Worse Hospital Outcomes for Children and Adults with COVID-19 and Congenital Heart Disease.

The aim of the current study is to investigate hospitalization outcomes of COVID-19 positive children and adults with moderate or severe congenital heart disease to children and adults without congenital heart disease. Retrospective review using the Vizient Clinical Data Base for admissions of patients with an ICD-10 code for COVID-19 from April 2020 to March 2021. Admissions with COVID-19 and with and without moderate or severe congenital heart disease (CHD) were stratified into pediatric (< 18 years) and adult (≥ 18 years) and hospital outcomes were compared. There were 9478 pediatric COVID-19 admissions, 160 (1.7%) with CHD, and 658,230 adult COVID-19 admissions, 389 (0.06%) with CHD. Pediatric admissions with COVID-19 and CHD were younger (1 vs 11 years), had longer length of stay (22 vs 6 days), higher complication rates (6.9 vs 1.1%), higher mortality rates (3.8, 0.8%), and higher costs ($54,619 vs 10,731; p < 0.001 for all). Adult admissions with COVID-19 and CHD were younger (53 vs 64 years, p < 0.001), had longer length of stay (12 vs 9 days, p < 0.001), higher complication rates (8 vs 4.8%, p = 0.003), and higher costs ($23,551 vs 13,311, p < 0.001). This appears to be the first study to report the increased hospital morbidities and costs for patients with CHD affected by COVID-19. Our hope is that these findings will help counsel patients moving forward during the pandemic.

Coronary artery spasm in a 15-year-old male in diabetic ketoacidosis.

Coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction are known complications of long-standing diabetes mellitus in adults, but coronary artery spasm is far more rare and has not been reported in children. We present a 15-year-old male in diabetic ketoacidosis who developed diffuse ST segment elevations and elevated troponin with normal coronary arteries on coronary angiography and no signs of pericarditis that was due to coronary artery spasm.

Myocardial Infarction in a Seven-Year-Old Girl With Left Atrial Myxoma.

Left atrial (LA) myxomas are benign neoplasms that are rare in children. Their presentation is dependent on size and location. We describe a seven-year-old girl who was admitted with chest pain, upper respiratory symptoms, and persistent troponin elevation with suspected myocarditis. Workup revealed an infarction from a LA myxoma which embolized to her right coronary artery-posterior lateral branch (PLB). She underwent prompt successful surgical excision of the myxoma. We elected not to perform a coronary artery embolectomy and her infarction was managed medically. We describe this unique clinical scenario and the decision-making process leading to a successful outcome.

Novel use of the double kissing crush technique to stent complex pulmonary artery stenosis in a child with Alagille syndrome.

Coronary bifurcation lesions and treatment with two-stent techniques have been developed, including the double kissing (DK) crush technique. The use of this technique in children or noncoronary vessels, including pulmonary arteries, has not been described. We present a 12-year-old girl with Alagille syndrome, a ventricular septal defect (VSD), and complex bilateral pulmonary artery (PA) stenoses who is status post six catheterizations for PA angioplasty and stenting to improve her marked right ventricular hypertension. With collaboration between the congenital and structural teams, she successfully underwent the DK crush technique for a complex lesion in her PA. This improved pulmonary flow and allowed for successful surgical VSD closure.

An unusual presentation of neonatal rhabdomyosarcoma: a case report.

A full-term infant with an unremarkable prenatal course presented at birth with a large midline facial mass and smaller masses in the head and neck. In addition, multiple diffuse flesh-colored nodules spread along all the upper and lower limbs. An extensive evaluation to cover a broad differential diagnosis of infectious, lymphatic/vascular, and oncologic etiology was undertaken. The initial suspicion was confirmed by biopsy of the skin lesion as congenital alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). RMS is the most common soft tissue sarcoma that occurs in childhood. However, neonatal RMS is exceedingly rare. The infant's initial treatment included vincristine, dactinomycin, and cyclophosphamide in addition to salvage ifosfamide and etoposide, which were dose-adjusted for age. Herein, we present a case of an infant with RMS who showed initial improvement before relapsing and succumbing to her disease at 5 months of age. A review of the limited literature available on this rare condition and newer treatment regimens with improved mortality rates is performed.

Contemporary pregnancy outcomes for women with moderate and severe congenital heart disease.

Background: Women with congenital heart disease (CHD) are surviving into adulthood, with more undergoing pregnancy. Methods: Retrospective review of the Vizient database from 2017-2019 for women 15-44 years old with moderate, severe or no CHD and vaginal delivery or caesarean section. Demographics, hospital outcomes and costs were compared. Results: There were 2,469,117 admissions: 2,467,589 with no CHD, 1277 with moderate and 251 with severe CHD. Both CHD groups were younger than no CHD, there were fewer white race/ethnicity in the no CHD group and more women with Medicare in both CHD groups compared to no CHD. With increasing CHD severity there was an increase in length of stay, ICU admission rates and costs. There were also higher rates of complications, mortality and caesarean section in the CHD groups. Conclusion: Pregnant women with CHD have more problematic pregnancies and understanding this impact is important to improve management and decrease healthcare utilization.

Acute Hospital Outcomes for Renal Transplantation in Patients With Moderate or Severe Congenital Heart Disease.

Children and adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) are increasingly recognized to be at risk for acute and chronic renal injury. Some of these may progress to the need for renal transplantation. We hypothesized that patients with underlying moderate or severe CHD who undergo renal transplantation will have worse acute hospital outcomes. Using a national administrative database, we queried for admissions aged 0 to 50 years with moderate or severe CHD and renal transplantation and compared these to admissions without CHD. There were 56 admissions for renal transplantation in the CHD group (0.04%) and 26,285 admissions in the group without CHD (0.21%, p<0.001). The CHD group were younger, had a higher proportion of Whites, longer length of stay, higher complication rates, higher in-hospital mortality, and higher costs. In conclusion, although renal transplantation is still relatively uncommon in the CHD population, there is an increasing recognition of severe chronic renal disease in the setting of CHD, making it important to understand the potential implications of these findings.

Cardiology Care and Loss to Follow-Up Among Adults With Congenital Heart Defects in CH STRONG.

Many of the estimated 1.4 million adults with congenital heart defects (CHDs) in the United States are lost to follow-up (LTF) despite recommendations for ongoing cardiology care. Using 2016 to 2019 CH STRONG (Congenital Heart Survey To Recognize Outcomes, Needs, and well-beinG) data, we describe cardiac care among community-based adults with CHD, born in 1980 to 1997, identified through state birth defects registries. Our estimates of LTF were standardized to the CH STRONG eligible population and likely more generalizable to adults with CHD than clinic-based data. Half of our sample were LTF and more than 45% had not received cardiology care in over 5 years. Of those who received care, only 1 in 3 saw an adult CHD physician at their last encounter. Not knowing they needed to see a cardiologist, being told they no longer needed cardiology care, and feeling "well" were the top reasons for LTF, and only half of respondents report doctors discussing the need for cardiac follow-up.

Intravascular Ultrasound for Pulmonary Vein Stenosis Interventions in Congenital Heart Disease.

OBJECTIVE: Pulmonary vein stenosis (PVS) is aggressive, with high morbidity and mortality. Surgical and catheter interventions yield modest success, at best. Refinements in catheter interventions could potentially improve outcomes in this patient population. The goal of this study was to determine the utility of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) for patients with congenital heart disease and PVS. METHODS: Single-center, retrospective review of patients with congenital heart disease and PVS undergoing diagnostic or interventional catheterizations from March 2015 to February 2020. IVUS of the pulmonary veins was performed using an Eagle Eye Platinum IVUS catheter (Volcano Corporation). RESULTS: Five patients underwent 6 procedures (2 diagnostic, 4 interventional). Median age was 1.5 years (range, 0.7-47.5 years) and weight was 8.8 kg (range, 7.3-61 kg). For the interventional procedures, mean pulmonary vein gradient was 8.7 mm Hg with reduction to 1.1 mm Hg (P<.001). Four patients had congenital PVS and 1 patient was post repair of Scimitar syndrome with an obstructed pulmonary venous baffle. Use of IVUS allowed confirmation of stent expansion and apposition, interval vessel growth after initial stenting, and detection of long-segment hypoplasia, unlikely to respond to intervention. There were no thrombotic complications related to IVUS use. CONCLUSIONS: IVUS of the pulmonary veins is safe and easy to perform, and provides detailed imaging of PVS to help guide therapy. For those requiring intervention, adequate stent apposition to the pulmonary vein walls, as well as limiting vessel overdilation, may minimize future in-stent stenosis and need for reintervention in this challenging disease.