TGFß level in healthy and children with Marfan syndrome-effective reduction under sartan therapy.

Introduction: Transforming growth factor ß (TGFß) metabolism plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Marfan syndrome (MFS). Accordingly, drug therapy uses TGFß receptor blockade to slow down the cardiovascular manifestations, above all aortic root dilatation. Angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers (ARBs) have been shown to reduce TGFß levels in adults. Data on childhood are lacking and are now being investigated in the TiGer For Kids study presented here. Methods: We examined 125 children without chronic disease and 31 pediatric Marfan patients with a proven FBN1 variant with regard to TGFß levels. In addition, we measured TGFß levels during the initiation of ARB therapy in pediatric Marfan patients. Results: In children without chronic disease, TGFß levels were found to decrease from childhood to adolescence (p < 0.0125). We could not measure a relevantly increased TGFß level in pediatric Marfan patients. However, we showed a significant suppression of the TGFß level after treatment with ARBs (p < 0.0125) and a renewed increase shortly before the next dose. Discussion: The TGFß level in childhood changes in an age-dependent manner and decreases with age. The TGFß level drops significantly after taking ARBs. Based on our experience and data, a TGFß receptor blockade in childhood seems reasonable. So far, TGFß level cannot be used as an MFS screening biomarker.

Outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and cardiopulmonary bypass in children after drowning-related resuscitation.

Drowning is one of the leading causes of accidental deaths in children worldwide. However, the use of long-term extracorporeal life support (ECLS) in this setting is not widely established, and rewarming is often achieved by short-term cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) treatment. Thus, we sought to add our experience with this means of support as a bridge-to-recovery or to-decision. This retrospective single-center study analyzes the outcome of 11 children (median 23 months, minimum-maximum 3 months-6.5 years) who experienced drowning and subsequent cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) between 2005 and 2016 and who were supported by veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), CPB, or first CPB then ECMO. All but one incident took place in sweet water. Submersion time ranged between 10 and 50 minutes (median 23 minutes), water temperature between 2°C and 28°C (median 14°C), and body core temperature upon arrival in the emergency department between 20°C and 34°C (median 25°C). Nine patients underwent ongoing CPR from the scene until ECMO or CPB initiation in the operating room. The duration of ECMO or CPB before successful weaning/therapy withdrawal ranged between 2 and 322 hours (median 19 hours). A total of four patients (36%) survived neurologically mildly or not affected after 4 years of follow-up. The data indicate that survival is likely related to a shorter submersion time and lower water temperature. Resuscitation of pediatric patients after drowning has a poor outcome. However, ECMO or CPB might promote recovery in selected cases or serve as a bridge-to-decision tool.

Tricuspid valve prolapse as an early predictor for severe phenotype in children with Marfan syndrome.

AIM: In Marfan syndrome, various cardiovascular pathologies, such as aortic dilatation and mitral valve pathologies, already occur in childhood and determine course of the disease. This study aimed to establish additional cardiovascular risk markers for severe Marfan phenotypes. We investigated tricuspid valve prolapse (TVP) and its predictive value for outcome of paediatric Marfan disease. METHODS: In this retrospective, observational cohort study, we identified 130 paediatric Marfan patients (10.7 ± 4.8 years) with FBN1 variants. We divided patients into two groups based on TVP presence and performed a cross-sectional analysis to investigate the association of TVP with other cardiovascular, ocular and systemic pathologies, at first and last visit. A longitudinal analysis was performed with follow-up data. RESULTS: At baseline, patients with TVP had higher incidence of aortic root dilatation (p = 0.013), mitral valve prolapse (p = 0.0001) and systemic manifestations (p = 0.025) than patients without TVP. At follow-up, previous presence of TVP predicted higher probability of aortic root dilatation (p = 0.002), mitral valve prolapse (p = 0.0001) and systemic manifestations (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: This shows that TVP is linked to both cardiac and extracardiac Marfan manifestations and TVP is an important marker for a disease severity in these children. Therefore, TVP should be assessed routinely using echocardiography in paediatric Marfan patients.

Genotype-Phenotype Correlation in Children: The Impact of FBN1 Variants on Pediatric Marfan Care.

Currently, no reliable genotype-phenotype correlation is available for pediatric Marfan patients in everyday clinical practice. We investigated correlations of FBN1 variants with the prevalence and age of onset of Marfan manifestations in childhood and differentiated three groups: missense/in-frame, splice, and nonsense/frameshift variants. In addition, we differentiated missense variants destroying or generating a cysteine (cys-missense) and alterations not affecting cysteine. We categorized 105 FBN1-positive pediatric patients. Patients with cys-missense more frequently developed aortic dilatation (p = 0.03) requiring medication (p = 0.003), tricuspid valve prolapse (p = 0.03), and earlier onset of myopia (p = 0.02) than those with other missense variants. Missense variants correlated with a higher prevalence of ectopia lentis (p = 0.002) and earlier onset of pulmonary artery dilatation (p = 0.03) than nonsense/frameshift, and dural ectasia was more common in the latter (p = 0.005). Pectus excavatum (p = 0.007) appeared more often in patients with splice compared with missense/in-frame variants, while hernia (p = 0.04) appeared earlier in the latter. Findings on genotype-phenotype correlations in Marfan-affected children can improve interdisciplinary therapy. In patients with cys-missense variants, early medical treatment of aortic dilatation seems reasonable and early regular ophthalmologic follow-up essential. Patients with nonsense/frameshift and splice variants require early involvement of orthopedic specialists to support the growing child.

Next-generation sequencing of 32 genes associated with hereditary aortopathies and related disorders of connective tissue in a cohort of 199 patients.

PURPOSE: Heritable factors play an important etiologic role in connective tissue disorders (CTD) with vascular involvement, and a genetic diagnosis is getting increasingly important for gene-tailored, personalized patient management. METHODS: We analyzed 32 disease-associated genes by using targeted next-generation sequencing and exome sequencing in a clinically relevant cohort of 199 individuals. We classified and refined sequence variants according to their likelihood for pathogenicity. RESULTS: We identified 1 pathogenic variant (PV; in FBN1 or SMAD3) in 15 patients (7.5%) and ≥1 likely pathogenic variant (LPV; in COL3A1, FBN1, FBN2, LOX, MYH11, SMAD3, TGFBR1, or TGFBR2) in 19 individuals (9.6%), together resulting in 17.1% diagnostic yield. Thirteen PV/LPV were novel. Of PV/LPV-negative patients 47 (23.6%) showed ≥1 variant of uncertain significance (VUS). Twenty-five patients had concomitant variants. In-depth evaluation of reported/calculated variant classes resulted in reclassification of 19.8% of variants. CONCLUSION: Variant classification and refinement are essential for shaping mutational spectra of disease genes, thereby improving clinical sensitivity. Obligate stringent multigene analysis is a powerful tool for identifying genetic causes of clinically related CTDs. Nonetheless, the relatively high rate of PV/LPV/VUS-negative patients underscores the existence of yet unknown disease loci and/or oligogenic/polygenic inheritance.

The Pulmonary Artery in Pediatric Patients with Marfan Syndrome: An Underestimated Aspect of the Disease.

Aortic root dilatation and its complications are known to be the most important and life limiting features in patients with Marfan syndrome (MFS). Since monitoring of patients, preventive medical and surgical treatments are available nowadays, other MFS pathologies are becoming more relevant for the outcome of the disease. Main pulmonary artery (MPA) dilatation is a cardiac finding, which has not been fully investigated in children. Due to the similarities in tissue composition of the aortic and pulmonary root, MPA dilatation may cause complications and require treatment. In addition, it may be a predictor for severe connective tissue involvement. We retrospectively examined 135 pediatric patients with MFS. 8.1% showed MPA dilatation. MPA dilatation was associated with earlier occurrence of aortic dilatation, mitral valve prolapse, and systemic manifestations of MFS compared with patients without MPA dilatation (p < 0.05). The presence of MPA dilatation was also associated with a higher incidence of ectopia lentis (p < 0.05). Medical treatment was started earlier in MPA dilatation patients than in those without (p < 0.05). We conclude that MPA dilatation is a sign of more severe vascular and connective tissue involvement. Regular examination of the pulmonary artery is essential in MFS to avoid complications. As medical treatment of life threatening MFS events has improved, other features of MFS need to be investigated to improve quality of life.

The transition of pediatric Marfan patients to adult care: a challenge and its risks.

BACKGROUND: Care for patients with Marfan syndrome (MFS) has improved substantially in recent decades. Increasing clinical knowledge and genetic analysis allow early diagnosis of the disease in childhood. Because of the earlier initiation to preventive and medical treatment, patients' life expectancy has risen. To ensure optimal care, pediatric patients require a safe follow-up regime, multidisciplinary care, and a safe transition to adult care. METHODS: We collected a sample of 149 pediatric Marfan patients, of whom 34 patients had already been transferred to adult care or who were currently transitioning. First, we evaluated clinical aspects of patients that manifest in childhood and are present in the transition process. Second, we analyzed the transition process itself. RESULTS: We found age-dependent manifestation of organ pathologies. Dilatation of the sinus of Valsalva showed a particularly high prevalence during the transition process and 62% of patients required medical treatment. Mean onset of aortic root dilatation was 9.9±5.8 years. Concerning systemic manifestation in MFS skin striae, wrist and thumb sign, and reduced elbow extension occurred significantly more often in patients who were transitioning than in younger children with MFS. All other clinical Marfan features showed an increased prevalence in patients who were transitioning compared with younger patients. In our cohort, transition was successful in 20 patients (58.9%), 12 patients (35.3%) are still in the transition process and 2 patients (5.9%) were lost to follow up. CONCLUSIONS: Marfan patients in the transition process are already under a chronic disease condition with a high onset of especially cardiovascular pathologies. Although early medical treatment in childhood is effective, the pathologies of the connective tissue require lifelong attention and influence life in many ways. The big challenge during transition is the double change of responsibility from the parents and pediatric doctor to the patient and adult doctor. Consequently, patients in transition process require special attention and close contact with the doctor and the family. A reevaluation by the supervising pediatric Marfan specialist of the successful transition to adult care is indispensable before the pediatric care of Marfan patients is completed.

"Tailored" endovascular pulmonary valve and root replacement for rupture of a dilated homograft.

Current balloon expandable and self-expanding valves have limitations for the treatment of the enlarged right ventricular outflow tract. We report the first use of a tailored Zenith graft in composition with an Edwards Sapien S3 valve as an alternative to high-risk surgery for the treatment of a spontaneously ruptured homograft in an adult congenital heart disease patient.

Health-related quality of life is unimpaired in children and adolescents with Marfan syndrome despite its distinctive phenotype.

AIM: Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a progressive, life-threatening genetic disorder of the connective tissue, which causes impaired quality of life (QoL) in adults. This study investigated the quality of life in children and adolescents, taking into account their gender, age and how MFS affected their organs. METHODS: This prospective nonrandomised single-centre study included 46 patients with verified MFS with a mean age of 10.98 years (±3.72). QoL was measured using the self-reported, multidimensional KINDL-R questionnaire and compared with an age-matched control group of 174 children and adolescents. RESULTS: No significant overall reduction of QoL was found. Total QoL scores for patients diagnosed at four to seven years were the same as the control group (77.65 ± 9.37 versus 77.06 ± 11.72), but they were higher for patients aged eight to 16 years (75.15 ± 9.19 versus 70.46 ± 11.35, p = 0.025). No gender-specific differences or impairments in QoL during adolescence were observed (p > 0.05). Analysis of the effect of organ manifestation on QoL showed better or equal QoL scores (p > 0.05), despite distinctive phenotypes such as ectopia lentis. CONCLUSION: QoL was fairly good in paediatric patients with MFS, and there was no impairment during adolescence. Despite the distinctive phenotype, quality of life was unimpaired in younger patients.

Kid-Short Marfan Score (Kid-SMS) Is a Useful Diagnostic Tool for Stratifying the Pre-Test Probability of Marfan Syndrome in Childhood.

Due to age dependent organ manifestation, diagnosis of Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a challenge, especially in childhood. It is important to identify children at risk of MFS as soon as possible to direct those to appropriate treatment but also to avoid stigmatization due to false diagnosis. We published the Kid-Short Marfan Score (Kid-SMS) in 2012 to stratify the pre-test probability of MFS in childhood. Hence we now evaluate the predictive performance of Kid-SMS in a new cohort of children. We prospectively investigated 106 patients who were suspected of having MFS. At baseline, children were examined according to Kid-SMS. At baseline and follow-up visit, diagnosis of MFS was established or rejected using standard current diagnostic criteria according to the revised Ghent Criteria (Ghent-2). At baseline 43 patients were identified with a risk of MFS according to Kid-SMS whereas 21 patients had Ghent-2 diagnosis of MFS. Sensitivity was 100%, specificity 77%, negative predictive value 100% and Likelihood ratio of Kid-SMS 4.3. During follow-up period, three other patients with a stratified risk for MFS were diagnosed according to Ghent-2. We confirm very good predictive performance of Kid-SMS with excellent sensitivity and negative predictive value but restricted specificity. Kid-SMS avoids stigmatization due to diagnosis of MFS and thus restriction to quality of life. Especially outpatient pediatricians and pediatric cardiologists can use it for primary assessment.

Retrospective analysis of the effect of angiotensin II receptor blocker versus ß-blocker on aortic root growth in paediatric patients with Marfan syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular pathology, including aortic root dilation at the level of sinus of Valsalva (SV), is one of the major causes of morbidity in paediatric patients with Marfan syndrome (MFS). ß-Blocker (BB) is well established to slow aortic dilation in MFS. Less is known about the effectiveness of angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) on aortic dilation in paediatric patients with MFS. METHODS: 215 patients with MFS (9.01 ± 5.7 years) were subject to a standardised diagnostic programme. Aortic root dilation was evaluated and followed up by echocardiography. In 48 cases, BB and ARB effects on aortic root dilation were evaluated. Effect of treatment was measured by comparison of z scores of SV before and after treatment initiation. RESULTS: Treatment by ARB and BB leads to significant reduction of SV dilation (p<0.05). The deviation of SV enlargement from normal as expressed by the rate of change in z scores was significantly reduced by a mean difference of -0.56 ± 0.71 z scores (p<0.001) under ARB therapy and by a mean difference of -0.35 ± 0.68 z scores (p<0.05) under BB therapy. The prophylactic effect of ARB and BB on aortic root dilation is similar in both groups (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both concepts lead to a significant reduction of SV dilation. The effect of ARB and BB is similar. This is the first study concerning the comparison of ARB and BB in previously untreated paediatric patients with MFS. The results of the study show that both treatment strategies are beneficial in paediatric and adolescent patients.

The Kid-Short Marfan Score (Kid-SMS) - an easy executable risk score for suspected paediatric patients with Marfan syndrome.

AIM: Due to age-dependent manifestations, diagnosis of Marfan syndrome (MFS) in children and adolescents is sophisticated. Although revised Ghent criteria is a major step forward, its utility in children is still restricted due to expensive and technically advanced diagnostics. As early diagnosis submits long-term benefits concerning prognosis, the need of an appropriate diagnostic tool for risk stratification of suspected paediatric patients with Marfan is justified. METHODS AND RESULTS: Sixty paediatric patients with Marfan were subject to a standardized diagnostic programme. All clinical symptoms of the revised Ghent nosology were analysed concerning age at first clinical manifestation, prevalence and likelihood ratio for MFS. Symptoms with early onset, high prevalence and high positive likelihood ratio were identified and combined for a risk score called Kid-Short Marfan Score (Kid-SMS). Three risk categories for suspicion of Marfan syndrome were developed. Finally, the Kid-SMS was operated in 130 paediatric patients with suspected MFS. Kid-SMS identified significantly more suspected patients with Marfan compared with Ghent nosology, revised Ghent and genetics alone without oversensitivity. CONCLUSION: Whereas diagnosis of MFS in childhood is sophisticated, Kid-SMS is a useful tool for risk stratification of suspected paediatric patients with Marfan by easy executable diagnostics, especially for paediatricians and paediatric cardiologists.

Impact of age and gender on cardiac pathology in children and adolescents with Marfan syndrome.

Cardiac pathologies are the major aspect in the treatment strategies for Marfan syndrome (MFS). In this progressive disease, less is known about manifestations and progression of cardiovascular symptoms in children. To define a certain decision regarding therapeutic options, knowledge concerning the onset of cardiovascular findings is essential. From 1998 to 2011, suspected pediatric Marfan patients were subjected to a standardized diagnostic program. Cardiovascular findings were analyzed in terms of age at first clinical manifestation, prevalence and gender differences, morbidity, mortality, and treatment. Marfan syndrome was diagnosed in 82 patients (46 boys; mean age at diagnosis, 9.0 ± 5.7 years). At first presentation, aortic root dilation was found in 56 % of patients, mitral valve prolapse in 31 %, whereas pulmonary artery dilation was detected in 22 % and tricuspid valve prolapse in only 17 % of patients. Aortic (2.5 %) and mitral valve regurgitations (22 %) are significantly correlated with aortic root dilation (p < 0.01) and mitral valve prolapse (p < 0.05) but without relevant progression during childhood. Prophylactic medication was initiated for 42 % of the patients (mean age, 8.0 ± 4.5 years) because of progressive aortic root dilation. Aortic dissection did not appear. Aortic root surgery was needed for 4 % of the patients. Gender-specific differences in cardiovascular findings, progression of disease, or treatment did not appear. Comparable with adults, aortic root dilation is the most frequent cardiovascular finding in children and associated with relevant morbidity, whereas aortic and mitral valve regurgitation are of minor clinical relevance. Manifestation at an early age and slow progression of cardiovascular findings underscore the necessity of repeated echocardiographic examinations for early diagnosis and start of prophylactic treatment.