OBJECTIVE: To study mitral valve function in the postoperative period after correction of the partial form of atrioventricular septal defect. METHODS: Fifty patients underwent surgical correction of the partial form of atrioventricular septal defect. Their mean age was 11.8 years and 62% of the patients were males. Preoperative echocardiography showed moderate and severe mitral insufficiency in 44% of the patients. The mitral valve cleft was sutured in 45 (90%) patients (group II – GII). Echocardiographies were performed in the early postoperative period, and 6 and 12 months after hospital discharge. RESULTS: The patients who had some type of arrhythmia in the postoperative period had ostium primum atrial septal defect of a larger size (2.74 x 2.08 cm). All 5 patients in group I (GI), who did not undergo closure of the cleft, had a competent mitral valve or mild mitral insufficiency in the preoperative period. One of these patients began to have moderate mitral insufficiency in the postoperative period. On the other hand, in GII, 88.8% and 82.2% of the patients had competent mitral valve or mild mitral insufficiency in the early and late postoperative periods, respectively. CONCLUSION: The mitral valve cleft was repaired in 90% of cases. Echocardiography revealed competent mitral valve or mild mitral insufficiency in 88.8% and 82.2% of GII patients in the early and late postoperative periods, respectively.

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Original Article

Echocardiographic Assessment of the Pulmonary Venous Flow: An Indicator of Increased Pulmonary Flow in Congenital Cardiac Malformations

Ivan Romero Rivera et al. Valdir Ambrósio Moisés Angelo Amato V. de Paola Antonio Carlos Carvalho

OBJECTIVE: To identify the left inferior pulmonary vein as an indirect marker of increased pulmonary flow in congenital heart diseases.METHODS: We carried out a prospective consecutive study on 40 patients divided into 2 groups as follows: G1 – 20 patients diagnosed with congenital heart disease and increased pulmonary flow; G2 (control group) – 20 patients who were either healthy or had congenital heart disease with decreased or normal pulmonary flow. We obtained the velocity-time integral of the left inferior pulmonary vein flow, excluding the “reverse A” wave, with pulsed Doppler echocardiography.RESULTS: In G1, 19 out of the 20 patients had well-identified dilation of the left inferior pulmonary vein. No G2 patient had dilation of the left inferior pulmonary vein. Dilation of the left inferior pulmonary vein in conditions of increased pulmonary flow had sensitivity of 95%, specificity of 100%, positive predictive value of 100%, and negative predictive value of 95% (1 false-negative case). The integral of time and velocity of the pulmonary venous flow obtained with pulsed Doppler echocardiography was greater in the G1 patients (G1=25.0±4.6 cm versus G2=14.8±2.1 cm, p=0.0001).CONCLUSION: The identification of dilation of the left inferior pulmonary vein suggests the presence of congenital heart disease with increased pulmonary flow. This may be used as an indirect sign of increased flow, mainly in malformations of difficult diagnosis, such as atrial septal defects of the venous sinus or coronary sinus type.

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Original Article

Epidemiological characteristics of congenital heart diseases in Londrina, Paraná South Brazil

José Carlos dos Santos Guitti

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and other epidemiological characteristics of congenital heart diseases. METHODS: A retrospective population based study of children who were born in Londrina, from January ’89 to December ’98 (80,262 live births). Diagnoses were confirmed through autopsy, surgery, catheterization, or echocardiography. RESULTS: A total of 441 patients was as certained what corresponds to a prevalence of 5.494:1,000 live births. Ventricular septal defect was the commonest lesion. A small number of transpositions of the great vessels and of left ventricular hypoplasia was observed. A high propation of ventricular septal defect (28.3%) and atrioventricular septal defects (8.1%) occurred. Fifty-one (11.35%) affected children had syndromic diseases and 52 (12.01%) children had nonsyndromic anomalies. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of congenital heart diseases in Londrina is in accordance with that of other regions of the globe. This prevalence also may reflect the reality in the southern region of Brazil, because population characteristics are very similar in the 3 southernmost Brazilian states.

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Artigo Original

Overall experience with percutaneous occlusion of the patent ductus arteriosus

Carlos Augusto Cardoso Pedra et al. Simone Rolim Fenandes Fontes Pedra César Augusto Esteves Sérgio Luís Navarro Braga … Maria Aparecida Paula Silva Tarcísio Luís Valle de Almeida Maria Virgínia Tavares Santana José Eduardo Moraes Rego Sousa Valmir Fernandes Fontes

PURPOSE: To evaluate the overall experience of our institution with percutaneous occlusion of the patent ductus arteriosus. METHODS: Since December/92, 150 patients underwent 178 procedures (85 – Rashkind technique; 87 – Gianturco coils; 6 – Duct Occlud). Median age was 6.5 years (1 to 57). Mean minimum ductal diameter was 3.05±1.24mm (1 to 8). Clinical and echocardiographic evaluations were performed periodically. RESULTS: Adequate implantation was achieved in 143 (95.3%) patients. Prevalence of immediate residual shunting was 52.1%, falling to 15.9% during follow-up. This figure decreased to 5.2% after new additional procedures. Umbrella and coil embolization occurred in 1 and 12 procedures, respectively. Hemolysis and mild stenosis of left pulmonary artery were observed in one patient each. There was no mortality. CONCLUSION: This therapeutic modality is safe and efficacious with good follow-up results.

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Clinical-epidemiologic indications for echocardiographic investigation in the neonatal period. Value of risk groups

Lilian dos Santos Rodrigues Sadeck et al. Renato Azevedo Alfonso Julio Guedes Barbato Valdenise M. L. T. Calil … Maria do Rosário Dias de Oliveira Latorre Cléa Rodrigues Leone José Lauro Araújo Ramos

PURPOSE: An echocardiographic study was performed in newborns from risk groups, with the aim of to determining prevalence and to evaluate the indications for this test in the neonatal period. METHODS: One hundred fifty six newborns were studied . They were admitted to the Newborn ward of the Department of Obstetric of the HC-FMUSP, in the period of November 91 to April 93, from mothers with congenital heart disease or diabetes, low birth weight newborns, with extracardiac malformations, cardiac signs and/or congenital infections. RESULTS: The observed prevalence was 21.8%, greater than that of the general population (0.8-1.2%). The group composed by 27 children with extracardiac abnormalities presented the largest prevalence when compared with the other groups (40.7%). These data justify the use of echocardiography in high risk newborns for the detection of congenital heart disease.

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