Berlin Heart EXCOR Paediatric Ventricular Assist Device: Does Weight Matter?

BACKGROUND: Berlin Heart EXCOR (BH) ventricular assist devices provide mechanical long-term circulatory support in children with end-stage heart failure, as a bridge to transplantation or to recovery. Most studies are from large-volume paediatric cardiac centres. AIM: The aim of this study was to analyse the experiences of three French centres and to compare these with available published data. METHOD: We performed a retrospective observational study of three paediatric cardiac intensive care units. All children supported with BH devices were included. Morbidity and mortality data were collected and risk factors analysed. RESULTS: Fifty-four (54) patients (54% male) were included. Survival rate was 73% while on a BH device. Median age at BH device implantation was 17 months (range 2-180 months). The predominant indication was dilated cardiomyopathy (61%). Bi-ventricular assist device was used in 25 (46%) cases. The total length of long-term circulatory support was 3,373 days, with a mean length per patient of 62.5 days (range 5-267 days). Thirty-two (32) patients were transplanted (59%) and seven (13%) were successfully weaned. Type and length of support did not influence morbidity. Main complications were renal dysfunction (57%), bleeding (41%), and infection (39%). In multivariate analysis, a weight <5 kg was significantly associated with higher mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The weight seems to be the most important risk factor of mortality in this precarious condition.

Mobile extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for children: single-center 10 years' experience.

OBJECTIVES: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation has become a gold standard in treatment of severe refractory circulatory and/or pulmonary failure. Those procedures require gathering of competences and material. Therefore, they are conducted in a limited number of reference centers. Emergent need for such treatments induces either hazardous transfers or a mobile pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation team able to remote implantation and transportation. The aim of this work is not to focus on pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation outcomes or indications, which have been extensively discussed in the literature. This study would like to detail the implementation, safety, and feasibility, even in a middle-size pediatric cardiac surgery reference center. PATIENTS: This is a retrospective analysis of a series of patients initiated on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a peripheral center and transferred to a reference center. The data were collected from 10 consecutive years: from 2006 to 2016. RESULTS: A total of 57 pediatric patients with a median weight of 6.00 (3.2-14.5) kg and median age of 2.89 (0.11-37.63) months were cannulated in peripheral center and transported on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. We did not experience any adverse event during transport. The outcomes were comparable to our literature-reported on-site extracorporeal membrane oxygenation series with 42 patients (74%) weaned from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and a 30-day survival of 60%. Neither patient's age nor weight, indication for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or length of transport, was statistically significant in terms of outcomes. CONCLUSION: Offsite extracorporeal membrane oxygenation implantation and ground or air transport for pediatric patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation appeared to be safe when performed by a dedicated and experienced team, even within a mid-size center.

Testosterone Prevents Cutaneous Ischemia and Necrosis in Males Through Complementary Estrogenic and Androgenic Actions.

OBJECTIVE: Chronic nonhealing wounds are a substantial medical concern and are associated with morbidity and mortality; thus, new treatment strategies are required. The first step toward personalized/precision medicine in this field is probably in taking sex differences into account. Impaired wound healing is augmented by ischemia, and we previously demonstrated that 17ß-estradiol exerts a major preventive effect against ischemia-induced skin flap necrosis in female mice. However, the equivalent effects of testosterone in male mice have not yet been reported. We then investigated the role of steroid hormones in male mice using a skin flap ischemia model. APPROACH AND RESULTS: Castrated male mice developed skin necrosis after ischemia, whereas intact or castrated males treated with testosterone were equally protected. Testosterone can (1) activate the estrogen receptor after its aromatization into 17ß-estradiol or (2) be reduced into dihydrotestosterone, a nonaromatizable androgen that activates the androgen receptor. We found that dihydrotestosterone protected castrated wild-type mice by promoting skin revascularization, probably through a direct action on resistance arteries, as evidenced using a complementary model of flow-mediated outward remodeling. 17ß-estradiol treatment of castrated male mice also strongly protected them from ischemic necrosis through the activation of estrogen receptor-α by increasing skin revascularization and skin survival. Remarkably, 17ß-estradiol improved skin survival with a greater efficiency than dihydrotestosterone. CONCLUSIONS: Testosterone provides males with a strong protection against cutaneous necrosis and acts through both its estrogenic and androgenic derivatives, which have complementary effects on skin survival and revascularization.

Right ventricular remodelling after endo-exclusion during pulmonary valve replacement: evaluation by cardiac magnetic resonance.

OBJECTIVES: Pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) performed for pulmonary valve regurgitation is the most common indication for reoperation during mid-to-long-term follow-up after tetralogy of Fallot repair. An aneurysmal dilation of the infundibulum is often associated secondary to the infundibulotomy performed in the first operation. The right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction with endo-exclusion aims to exclude the non-contractile segments of the dilated right ventricular. This study intends to assess the safety and efficiency of the endo-exclusion technique. METHODS: Between January 2010 and December 2018, 86 patients underwent a PVR with (n = 46) or without (n = 40) endo-exclusion. The current study compares the outcomes in terms of survival, reintervention, structural valve deterioration, right ventricular function (volume and right ventricular ejection fraction) and pulmonary valve gradient. The median follow-up time was 4.45 years (1.9 months to 9.87 years). RESULTS: There was no 30-day mortality. There was no difference in the freedom from reintervention at 7 years (without endo-exclusion, 97%, versus with endo-exclusion, 94%, log-rank = 0.68) or in the freedom from structural pulmonary valve deterioration at 7 years (without endo-exclusion, 94%, versus with endo-exclusion, 89%, log-rank = 0.94). No significant difference was observed in the indexed right ventricular end-diastolic volume (102.2 ± 34 ml/m2 in the PVR without endo-exclusion group and 93.3 ± 22 ml/m2 in the PVR with endo-exclusion group, P = 0.61). No significant difference was observed in the right ventricular function (right ventricular ejection fraction: 46 ± 11% in the PVR without endo-exclusion group and 46 ± 9% in the PVR with endo-exclusion group, P = 0.88). CONCLUSIONS: PVR with or without endo-exclusion is a safe and effective procedure. PVR with endo-exclusion allows implantation without structural deformation of the valve and therefore excellent short- and medium-term results.

An uncommon course of the right superior vena cava in a patient with heterotaxy syndrome.

We present the case of an infant with congenital heart disease which includes a partial atrioventricular canal defect with the absence of the atrial septum (common atrium) and an extremely uncommon course of the right-sided superior vena cava (SVC) including an intra-atrial segment coursing intramurally along the right posterolateral atrial wall, with an intracardiac orifice situated low within the right side of the atrium, close to the atrial orifice of the right hepatic veins. This feature of the anatomy was discovered intraoperatively at the time of surgical repair. Systemic venous anatomy also included interrupted inferior vena cava (IVC) with azygos continuation to a left-sided SVC draining directly into the left side of the atrium. The successful surgical procedure included tunneling of the left-sided SVC to the right side of the common atrium and atrial septation with a patch.