Tricuspid atresia: association with persistent truncus arteriosus.

Clinical, echo-Doppler, and pathologic data of a rare case of tricuspid atresia in association with truncus arteriosus are presented. There are only six patients (including the patient reported here) with this anomaly in whom detailed pathologic and/or clinical descriptions are available in the literature. An additional six cases were mentioned in the literature but without any details. A prevalence rate of 1.4% among tricuspid atresia cases is estimated. All infants presented with symptoms of cyanosis and/or congestive heart failure within a few days to 2 months after birth and died shortly thereafter. Cardiomegaly and increased pulmonary vascular markings on the chest x-ray film and left axis deviation with left ventricular hypertrophy on the ECG are usually present. Echocardiographic, catheterization, and angiocardiographic studies are helpful in documenting anatomic and physiologic features of this anomaly. Pathologically, the muscular type of tricuspid atresia, type I or II truncus arteriosus, a large subtruncal VSD, and a hypoplastic right ventricle are present. It is concluded that coexistence of tricuspid atresia and truncus arteriosus is rare; clinical, laboratory, and pathologic features are distinctive; the clinical presentation early in life with rapid demise is common; and prompt palliative surgery immediately after recognition of this anomaly should be undertaken.

Comparison of an isoelectric focusing technique and high-performance liquid chromatography for determination of fetal hemoglobin levels.

The authors previously have reported measurements of fetal hemoglobin in infants in blood samples taken at autopsy using an isoelectric focusing (IEF) procedure. The current study was undertaken to compare this methodology with a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) procedure. The correlation coefficient between the IEF and HPLC procedures was 0.938. The HPLC method is technically easier and has fewer disadvantages than the IEF procedure and is recommended for the determination of fetal hemoglobin levels.

Extramedullary hematopoiesis in the liver in sudden infant death syndrome.

Liver extramedullary hematopoiesis was examined in 54 victims of sudden infant death syndrome and in 21 infants who died of other causes in an attempt to confirm Naeye's findings of increased extramedullary hematopoiesis in cases of sudden infant death syndrome. Our data showed greater extramedullary hematopoiesis in victims of sudden infant death syndrome (F = 23.52), supporting Naeye's hypothesis that victims of sudden infant death syndrome have suffered a subtle, chronic hypoxemic condition before death.

Osmiophilic deposits in cytosomes in Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome.

A young child with Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome is presented. She was well until 8 years of age when she lost interest in activities and her school performance declined. At age 11 years, she began having episodes of blepharospasm, accompanied by bilateral ptosis and occasional episodes of oculogyric crisis. By age 12 years, her motor coordination had declined and she began to exhibit evidence of dementia, dystonia, dysarthria, and tremor. Motor incoordination, dystonia, and tremor progressed until the patient was wheel-chair-bound. Multiple tests were performed, including metabolic studies, magnetic resonance imaging, bone marrow biopsy, and electron microscopy of the buffy coat. Both bone marrow and buffy coat revealed inclusions in the cytosomes which were granular and osmiophilic. To our knowledge, this is the third case report of inclusion bodies found in patients with manifestations of Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome. These findings suggest that obtaining a buffy coat and bone marrow biopsy may aid in the diagnosis of Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome and ultimately provide information regarding etiology.

Reflections on the pathogenesis of Down syndrome.

Present efforts to identify, isolate, and characterize in molecular terms the "consensus" segment of 21q sufficient to cause most of the major and some of the most characteristic minor manifestations of Down syndrome will soon provide answers to many questions. However, we think that a reductionist approach to explain the Down syndrome phenotype in a "linear" manner from the DNA sequence of the segment will be doomed to failure from the outset because of the open, complex, nonlinear, hierarchical nature of morphogenetic systems. Neo-Darwinism is under strong attack; most genetic changes accumulated over time may very well be of neutral effect, and detailed studies in several related groups of vertebrate species has shown that molecular and organismal evolution are largely independent of one another. It has been pointed out recently that biology lacks a theory of ontogenetic and phylogenetic development, and that a purely "genocentric" view of biology at the expense of the complexly hierarchical intrinsic epigenetic attributes of developmental systems is "out of focus with respect to ... biological organization and morphogenesis," and may be "a residue of nineteenth century romantic idealism." Down syndrome impresses us as a paradigm of increased developmental variability due to a deceleration of the rate of development (neoteny) with many anomalies of incomplete morphogenesis (vestigia), atavisms, increased morphometric variability with many decreased means, increased variances, and increased fluctuating asymmetry. These abnormalities, together with highly increased risk of prenatal death and postnatal morbidity, impaired growth, and abnormal CNS and gonadal structure and function characteristic of most aneuploidy syndromes, suggest to us that the pathogenesis of Down syndrome is best viewed in terms of the mechanisms of speciation. Transgenic experiment involving sequential or overlapping pieces of "the consensus segment" on distal 21q22.1-22.3 may help decide to what extent the Down syndrome phenotype can be resolved into the additive effect of several pleiotropic oligogenes with epistatic interaction or the indirect secondary "mass" effect of a specific segment of 21q with epistatic interaction involving multiple loci on 21q and other chromosomes.

"Vascular neurofibromatosis" and infantile gangrene.

An 11-year-old boy with slowly progressive gangrene caused by vasculopathy similar to that of neurofibromatosis (NF) type 1 (NF I; von Recklinghausen disease [NFvR]) and a newborn girl with idiopathic gangrene with vascular changes resembling those of NFvR prompted the analysis of all 105 propositi with NF (NF I and NF II) evaluated between January 2, 1982, and December 31, 1986, at the genetics clinic of University of South Florida. They were analyzed for renal hypertension, symptomatic ischemia, and known vascular changes. One additional 27-month-old boy with NFvR was found to have extensive vascular changes with renal hypertension. The vasculopathy indicated asymmetric over/undergrowth of cellular and extracellular components of the vascular wall and implied dysregulation of the paracrine growth mechanism. Immunocytochemical studies of affected vessels were done only in the 11-year-old boy and showed positive neuron-specific enolase, S-100 protein, and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) reactions indicative of Schwann cell involvement. The vascular changes in children with NFvR are mostly asymptomatic; however hypertension secondary to renal artery stenosis and/or Moya-moya disease have been reported infrequently. Our patients with vasculopathies provoked thoughts in regard to the so-called vascular NF, its place in current NF nomenclature and classification, relationship to fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD), and possible role in infantile gangrene.

Lymphangioendothelioma of the liver in a neonate.

The case report describes the clinical features, imaging findings, and pathology of a lymphangioendothelioma that almost entirely replaced the liver parenchyma in a neonate. No other organs were involved.

Spinocerebellar ataxia, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, and choroidal dystrophy (Boucher-Neuhäuser syndrome)

We describe two families (including one previously reported) in which cerebellar or spinocerebellar ataxia, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, and choroidal dystrophy result from abnormal function of an autosomal recessive gene. Review of the literature adds one other family with this disorder. These three examples confirm the existence of this traid as a specific, pleiotropic, single-gene syndrome. Careful ophthalmologic evaluation of patients with ataxia and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism may identify additional cases.

Polyasplenia complex with mesocardia and renal agenesis in an infant of a diabetic mother.

Despite improved prenatal care, infants of diabetic mothers (IDM) have an increased risk of congenital malformations. We report on an IDM with multiple congenital anomalies consistent with the polyasplenia complex with associated mesocardia and renal agenesis. The morphologic characteristics of these malformations are discussed. Special emphasis is given to the polyasplenia complex as an example of midline developmental field defect. The importance of maternal levels of hemoglobin A1c in relation to congenital malformations is addressed.

What lies ahead in infant nutrition.

Factors in human milk serve as stimuli for present and future investigation as supplements for infants. These substances involve macronutrients and micronutrients. Some substances such as minerals may serve as guidelines for minima and maxima for infant nutrition. While nutritional studies are needed for the prevention of disease, simultaneous nutritional studies for low birth weight and ill infants will bring major alterations in understanding of nutritional needs and types of feedings to become available.

Coexistent cardiac tumours and malformations of the heart.

Cardiac tumours and anatomical malformations of the heart may produce similar clinical signs and symptoms. The coexistence of these two abnormalities complicates diagnosis and probably adversely affects prognosis. We present a review of four cases of this rare combination. In the first case, Ebstein's malformation was present in a child with tuberous sclerosis and cardiac rhabdomyomata. Right ventricular rhabdomyomata were associated with a hypoplastic tricuspid valve in the second case. In the third case, cardiac myxomas were detected in a child with a double-chambered right ventricle. The fourth case was a child with a fibroma of the right ventricle with pulmonary atresia. We propose that, in some circumstances, a space-occupying lesion may be associated with, or possibly induce, a malformation within the developing heart.

Patterns of antigen expression in hepatoblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma in childhood.

Two hepatocellular carcinomas and six hepatoblastomas were examined for the presence of 13 antigens using immunoperoxidase, avidin-biotin, staining techniques. Primary antibodies were directed against alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT), lysozyme (LYS), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neuron specific enolase (NSE), epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), hepatitis B surface antigen (HbSA), lactoferrin (LF), desmin (DES), vimentin (VIM), and keratin (KER). Except for HbSA, the antigen staining pattern was unable to differentiate between hepatoblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. Both neoplasms where positive for AFP, AAT, CEA, EMA, and KER; however, neither stained for GFAP, NSE, LYS, LF, HCG, or DES. Vimentin was weakly positive in those hepatoblastomas where mesenchymal tissue was present in the tumor. Only the tissue adjacent to hepatocellular carcinomas stained positively for HbSA and correlated with the elevated serum levels of HbSA.

Findings in child deaths registered as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in Madison, Wisconsin.

A review of a sequential series has been carried out on 60 Madison infants whose deaths had been registered as SIDS. In 18% it was possible to identify lesions that could have given a diagnosis other than SIDS on these same infants. When the cases were assessed on a multifactorial basis, 67% of the infants had a variety of lesions present, which in combination would probably have made their deaths explicable. It was only in children dying before the age of 18 weeks that more than half of the deaths were not explicable. The generally accepted concept of SIDS as a completely unexplained death would appear to apply only if the term is confined to a single aspect of pathology--the terminal anatomic state. If the total pathologic situation of the child is taken into consideration, the diagnosis of a completely unexplained death applies to only about a third of the cases examined in Madison. The current autopsy approach to sudden and unexpected deaths from a causal viewpoint requires critical reappraisal.