Mechanical Support With Impella During Malignant Arrhythmia Ablation: A Case Report on the Growing Trend in the Electrophysiology Laboratory.

Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries is a rare form of congenital heart disease in which the persistence of the right ventricle as the systemic ventricle leads to heart failure, tricuspid valve insufficiency, and arrhythmia. Supraventricular arrhythmias are especially common in these patients. We discuss the anesthetic management of a 33-year-old patient with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries who required a ventricular assist device to maintain cardiac output during ablation of supraventricular tachyarrythmia. A witnessed pulseless cardiac arrest and resuscitation during a previous episode of supraventricular tachycardia prompted the elective insertion of the Impella catheter after induction of anesthesia for the ablation procedure.

Nonfluoroscopic Imaging as Guidance for Radiofrequency Ablation of Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia after Mustard Repair.

Most tachycardias in the pulmonary venous atrium are inaccessible by direct means and require either a retrograde approach or a transseptal approach for ablation. We present a case in which successful radiofrequency ablation of common atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia was accomplished via a retrograde transaortic approach guided by nonfluoroscopic mapping with use of the NavX™ mapping system. The patient was a 49-year-old woman who at the age of 4 years had undergone Mustard repair for complete dextrotransposition of the great arteries. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the ascending aorta, right ventricle, systemic venous atrium, left ventricle, and superior vena cava-inferior vena cava baffle complex were created, and the left-sided His bundle was marked. After a failed attempt at ablation from the systemic venous side, we eliminated the atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia by ablation from the pulmonary venous side. This case is, to our knowledge, the first report of successful radiofrequency ablation of common atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia after Mustard repair for this congenital cardiac malformation in which ablation was guided by 3-dimensional nonfluoroscopic imaging. This imaging technique enabled accurate anatomic location of the ablation catheters in relation to the His bundle marked from the systemic venous side.

Mapping and ablation of anteroseptal atrial tachycardia in patients with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries: implication of pulmonary sinus cusps.

AIMS: We sought to investigate focal atrial tachycardias (ATs) in patients with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (ccTGA). METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified three cases of focal ATs with ccTGA from 2007 to 2015. The clinical findings, electrocardiography, electrophysiological features, and ablation were reported. All three cases had {S,L,L}-type ccTGA. The AT P waves shared the following features: narrow in width, positive in leads I and aVL, and negative/positive in lead V1. All ATs had focal activation pattern with early activation at the anteroseptal area, and further mapping demonstrated earliest atrial activation (EAA) inside the pulmonary sinus cusps (PSCs), especially the right PSC. In Cases 1 and 2, double potentials were recorded at the EAA sites. Conduction delay between the two potentials during atrial extrastimulus was observed. After successful ablation, the second potential during sinus rhythm was further delayed in Case 1 and was eliminated in Case 2. However, only one potential was recorded in Case 3. All three cases were successfully managed by ablating the sites with EAA, which preceded the P-wave onset by 60, 80, and 42 ms, respectively. During ablation, no junctional rhythm was observed. Incomplete left bundle branch block was induced during mapping in Case 1, but no other complications occurred. All patients were free from tachycardia during follow-up periods of 36, 7, and 5 months, respectively. CONCLUSION: Anteroseptal AT in patients with ccTGA could be eliminated by ablation inside the PSC.

Radiofrequency catheter ablation of intractable ventricular tachycardia in an infant following arterial switch operation.

A full-term male neonate presented with cyanosis upon delivery and was subsequently diagnosed with d-transposition of the great arteries, ventricular septal defect, and restrictive atrial septal defect. Following initiation of intravenous prostaglandins and balloon atrial septostomy, an arterial switch operation was performed on day 3 of life. The postoperative course was complicated by intractable ventricular tachycardia that was refractory to lidocaine, amiodarone, esmolol, fosphenytoin, and mexiletine drug therapy. Ventricular tachycardia was suppressed with overdrive atrial pacing but recurred upon discontinuation. Seven weeks postoperatively, radiofrequency catheter ablation was performed due to hemodynamically compromising persistent ventricular tachycardia refractory to medical therapy. The ventricular tachycardia was localized to the inferior-lateral right ventricular outlet septum. The procedure was successful without complications or recurrence. Antiarrhythmics were discontinued after the ablation procedure. Seven days after the ablation, a different, slower fascicular rhythm was noted to compete with the infant's sinus rhythm. This was consistent with the preablation amiodarone having reached subtherapeutic levels given its very long half-life. The patient was restarted on oral beta blockers and amiodarone. The patient was subsequently discharged home in predominantly sinus rhythm with intermittent fascicular rhythm.

Strategic and operational aspects of a transfusion-free neonatal arterial switch operation.

Blood transfusion-free complex congenital cardiac surgery in a neonate remains a challenge for multidisciplinary cardiac teams. At our institution, a 3.5 kg neonate, born to a family of Jehovah's Witnesses and postnatally diagnosed with dextro-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA) and a small muscular ventricular septal defect, underwent a successful arterial switch operation without blood or platelet transfusion. Key points that contributed to success were optimal preoperative haematopoetic conditioning using erythropoietin and iron, a miniaturized cardiopulmonary bypass circuit including a low prime volume oxygenator and crystalloid cardioplegia, and a well-coordinated multidisciplinary team. We report an overview of the literature regarding blood transfusion-free complex congenital cardiac surgery.

Intra-isthmus reentry associated with uncorrected double inlet left ventricle and transposition of the great arteries.

A 62-year-old man with uncorrected cyanotic congenital heart disease involving double inlet left ventricle with visceral and atrial situs solitus, L-looped ventricles, L-transposed great vessels, and pulmonary stenosis, presented with recurrent atrial tachycardia. Entrainment mapping revealed the arrhythmia mechanism to be an uncommon micro-reentrant cavotricuspid isthmus-dependent circuit (intra-isthmus reentry), which was amenable to radiofrequency ablation. This uncommon right atrial arrhythmia is yet to be reported in patients with complex congenital heart disease and was amenable to radiofrequency ablation.

Arterial switch operation in the first hours of life using autologous umbilical cord blood.

BACKGROUND: In this study, we analyzed our clinical experience performing the arterial switch operation in the first hours of life using autologous umbilical cord blood transfusion (AUCBT). The safety and efficiency of AUCBT was assessed and compared with surgery with the use of homologous blood transfusion. METHODS: Between September 2009 and February 2011, 61 neonates underwent ASO at our institution. Patients were enrolled and allocated to two groups with different modalities of management strategies for neonates with dextrotransposition of the great arteries. RESULTS: The groups were similar in diagnoses, birth weight, cardiopulmonary bypass protocol, and surgical technique, excepting timing of surgery and blood management strategy. Preoperative mean hematocrit did not differ significantly between the groups (45% versus 45%). Mean hematocrit was significantly lower in the study group than in the control group during cardiopulmonary bypass (24% versus 31%). The hematocrit progressively increased in the study group to 38% on the first postoperative day. Serum lactate levels were higher in the study group till the second day after surgery. There were no significant differences in postoperative clinical profiles. There were no hospital deaths and no AUCBT-related side effects in our study. CONCLUSIONS: The arterial switch operation can be performed in the first hours of life with AUCBT. Therefore, AUCBT is a safe and an efficient alternative to homologous blood in neonatal open heart surgery. During the study, we also identified positive economic effects associated with this approach.

"Transseptal" technique through atrial baffles for 3-dimensional mapping and ablation of atrial tachycardia in patients with d-transposition of the great arteries.

Access to targets for radiofrequency ablation in patients with congenital heart disease may be limited by anatomy and by surgically placed obstacles. In patients with atrial switch anatomy for d-transposition of the great arteries, the critical isthmus for maintenance of intraatrial macroreentry circuits is found often on the pulmonary venous side of the atrial baffle. A retrograde approach is extremely difficult for these arrhythmias. Use of transseptal techniques for diagnostic catheterization in these patients has been reported. We report the use of a transseptal technique in two cases in conjunction with 3-dimensional electroanatomic mapping for the successful ablation of atrial reentry tachycardias in patients with Mustard and Senning anatomy.

Transposición corregida de las grandes arterias en pacientes mayores de 65 años / Corrected transposition of the great arteries in the elderly

Describimos tres enfermos con transpocisión corregida de las grandes arterias, mayores de 65 años. El primero con una sobrevida de 80 años tenía situs inversus atrial, estenosis valvular pulmonar calcificada, pequeña comunicación interventricular y discreta regurgitación tricuspídea. El segundo era portador de situs solitus atrial, con comunicación interatrial e interventricular amplias. El último también tenía situs solitus atrial y disctera regurgitación tricuspídea, diagnosticada por ecocardiografía y angiocardiografía. La evolución clínica de uno de estos enfermos mostró que los defectos septales evolucionan al igual que en los enfermos portadores de conexiones atrioventriculares y ventriculoarteriales concordantes, son pacientes que desarrollan hipertensión arterial pulmonar y posteriormente insuficiencia cardíaca secundaria. El primer sujeto de esta serie tenía como lesión significativa una estenosis pulmonar valvular de cierta importancia, que se calcificó y cuya asociación con cardiopatía isquémica tuvo un papel importante en la génesis de la insuficiencia cardíaca. El tercer sujeto, para fines prácticos sin defectos asociados, tuvo como complicación una enfermedad vascular cerebral. Ninguno desarrolló bloqueo atrioventricular, a pesar de la larga evolución. Estos tres casos ejemplifican una evolución natural poco habitual de la transpiración corregida de las grandes arterias