Fetal heart examination at the time of 13 weeks scan: a 5 years' prospective study.

Objective To evaluate our ability in classifying the fetal heart as normal or abnormal during the 1st trimester scan through fetal cardiac examination and determining the best time for this examination. Methods This was a prospective study performed on 3240 pregnant women to examine the fetal heart. Four chambers view and ventricular outflow tracts were mainly examined during the scan. We used grayscale and color mapping in the diagnosis. Color Doppler was used if additional information was needed, and all patients were rescanned during the 2nd trimester to confirm or negate our diagnosis. Results The cardiac findings were normal at both scans in 3108 pregnancies. The same cardiac abnormality was detected at both scans in 79 cases. In 36 cases there was false-positive diagnosis at the early scan; in 20 of these cases, there were mildly abnormal functional findings early in pregnancy with no abnormality found later. In 17 fetuses, there was discordance between the early and later diagnosis due to missed or incorrect diagnoses. The best time to do fetal heart examination during 1st trimester is between 13 and 13 + 6 weeks. Conclusion A high degree of accuracy in the identification of congenital heart disease (CHD) can be achieved by a 1st trimester fetal echocardiography.

Clinical Outcomes in 3343 Children and Adults With Rheumatic Heart Disease From 14 Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Two-Year Follow-Up of the Global Rheumatic Heart Disease Registry (the REMEDY Study).

BACKGROUND: There are few contemporary data on the mortality and morbidity associated with rheumatic heart disease or information on their predictors. We report the 2-year follow-up of individuals with rheumatic heart disease from 14 low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia. METHODS: Between January 2010 and November 2012, we enrolled 3343 patients from 25 centers in 14 countries and followed them for 2 years to assess mortality, congestive heart failure, stroke or transient ischemic attack, recurrent acute rheumatic fever, and infective endocarditis. RESULTS: Vital status at 24 months was known for 2960 (88.5%) patients. Two-thirds were female. Although patients were young (median age, 28 years; interquartile range, 18-40), the 2-year case fatality rate was high (500 deaths, 16.9%). Mortality rate was 116.3/1000 patient-years in the first year and 65.4/1000 patient-years in the second year. Median age at death was 28.7 years. Independent predictors of death were severe valve disease (hazard ratio [HR], 2.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.80-3.11), congestive heart failure (HR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.70-2.72), New York Heart Association functional class III/IV (HR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.32-2.10), atrial fibrillation (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.10-1.78), and older age (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.02 per year increase) at enrollment. Postprimary education (HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.54-0.85) and female sex (HR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.52-0.80) were associated with lower risk of death. Two hundred and four (6.9%) patients had new congestive heart failure (incidence, 38.42/1000 patient-years), 46 (1.6%) had a stroke or transient ischemic attack (8.45/1000 patient-years), 19 (0.6%) had recurrent acute rheumatic fever (3.49/1000 patient-years), and 20 (0.7%) had infective endocarditis (3.65/1000 patient-years). Previous stroke and older age were independent predictors of stroke/transient ischemic attack or systemic embolism. Patients from low- and lower-middle-income countries had significantly higher age- and sex-adjusted mortality than patients from upper-middle-income countries. Valve surgery was significantly more common in upper-middle-income than in lower-middle- or low-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with clinical rheumatic heart disease have high mortality and morbidity despite being young; those from low- and lower-middle-income countries had a poorer prognosis associated with advanced disease and low education. Programs focused on early detection and the treatment of clinical rheumatic heart disease are required to improve outcomes.

Characteristics, complications, and gaps in evidence-based interventions in rheumatic heart disease: the Global Rheumatic Heart Disease Registry (the REMEDY study).

AIMS: Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) accounts for over a million premature deaths annually; however, there is little contemporary information on presentation, complications, and treatment. METHODS AND RESULTS: This prospective registry enrolled 3343 patients (median age 28 years, 66.2% female) presenting with RHD at 25 hospitals in 12 African countries, India, and Yemen between January 2010 and November 2012. The majority (63.9%) had moderate-to-severe multivalvular disease complicated by congestive heart failure (33.4%), pulmonary hypertension (28.8%), atrial fibrillation (AF) (21.8%), stroke (7.1%), infective endocarditis (4%), and major bleeding (2.7%). One-quarter of adults and 5.3% of children had decreased left ventricular (LV) systolic function; 23% of adults and 14.1% of children had dilated LVs. Fifty-five percent (n = 1761) of patients were on secondary antibiotic prophylaxis. Oral anti-coagulants were prescribed in 69.5% (n = 946) of patients with mechanical valves (n = 501), AF (n = 397), and high-risk mitral stenosis in sinus rhythm (n = 48). However, only 28.3% (n = 269) had a therapeutic international normalized ratio. Among 1825 women of childbearing age (12-51 years), only 3.6% (n = 65) were on contraception. The utilization of valvuloplasty and valve surgery was higher in upper-middle compared with lower-income countries. CONCLUSION: Rheumatic heart disease patients were young, predominantly female, and had high prevalence of major cardiovascular complications. There is suboptimal utilization of secondary antibiotic prophylaxis, oral anti-coagulation, and contraception, and variations in the use of percutaneous and surgical interventions by country income level.

Inhomogeneous Longitudinal Cardiac Rotation and Impaired Left Ventricular Longitudinal Strain in Children and Young Adults with End-Stage Renal Failure Undergoing Hemodialysis.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac dysfunction frequently complicates the clinical course of patients with end-stage renal failure (ESRF). Recently, we observed abnormal longitudinal cardiac rotation (LR) among patients with ESRF. In this study, we sought to quantify LR mechanics in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). METHODS: Twenty-four subjects, 12 ESRF patients (58% male; age 17.5 ± 4.4 years) receiving HD, and 12 aged-matched controls, were prospectively studied. Patients underwent echocardiographic studies before and after HD. LR mechanics were quantified with two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography. Peak systolic left ventricular (LV) longitudinal strain and displacement measurements were obtained in all subjects. RESULTS: LR mechanics were successfully quantified in all subjects using 5 key echocardiographic features of LR. We identified two different inhomogeneous LR motion patterns in 41.7% of ESRF patients, characterized by a delayed timing of LR or increased segmental apical rotation. Inhomogeneous LR patterns were not found in controls. Timing of early-systolic counterclockwise LR increased after HD (P = 0.006). In patients, late-systolic clockwise LR occurred earlier (P = 0.043), and showed a significant prolongation after HD (P = 0.003). Longitudinal strain was significantly impaired in patients (P = 0.015), and further decreased after HD (P < 0.0001). Strong correlations were observed between strain and displacement parameters and LR mechanics. CONCLUSIONS: Quantifying LR using speckle tracking echocardiography was feasible, easy, and reproducible. Inhomogeneous LR motion patterns were demonstrated in a large proportion of patients with ESRF. LV dysfunction seems the most important determinant of inhomogeneous LR. Further studies are required to validate these findings.

Margin between success and failure of PDA stenting for duct-dependent pulmonary circulation.

OBJECTIVES: Percutaneous patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) stenting is a therapeutic modality in patients with duct-dependent pulmonary circulation with reported success rates from 80-100%. The current study aims to assess the outcome and the indicators of success for PDA stenting in different ductal morphologies using various approaches. METHODS: A prospective cohort study from a single tertiary center presented from January 2018 to December 2019 that included 96 consecutive infants with ductal-dependent pulmonary circulation and palliated with PDA stenting. Patients were divided according to PDA origin into 4 groups: Group 1: PDA from proximal descending aorta, Group 2: from undersurface of aortic arch, Group 3: opposite the subclavian artery, Group 4: opposite the innominate/brachiocephalic artery. RESULTS: The median age of patients was 22 days and median weight was 3 kg. The procedure was successful in 78 patients (81.25%). PDA was tortuous in 70 out of 96 patients. Femoral artery was the preferred approach in Group 1 (63/67), while axillary artery access was preferred in the other groups (6/11 in Group 2, 11/17 in Group 3, 1/1 in Group 4, P <0.0001). The main cause of procedural failure was inadequate parked coronary wire inside one of the branch of pulmonary arteries (14 cases; 77.7%), while 2 cases (11.1%) were complicated by acute stent thrombosis, and another 2 cases with stent dislodgment. Other procedural complications comprised femoral artery thrombosis in 7 cases (7.2%). Patients with straight PDA, younger age at procedure and who had larger PDA at pulmonary end had higher odds for success (OR = 8.01, 2.94, 7.40, CI = 1.011-63.68, 0.960-0.99, 1.172-7.40,respectively, P = 0.048, 0.031,0.022 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The approach for PDA stenting and hence the outcome is markedly determined by the PDA origin and morphology. Patients with straight PDA, younger age at procedure and those who had relatively larger PDA at the pulmonary end had better opportunity for successful procedure.