Prenatal diagnosis of accessory mitral valve tissue in a fetus with persistent dysrhythmia.

BACKGROUND: Accessory mitral valve tissue (AMVT) is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly that mainly diagnosed in the first decade of life. However, asymptomatic cases may not be diagnosed even up to adulthood. We report a fetus with AMVT to show the diagnostic ability of the fetal echocardiography for detection of this pathology in the prenatal period. CASE PRESENTATION: AMVT was diagnosed in a 26-week-old male fetus with persistent dysrhythmia. Dysrhythmia could not be aborted and controlled by sotalol till the third trimester evaluation. Apical left ventricular (LV) diverticulum was the additional finding in his fetal echocardiogram. After birth, he was in sinus rhythm and echocardiography confirmed the presence of AMVT, however, without any evidence of LV apical diverticulum. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of AMVT in the prenatal period is possible by fetal echocardiography.

Cardiac Calcified Amorphous Tumor in the Neonatal Period.

Calcified amorphous tumor (CAT) of the heart is a rare nonneoplastic cardiac mass that may exhibit symptoms resembling malignancy. In this report, we presented a 4-month-old male baby with repeated attacks of cyanosis and a cardiac murmur. Echocardiography revealed a tumoral noncircumscribed mass in the right atrium adhering to the interatrial septum which extends to the inferior vena cava. Cardiac exploration was carried out to excise the tumor. A histopathological study demonstrated the presence of thrombus-like tissue with extensive calcification and foreign body type giant cell reactions. After operation, the patient had an uneventful hospitalization. Although CAT is mainly diagnosed in adult patients, it should be considered in the causes of cardiac mass in the neonatal period.

A prospective cohort study on association of first-trimester serum biomarkers and risk of isolated foetal congenital heart defects.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to assess the association between first-trimester biomarkers in foetuses with a non-chromosomal congenital heart defect (CHD) and compares it to the matched healthy foetuses. METHOD: Nuchal Translucency (NT), Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A (PAPP-A) and free beta-human Chorionic Gonadotropin (ß-hCG) were evaluated in 56 isolated foetal heart defects and 224 controls. The CHDs were further divided into Critical CHD (C-CHD) and Non-critical CHD (N-CHD) groups. RESULTS: The multiple of the median (MoM) values for PAPP-A were significantly lower (0.87 MoM vs. 0.92 MoM; p = 0.008) in the total CHD group than in controls. The median of foetal NT values was significantly higher in the total CHDs than in controls (1.16 MoM vs. 1.03 MoM; p < 0.001), especially for C-CHDs (1.28 MoM; P < 0.001). There were no significant differences in terms of PAPP-A (p = 0.779) and foetal NT values (p = 0.760) between the N-CHDs and control groups. There were no significant differences within the groups based on free ß-hCG, except for a lower ß-hCG in C-CHD group than in the control group (0.95 MoM vs. 1.11 MoM; p = 0.022). CONCLUSION: Lower PAPP-A levels and increased NT thickness were associated with an increased risk of CHDs, especially the critical type of CHDs.Clinical significanceMaternal serum PAPP-A, measured in the first trimester, is significantly lower in CHD.Foetal NT is significantly thicker in foetuses with CHD, especially those with critical CHD.Maternal serum ß-hCG was only decreased among critical CHD group.

Noninvasive Evaluation of Myocardial Systolic Dysfunction in the Early Stage of Kawasaki Disease: A Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography Study.

BACKGROUND: Evaluation of myocardial function by speckle-tracking echocardiography is a new method for the early diagnosis of systolic dysfunction. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine myocardial speckle-tracking echocardiography indices in Kawasaki Disease (KD) patients and compare them with the same indices in control subjects. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-two patients (65.5% males) with KD and 19 control subjects with normal echocardiography participated in this study. After their demographic characteristics and clinical findings were recorded, all the participants underwent transthoracic echocardiography. Strain (S), Strain Rate (SR), Time to Peak Strain (TPS), and Strain Rate (TPSR), longitudinal velocity and view point velocity images in the two, three, and four-chamber views were semi-automatically obtained via speckle-tracking echocardiography. RESULTS: Among the patients, Twenty-four cases (75%) were younger than 4 years. Mean global S and SR was significantly reduced in the KD patients compared to controls (17.03 ± 1.28 vs. 20.22 ± 2.14% and 1.66 ± 0.16 vs. 1.97 ± 0.25 1/second, respectively), while there were no significant differences regarding mean TPS, TPSR, longitudinal velocity and view point velocity. Using repeated measure of analysis of variances, we observed that S and SR decreased from base to apical level in both groups. The change in the pattern of age adjusted mean S and SR across levels was significantly different between the groups (P < 0.001 for both parameters). CONCLUSIONS: We showed changes in S and SR assessed in KD patients versus control subjects in the acute phase of KD. However, we suggest that further studies be undertaken to compare S and SR in the acute phase and thereafter in KD patients.