Left ventricular mechanics are affected in children with celiac disease: A study based on two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography.

BACKGROUND: An association between cardiomyopathy and celiac disease has been reported, but not frequently. We examined the effects on cardiac mechanics in children with celiac disease (CD) by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE). METHODS: Eighty-one children with CD were compared with a control group comprising 51 healthy children by echocardiographic examination. Children with CD who had been on gluten-free diet for more than 6 months were divided into two different groups: group 1 was positive for serum antitissue transglutaminase antibody (n=48), and group 2 was negative for serum antitissue transglutaminase antibody (n=33). Cardiac functions were evaluated in all children using conventional echocardiography, tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), and 2DSTE methods. RESULTS: For children with CD, the mean age and male:female ratio were 10.1±4.0 years and 26/55 (67% female), respectively, which did not differ from the controls. Patients were diagnosed at a mean age of 7.9±4.1 years, and the mean follow-up time was 2.37±2.98 years. Conventional echocardiography and TDI measurements did not differ between groups. The left ventricular longitudinal and radial strains, and strain rate values were significantly lower in patients with CD, particularly in those with positive antitissue transglutaminase antibody compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that 2DSTE is superior to conventional and TDI echocardiography for evaluating subclinical carditis in children with CD.

Effect of high-dose oral cholecalciferol on cardiac mechanics in children with chronic kidney disease.

Cardiovascular factors are an important cause of mortality in chronic kidney disease, and vitamin-D deficiency is common in this patient population. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effect of oral cholecalciferol on cardiac mechanics in children with chronic kidney disease. A total of 41 children with chronic kidney disease - the patient group - and 24 healthy subjects - the control group - free of any underlying cardiac or renal disease with low 25-hydroxyvitamin-D3 levels were evaluated by conventional tissue Doppler imaging and two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography, both at baseline and following Stoss vitamin-D supplementation. Left ventricular strain and strain rate values were compared between the study groups. Initial longitudinal and radial strain as well as strain rate values of the left ventricle were significantly lower in patients. After vitamin-D supplementation, these improved significantly in patients, whereas no significant change was observed in the control group. Our study showed that, although conventional and tissue Doppler imaging methods could not determine any effect, two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography revealed the favourable effects of high-dose cholecalciferol on cardiac mechanics, implying the importance of vitamin-D supplementation in children with chronic kidney disease.

Effect of cholecalciferol on local arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction in children with chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND: As cardiovascular factors are the leading cause of mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and as vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in this population, we aimed to examine the effect of oral cholecalciferol on cardiac parameters and biomarkers for endothelial cell activation in children with CKD. METHODS: Forty-one children with CKD and 24 healthy subjects free of any underlying cardiac or renal disease with low 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25OHD) levels were evaluated using echocardiography basally and following Stoss vitamin D supplementation. The local vascular stiffness and endothelial dysfunction markers were compared among the groups. RESULTS: Initial flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) measurements were lower and local arterial stiffness was significantly higher in patients. After vitamin D supplementation, these improved significantly in patients, while no significant change was observed for the healthy group. Homocysteine showed inverse correlation with baseline vitamin D level in CKD children and von Willebrand factor emerged as an independent risk factor for FMD impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Our interventional study revealed the favorable effects of high-dose cholecalciferol on cardiovascular and endothelial parameters, implying the importance of vitamin D supplementation in children with CKD.

Prevalence of overweight and obesity among patients with congenital and acquired heart disease in Kocaeli, Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity has increased in the last half of the century. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of obesity in the children with congenital or acquired heart disease. METHODS: A total of 1410 children were assessed in this study. The study population was composed of 518 children (289 boys, 229 girls) as control group and 892 children (477 boys, 415 girls) as heart disease group. Patients were grouped into four categories: (I) "Clinic control subjects"; (II) "mild heart disease" that has not been treated with either surgical or catheter intervention; (III) congenital heart disease treated with surgical and/or catheter intervention; and (IV) "arrhythmias". A body mass index ⩾85th percentile was defined as overweight, ⩾95th percentile as obese, and <5th percentile was defined as underweight. RESULTS: We did not detect any association between heart disease and obesity. There was no difference in the rates of overweight, obesity, and underweight between the healthy control subjects and patients with heart disease (8.1%, 13.3%, and 5.0%; 9.0%, 10.7%, and 4.7%, respectively, p=0.145). All subgroups had a similar prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity as the healthy control population. Within the heart disease population, the overall prevalence rates for overweight, obesity, and underweight were similar between the boys and girls. CONCLUSION: Obesity is a common problem in children with heart disease, at least in general population. It is an important additional risk factor for long-term cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in children with heart disease. Precautions to prevent obesity should be a part of paediatric cardiologist's examination.

Effects that different types of sports have on the hearts of children and adolescents and the value of two-dimensional strain-strain-rate echocardiography.

Whether the hypertrophy found in the hearts of athletes is physiologic or a risk factor for the progression of pathologic hypertrophy remains controversial. The diastolic and systolic functions of athletes with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy usually are normal when measured by conventional methods. More precise assessment of global and regional myocardial function may be possible using a newly developed two-dimensional (2D) strain echocardiographic method. This study evaluated the effects that different types of sports have on the hearts of children and adolescents and compared the results of 2D strain and strain-rate echocardiographic techniques with conventional methods. Athletes from clubs for five different sports (basketball, swimming, football, wrestling, and tennis) who had practiced regularly at least 3 h per week during at least the previous 2 years were included in the study. The control group consisted of sedentary children and adolescents with no known cardiac or systemic diseases (n = 25). The athletes were grouped according to the type of exercise: dynamic (football, tennis), static (wrestling), or static and dynamic (basketball, swimming). Shortening fraction and ejection fraction values were within normal limits for the athletes in all the sports disciplines. Across all 140 athletes, LV geometry was normal in 58 athletes (41.4 %), whereas 22 athletes (15.7 %) had concentric remodeling, 20 (14.3 %) had concentric hypertrophy, and 40 (28.6 %) had eccentric hypertrophy. Global LV longitudinal strain values obtained from the average of apical four-, two-, and three-chamber global strain values were significantly lower for the basketball players than for all the other groups (p < 0.001).

Retrospective evaluation of 130 cases with kawasaki disease follow-up in a tertiary care center in Turkey between 1999 and 2019: a 20-year experience.

OBJECTIVES: Kawasaki disease (KD), which is a medium vessel vasculitis, is common in Asian countries and is the most common cause of childhood-acquired heart diseases in developed countries. However, disease course and epidemiological data are limited in non-Asian developing countries like ours. We aimed to evaluate the clinical features and prognosis of patients with KD in our country and ethnicity, one of the referee centers of our country. METHODS: Patients with KD in our center for the last 20 years in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic era were included in the study. The clinical and laboratory findings, treatments, and follow-up findings were reviewed retrospectively in different age groups. RESULTS: Of the 130 patients, 82 (63%) were male. The median age at diagnosis was 2.97 years (2 months-11.5 years). Thirty-six (27.7%) patients were diagnosed with incomplete KD, and there was no significant laboratory difference between incomplete KD and complete KD patients. Thirty-three (25.3%) patients had coronary artery lesions (CAL), and it persisted in only 3 of 33 patients. One of 15 patients with IVIG resistance had CAL. The independent risk factors were days of illness at initial IVIG administration for CAL (p = 0.013, OR [95%CI] = 1.20 [1.04-1.38]) and low hemoglobin (p = 0.003, OR [95%CI] = 0.51 [0.33-0.79]) and low sodium for IVIG resistance (p = 0.012, OR [95%CI] = 0.81[0.69-0.95]). CONCLUSIONS: The rate of CAL is approximately three times higher in our results than in the Japanese data in recent years. We showed that the time of IVIG administration is the most critical factor for preventing CAL. Wide-ranging studies are needed to decently predict the disease process according to the age and region of patients.

Crossed pulmonary arteries: a report on 20 cases with an emphasis on the clinical features and the genetic and cardiac abnormalities.

Crossed pulmonary arteries (CPAs) are a rare abnormality in which the ostium of the left pulmonary artery originates superior to the right pulmonary artery and to its right. Recognition of this rare pathology is important because it generally is accompanied by other congenital heart defects, extracardiac anomalies, and certain genetic problems. To date, only a few cases have been reported, and most of these cases have been associated with complex cardiac abnormalities. The authors detected 20 cases of CPA between June 2009 and November 2012 through their increasing awareness of this anomaly. Approximately 9,250 echocardiograms were performed during this period, and all of them also were checked for this anomaly. This report describes 20 cases of this CPA, with an emphasis on the clinical features and the genetic and cardiac abnormalities. The patients ranged in age from 1 day to 13 years at the time of the initial diagnosis. Four patients had complex cardiac pathologies such as tetralogy of Fallot, truncus arteriosus, transposition of the great arteries, and complete atrioventricular septal defect. Of the 20 patients, 11 had ventricular septal defects, and 12 had atrial septal defects. Pulmonary artery stenosis was detected in 12 (55 %) of the 20 patients. Aortic arch abnormalities such as interrupted aortic arch, right aortic arch, and coarctation of the aorta were detected in six patients. One patient had a left persistent superior vena cava. In 45 % of the cases, an associated genetic syndrome (DiGeorge-, Noonan-, Holt-Oram syndromes, vertebral, anal, cardiac, tracheal, esophageal, renal, limb anomalies [VACTERL] anomalies) was present. These syndromes were diagnosed based on their clinical features. Karyotype and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses for a 22q11 deletion were performed for 11 patients, with 10 patients found to have normal karyotype and FISH results. Only one patient had a 22q11 deletion. Six patients underwent successful operations. During the follow-up period, 3 of the 20 patients died. At this writing, the remaining patients are clinically stable and being followed without surgery. The authors believe that CPA is not a rare anomaly. If careful echocardiographic examination is performed, CPA will be diagnosed more frequently. Although this pathology usually is associated with genetic syndromes and other cardiac abnormalities, patients with CPA generally are asymptomatic.

Evaluation of clinical features and outcome of eight fetuses with ectopia cordis; A study from a fetal cardiology center.

We aim to evaluate the clinical course and outcome of cases with a prenatal diagnosis of ectopia cordis in our center. In this retrospective study, we analyzed clinical variables including gestational age at diagnosis, maternal age, associated cardiac, extracardiac, genetic anomalies and, outcome in prenatally diagnosed ectopia cordis cases in our tertiary referral center. Eight ectopia cordis cases from seven pregnancies were included in the study. All fetuses had complete type of ectopia cordis and pentalogy of Cantrell. Five multiple pregnancies were found, four were twin pregnancies (three dichorionic diamniotic, one monochorionic monoamniotic) and one was triplet (trichorionic triamniotic). In the monochorionic monoamniotic twin pregnancy, both fetuses have pentalogy of Cantrell. Two cases had intracardiac structural defects including Tetralogy of Fallot and hypoplastic right heart syndrome. Three pregnancies were terminated, four cases delivered alive could not survive beyond the neonatal period. The striking feature in our study is its association with multiple pregnancies.

Is there myocardial involvement in children with long-term follow-up for Kawasaki disease? A study based on two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the possibility of subclinical myocardial dysfunction detected by strain echocardiography in the late period of children with Kawasaki disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study enrolled 30 patients with Kawasaki disease with a follow-up period of at least 12 months and 30 healthy age- and gender-matched children. During the follow-up period, standard echocardiography, pulsed and tissue Doppler, and strain echocardiography were recorded for both groups. RESULTS: The mean age at the time of the diagnosis was 2.6±2.3 years (2 months-11 years). The mean follow-up period after the diagnosis was 3.55±2.20 years. Conventional echocardiography, M mode, pulsed and tissue Doppler values, and myocard performance index did not reveal significant differences. Left ventricle strain and strain rate parameters obtained by apical four-, three-, and two-chamber views did not show statistical differences between patients and controls. There was a positive correlation between the duration of follow-up and global four- and three-chamber longitudinal strain and global longitudinal strain values (r=0.465, p=0.010; r=0.414, p=0.023; r=0.492, p=0.006, respectively), whereas global radial strain showed negative correlation (r=-0.517, p=0.003). CONCLUSION: The analysis of systolic strain and strain rate did not detect a subclinical myocardial dysfunction in the long-term follow-up of Kawasaki disease. However, strain values showed variability with the follow-up periods, which indicates that Kawasaki disease might cause left ventricular dysfunction in the later phases. Therefore, a follow-up of children with a diagnosis of Kawasaki disease is of capital importance.

A rare cause of early repolarisation in an adolescent boy with chest pain: myocardial bridging.

Early repolarisation is a common electrocardiographic (ECG) finding characterised by J-point and ST segment elevation ≥ 0.1 mV in two or more adjacent leads. The ECG pattern of early repolarisation is relatively common in asymptomatic subjects. Early repolarisation pattern may be seen in secondary conditions such as hypothermia, autonomic nervous system disturbances, cocaine abuse, hypercalcaemia and myocardial ischaemia. We present a case of an adolescent boy with chest pain and concurrent ST-segment elevation. Early repolarisation pattern was observed in the inferior leads of the ECG with increased troponin levels. He was shown to have myocardial bridging of the left anterior descending artery. The coronary anomaly was not associated with left ventricular hypertrophy. He was asymptomatic and the ECG changes normalised on the third day after admission. The patient was restricted from strenuous exertion and metoprolol was prescribed for prophylaxis.