Primera asistencia ventricular pediátrica prolongada (Berlin Heart) en la República Argentina / First Prolonged Pediatric Ventricular Assistance (Berlin Heart) in Argentina

Se implantó exitosamente un dispositivo de asistencia ventricular paracorpórea neumática -Berlin Heart-Excor- como soporte ventricular izquierdo prolongado en una niña de 8 kg de peso, con diagnóstico de origen anómalo de la arteria coronaria izquierda de la arteria pulmonar, miocardiopatía dilatada grave y trombosis intraauricular. Simultáneamente, se resecó un trombo de la aurícula izquierda y se reimplantó la coronaria anómala en la aorta ascendente. Luego de 27 días de soporte, la mejoría de la función ventricular izquierda permitió discontinuar la asistencia ventricular, con evolución satisfactoria. Dieciocho meses después, la niña desarrolla una vida normal.

A paracorporeal pneumatic ventricular assist device -Berlin Heart-Excor- was successfully implanted as a prolonged left ventricle support in a female infant (weight 8 kg), with a diagnosis of anomalous origin of left coronary artery from pulmonary artery, severe dilated myocardiopathy and intra-atrial thrombosis. At the same time, a thrombus from the left atrial appendage was resected, and the anomalous coronary artery was implanted in the ascending aorta. After 27 days of support, left ventricular function improved enough to wean from ventricular assistance, with favorable outcome. Eighteen months later, the girl carries on a normal living.

Monozygotic twins with Marfan's syndrome and ascending aortic aneurysm.

Marfan's syndrome is a hereditary connective tissue disease, in which cardiovascular abnormalities (especially aortic root dilatation) are the most important cause of morbidity and mortality. In this report, we describe two 24-year-old twins, with a history of surgery for lens subluxation and severe cardiovascular manifestations secondary to Marfan's syndrome. One of the twins suffered a type A aortic dissection, which required replacement of the ascending aorta, and the other twin had an aneurysmal dilatation of the ascending aorta (46mm) and was prescribed medical treatment with atenolol and periodic controls to detect the presence of a critical diameter (50mm) that would indicate the need for prophylactic surgery.

Acute mitral valve dysfunction due to leaflet escape in a Tri-technologies bileaflet mechanical valve.

Acute prosthetic valve dysfunction due to leaflet escape is a mode of structural valve failure of mechanical prostheses which is associated with a high mortality. In this report, we describe the case of a 32-year-old patient, who underwent mitral valve replacement with a Tri-technologies bileaflet valve three years ago, and was admitted to the hospital on August 2005, in cardiogenic shock. He discontinued oral anticoagulation therapy four months ago. Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiograms showed acute-onset massive mitral regurgitation with normal left ventricular function. The patient underwent emergency surgery, during which one leaflet was found to be absent and the other leaflet was fixed due to prosthetic thrombus.

Echocardiographic evaluation of mitral valve repair by modified "edge to edge" technique.

The "edge to edge" or "double-orifice" technique is an alternative surgical option of mitral valve repair to treat mitral regurgitation. Echocardiography is very useful to evaluate the postoperative valve function, but since this technique is not frequently used, there is little experience about its echocardiographic features, which are different from those of the classic mitral valve repair. In this report, we present a patient who underwent this repair with a modified approach called "triple-orifice technique" and was evaluated by transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography.