Hemodynamic and Echocardiographic Characteristics and the Presence of Pulmonary Hypertension in Patent Ductus Arteriosus Patients who Underwent Transcatheter Closure.

We investigated the hemodynamic parameters of pediatric PDA patients and focused on the influence of PDA size on pulmonary arterial pressure and the prevalence of pulmonary hypertension. A total of 52 patients aged between 2 months and 20 years who received transcatheter closure of a PDA from January 2018 to June 2022 in our institution were retrospectively recruited. Their hemodynamic parameters collected both by echocardiography and by cardiac catheterization were analyzed to delineate the influence of PDA size on the pulmonary vascular system. The echocardiographic-based ductal size and indexed PDA size were 1.93 mm (1.15-6 mm) and 4.05 mm/m2 (2.03-25.47 mm/m2), respectively. The pulmonary artery pressure measured was 20.83 mmHg (8-45 mmHg). We found a positive correlation between indexed PDA size and mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.47, p < 0.001). A subgroup analysis showed that 28 patients (53.8%) developed pulmonary hypertension (PH) (defined as mPAP > 20 mmHg). The median age of the PH group was 1.02 years [range: 0.19-8.64], which was significantly younger than the non-PH group's median age of 3.43 years [range: 0.42-19.96] (p = 0.001). The indexed PDA size for the PH group, 4.69 mm/m2, was significantly higher than that of the non-PH group, 3.2 mm/m2 (p = 0.004). The major risk factor for patients with PH was the PDA/BSA index, with an OR of 2.181 (95% CI, 1.224-3.887). Our demographic data showed younger patients with a higher PDA/BSA index are more likely to develop pulmonary hypertension.

Physiological QT Interval Changes in Early Infancy Using Post-Menstrual and Post-Natal Age Calculation for Electrocardiogram Long QT Interval Screening in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Prolongation of the QT interval is associated with the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. QT interval differs depending on age at the time of screening. Screening protocols have yet to be established for Taiwanese patients. OBJECTIVES: To construct QT interval reference values during early infancy, to investigate whether QT interval change differs according to age calculation methods, and to identify an optimal QT correction method and associated infant factors. METHODS: Electrocardiographic readings and QT intervals were recorded cross-sectionally in 595 healthy infants and screened prospectively for long QT interval. Corrected QT intervals with Bazett's (QTc-B) and Fridericia's (QTc-F) formulas were compared by post-natal and post-menstrual screening age, sex, body mass index (BMI), heart rate (HR), birth and family history. RESULTS: QTc-B and QTc-F decreased in the second month (31-60 days), and peaked in the third month (61-90 days). QT interval length was similar between post-menstrual and post-natal ages for QTc-B. Simple linear regression showed that post-menstrual age, post-natal age, HR and BMI were associated with QTc-F, while only sex and HR were associated with QTc-B. Although both QTc-B and QTc-F were significantly associated with HR, QTc-B was less affected by HR than QTc-F (ß = -0.1, p < 0.05 for QTc-B vs. ß = -0.3, p < 0.001 for QTc-F). Female infants tended to have slightly longer QTc intervals. CONCLUSIONS: QT interval in early infancy changed physiologically, peaking in the third month. The rate of QT change was not affected by different age correction methods. QTc-B was less affected by age, BMI and HR, although differences in sex should be noted.

Impact of Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava Detection in a Normal Neonatal Population through Echocardiography.

BACKGROUND: Persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) is a vascular anomaly that is usually asymptomatic and detected incidentally. The incidence of PLSVC has seldom been evaluated in normal populations. In this study, we determined the incidence of PLSVC in a normal neonatal population using transthoracic echocardiography. We also evaluated the associations between PLSVC and asymptomatic congenital heart diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, we identified healthy neonates based on echocardiography results from 2008 to 2017. Based on the echocardiography findings, we categorized the patients into a PLSVC group and a control group (patients without PLSVC). Chi-square and logistic regression tests were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 19,488 neonates assessed in this study, 56 were found to have PLSVC, and the remaining 19,432 neonates comprised the control group. The incidence of PLSVC was 0.29% in our population. In the PLSVC group, 3.6% of the patients exhibited bicuspid aortic valves, and 10.7% of the patients exhibited secundum-type atrial septal defects. Both the incidence and association of these conditions were higher in the PLSVC group than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the echocardiography examination results, we discovered that the incidence of PLSVC in Taiwanese neonates was 0.29%. Although the neonates with PLSVC were asymptomatic and exhibited no health concerns, they were associated with higher incidence rates of bicuspid aortic valves and secundum-type atrial defects. Additional follow-up and evaluation regarding these findings may be warranted.

Noncardiac DiGeorge syndrome diagnosed with multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification: A case report.

DiGeorge syndrome is not really a rare disease. A microdeletion of chromosome 22q11.2 is found in most patients. Sharing the same genetic cause, a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations such as conotruncal anomaly face syndrome, Cayler cardiofacial syndrome, and velocardiofacial syndrome have been reported. Classic characteristics are cardiac defects, abnormal facial features, thymic hypoplasia, cleft palate, and hypocalcemia. We report a 6-year-old female child presenting with generalized seizure resulting from hypocalcemia. She had no cardiac defects and no hypocalcemia episode in neonatal stage, and had been said to be normal before by her parents until the diagnosis was made. This highlights the importance of extracardiac manifestations in the diagnosis of DiGeorge syndrome, and many affected patients may be underestimated with minor facial dysmorphism. As health practitioners, it is our duty to identify the victims undermined in the population, and start thorough investigations and the following rehabilitation as soon as possible. Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification is a rapid, reliable, and economical alternative for the diagnosis of 22q11.2 deletion.

National database study of survival of pediatric congenital heart disease patients in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The incidence of congenital heart disease (CHD) and severe CHD is 13.08 and 1.51/1000 live births, respectively, in Taiwan, which has had national health insurance since 1995 and child health indices similar to those in the US. This study sought to further elucidate the fatality of CHD patients and their survival from a national database. METHODS: From the national health insurance database 2000-2010, we retrieved data from CHD patients who were diagnosed at age <6 years. The survival status at discharge was ascertained for estimation of survival. RESULTS: In total, 18,843 pediatric CHD patients were identified. The overall prevalence of CHD was 1288 per 100 000 live-births. Severe CHD (tetralogy of Fallot (4.4%), transposition of the great arteries (1.6%) and double outlet right ventricle (1.1%)) accounted for 11.5% of all cases. The 1-month/5-year survival in simple and severe CHD was 99.1%/97.5% and 90.2%/76.4%, respectively (p < 0.0001). The Kaplan-Meier survival at 5 years of age was lowest for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (19.7%), followed by transposition of the great arteries (66.7%), double outlet right ventricle (69.0%), and common ventricle (66.0%). The 5-year survival of the birth cohort in the same study period was 99.3%. CONCLUSION: This national database study revealed that the survival of children with simple CHD was still slightly lower than that of the general population and the survival of severe CHD patients, though only accounting for one-tenth of CHD cases, remained unsatisfactory. Such survival profiles are similar to those from Western reports and warrant a refined and dedicated medical care program for children with CHD.

Transmission of acute infectious illness among cases of Kawasaki disease and their household members.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a disease of unknown cause and the causative agent is most likely to be infectious in nature. To investigate the household transmission pattern of infectious illness and etiology, we thus initiated a prospective case and household study. METHODS: We enrolled KD cases and their household members from February 2004 to September 2008. The KD cases and their household members accepted questionnaire-based interviews of the contact history, signs of infection, and symptoms to check whether clusters of infectious illness occurred. RESULTS: A total of 142 KD cases and 561 household members were enrolled. Among the 142 KD cases, 136 cases (96%) were typical KD, and six (4%) were atypical KD. Of the 561 household members, 17% were siblings, 46% were parents, 18% were grandparents, and the others were cousins or babysitters. Prior to the onset of their KD illness, 66% (94/142) KD cases had contact with ill household members. On the same day of the onset of KD cases' illness, 4% (6/142) KD cases had household members with illness. After KD cases' disease onset, 70% (100/142) KD cases had at least one other family member with illness. Overall, 61% (343/561) of all the household members had acute infectious illness during KD cases' acute stage, and 92% (130/142) of the families had clusters of infectious illness. CONCLUSION: A total of 66% KD cases had positive contact with ill household members prior to their disease onset and 92% of families had clusters of infectious illness, so KD is strongly associated with infections.

Viral infections associated with Kawasaki disease.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a disease of unknown cause. To investigate the infectious etiology of Kawasaki disease, we initiated a prospective case-control study to investigate possible links between common viral infections and Kawasaki disease. METHODS: We enrolled 226 children with KD and 226 age- and sex-matched healthy children from February 2004 to March 2010. Throat and nasopharyngeal swabs were taken for both viral isolation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for various viruses. RESULTS: The mean age of the 226 KD cases was 2.07 years, and the male to female ratio was 1.43 (133 boys to 93 girls). Their mean fever duration was 7.5 days with a mean peak temperature of 39.7°C. In addition to the typical symptoms of fever, neck lymphadenopathy, lip fissure and/or strawberry tongue, skin rash, nonpurulent bulbar conjunctivitis, palm/sole erythema, and induration followed by periungual desquamation, these KD cases also exhibited cough (69%), rhinorrhea (58%), and diarrhea (45%). Cases of KD had a significantly higher positive rate of viral isolation in comparison with the control group (7.5% vs. 2.2%, p = 0.02). Compared with the control group, cases of KD were more likely to have overall positive rates of viral PCR (50.4% vs. 16.4%, p < 0.001) and for various viruses including enterovirus (16.8% vs. 4.4%, p < 0.001), adenovirus (8.0% vs. 1.8%, p = 0.007), human rhinovirus (26.5% vs. 9.7%, p < 0.001), and coronavirus (7.1% vs. 0.9%, p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: We found that some common respiratory viruses, such as adenoviruses, enteroviruses, rhinoviruses, and coronaviruses, were associated with KD cases.

Identifying term breast-fed infants at risk of significant hyperbilirubinemia.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to establish a model to identify term breast-fed infants who are at risk of developing significant neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. METHODS: A prospective study was designed to investigate the effects of birth weight, mode of delivery, cephalohematoma, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, predischarge total serum bilirubin, variant uridine 5'diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1) gene, and hepatic solute carrier organic anion transporter 1B1 (SLCO1B1) gene on significant hyperbilirubinemia in term breast-fed neonates. Significant hyperbilirubinemia was defined as a bilirubin level exceeding the hour-specific phototherapy treatment threshold recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2004. RESULTS: Of 240 exclusively breast-fed term neonates, 26 (10.8%) had significant hyperbilirubinemia. The predischarge total serum bilirubin on the third day (odds ratio (OR) = 2.63; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.87-3.70; P < 0.001) and the variant UGT1A1 gene at nucleotide 211 (OR = 5.00; 95% CI: 1.08-23.03; P < 0.05) were significant risk factors. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the predictive probability was 0.964 (95% CI: 0.932-0.984; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Combining the total serum bilirubin on the third day and the variant UGT1A1 gene at nucleotide 211 can predict hyperbilirubinemia well in term breast-fed infants.

Results and Complications After Single-Stage Repair of Aortopulmonary Window and Interrupted Aortic Arch in a 32-Week Preterm and a Full-Term Neonate.

BACKGROUND An aortopulmonary window (APW) is an uncommon congenital defect of the septation between the ascending aorta and pulmonary trunk. The combination of APW and interrupted aortic arch (IAA) is even rarer, with the hallmark characteristics of high peri-operative mortality and postoperative obstruction of the aortic arch, pulmonary artery, and left main bronchus. These complications often need re-interventions. CASE REPORT We present 2 cases with diagnoses of APW and IAA that were treated with single-stage repair. Case 1: A male 32-week premature newborn (weight 1789 g) had APW type I and IAA type A. He had severe postoperative aortic arch obstruction on postoperative day 1, and we re-intervened promptly. He was still asymptomatic after 6 years. Case 2: A male term neonate had APW type III and IAA type A. He had left vocal cord paralysis and left bronchial compression postoperatively. We applied prolonged noninvasive respiratory supports. The complications resolved without re-intervention on postoperative day 66. Progressive arch stenosis at anastomosis after operation required close follow-up with echocardiography. CONCLUSIONS These 2 reports highlight the feasibility of single-stage surgical repair while addressing 2 challenges: (1) Recurrent arch stenosis: Lower body weight and direct end-to-side anastomosis without patch augmentation could be risk factors for re-intervention. (2) Bronchial compression: Presentation of the second reported case implied that bronchial compression may not warrant immediate re-intervention unless there is complete obstruction, persistent atelectasis, or recurrent infection. Further studies on long-term outcomes of different surgical procedure would help us to clarify the proper way to avoid re-intervention.

Clinical outcomes of handmade polytetrafluoroethylene trileaflet-valved conduit used for pulmonary valve replacement.

OBJECTIVES: To mitigate the shortage of homograft sources, the use of handmade trileaflet expanded polytetrafluoroethylene valves in pulmonary valve replacement has shown excellent results from multicentre studies conducted in Japan. However, world-wide data outside Japan are relatively insufficient. This study presents the long-term results of a single surgeon's use of flipped-back trileaflet method in a 10-year case series. METHODS: We have developed an efficient way to make a trileaflet-valved conduit utilizing flipped-back method for pulmonary valve replacement and have employed the technique since 2011. Retrospective data were studied between October 2010 and January 2020. Echocardiography, electrocardiogram, Pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide and Magnetic Resonance Imaging data were analysed. RESULTS: Fifty-five patients were reviewed and median follow-up duration was 2.9 years. The majority of diagnoses was Tetralogy of Fallot (n = 41), and these patients subsequently underwent secondary pulmonary valve replacement at a median age of 15.6 years. Survival was 92.7% with the longest follow-up period being 10 years. There was no need for reoperation, and freedom from reintervention was 98.0% at 10 years. There were 4 deaths (3 in-hospital and 1 outpatient). One patient eventually received transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation. Postoperative echocardiography showed mild or less pulmonary stenosis and pulmonary regurgitation degree in 92.2% and 92.0% of patients, respectively. Comparable magnetic resonance imaging data (n = 25) showed significant reduction in right ventricular volumes but not in ejection fractions. CONCLUSIONS: Our series showed satisfactory long-term function of handmade flipped-back trileaflet-valved conduit used in our patients. The simple design is efficiently reproducible without complex fabrication process.

Resuscitated Sudden Cardiac Arrest of a Neonate with Congenital LQT Syndrome-Associated Torsades de Pointes: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the most common cause of infant death in developed countries, is attributed to diverse trigger factors. Malignant cardiac dysrhythmias are potentially treatable etiologies, and congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS) is the most common cardiac ionic channelopathy confronted. ß-Blockers or class Ib agents are the drugs of choice for the control of arrhythmias, and an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) should be considered for secondary prevention in survivors of lethal cardiac death. We report the case of a 4-day old neonate, later genetically confirmed as LQT type 3 (LQT3), who survived a pulseless torsades de pointes (TdP) attack and was successfully treated with propranolol, mexiletine, and ICD implantation.

Risk of hyperbilirubinemia in breast-fed infants.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the risk factors for hyperbilirubinemia in infants who are exclusively breast-fed. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective study was conducted to investigate the effects of birth body weight, sex, mode of delivery, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, variant UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1) gene, and hepatic solute carrier organic anion transporter 1B1 (SLCO1B1) gene on hyperbilirubinemia in neonates who were breast-fed. Hyperbilirubinemia was diagnosed when a full term neonate had a bilirubin level ≧15.0 mg/dL (256.5 µM) in serum at 3 days old. The polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method was used as a means of detecting the known variant sites in the UGT1A1 and SLCO1B1 gene. RESULTS: Of 252 infants born at term who were exclusively breast-fed, 59 (23.4%) had hyperbilirubinemia. The significant risk factors were a variant nucleotide 211 in UGT1A1 (2.48; 95% CI, 1.29 to 4.76; P = .006), G6PD deficiency (12.24; 95% CI, 1.08 to 138.62; P < .05), and vaginal delivery (3.55; 95% CI, 1.64 to 7.66; P < .001). CONCLUSION: Breast-fed neonates who are 211 variants in the UGT1A1, G6PD deficiency, and vaginal delivery are at high-risk for hyperbilirubinemia.

Myopericarditis associated with varicella zoster virus infection.

Acute myopericarditis is a major cause of acquired heart disease worldwide in pediatric patients. Various viruses have been reported as the etiology, of which varicella zoster virus was first reported in 1953. However, since nationwide administration of the varicella vaccine, reports of varicella-associated myopericaridits have become sporadic. We report a case of varicella myopericarditis with an initial manifestation of chest pain, tachycardia, and hypotension. Typical skin vesicles developed 2 days after these symptoms, which confirmed the diagnosis. Intravenous immunoglobulin was administered before the appearance of the skin vesicles under the impression of suspected Coxsackie virus infection. Intravenous acyclovir effectively controlled the progression of the disease, and both clinical symptoms and electrocardiographic changes subsided soon after the use of an antiviral agent. Varicella zoster virus serum IgM antibody also showed positive test results. On the following visit, the patient's myocardial function had fully recovered from this episode.

Reference ranges and Z-scores for fetal cardiac measurements from two-dimensional echocardiography in Asian population.

Currently available fetal echocardiographic reference values are derived mainly from North American and European population studies, and there is a lack of reference z-score for fetal echocardiographic measurement in Asian populations. The aim of this study was to establish normal ranges of echocardiographic measurements and z-scores in healthy Asian fetuses. A total of 575 healthy pregnant Taiwanese with an estimated gestational age from 14 to 38 weeks were enrolled voluntarily for this observational study. Standard two-dimensional echocardiography was performed to obtain measurements of the cardiac chambers and great arteries of the developing fetuses. In contrast to past studies, our sample was more evenly distributed for estimated gestational age (p<0.001). We present percentile graphs for 13 fetal echocardiographic measurements from the knowledge of estimated gestational age, biparietal distance, head circumference, abdominal circumference, and femur length. Most cardiac structures and developmental markers had linear models as the best-fitting, except for transverse aortic isthmus by estimated gestational age and transverse ductus arteriosus by femur length. Our findings indicate that estimated gestational age was generally the best model for fetal heart development, while head circumferences could be used as an optimal developmental marker to predict left atrium, right atrium, right ventricle, pulmonary annulus, and ductus arteriosus. Lastly, we developed nomograms for each of the 13 fetal heart measurements by each developmental markers. This is the first study providing echocardiographic reference ranges and nomograms for Asian fetuses. Computing z-scores from nomograms helps in standardizing comparisons and adds additional prognostic information to the diagnosis of congenital heart disease.

Prolonged unconjugated hyperbiliriubinemia in breast-fed male infants with a mutation of uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyl transferase.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that a mutation in uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyl transferase 1A1 (UGT1A1) gene of breast-fed infants is a contributory factor to prolonged unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia. STUDY DESIGN: Of 125 breast-fed term infants, 35 infants had prolonged unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia; another 90 breast-fed neonates without prolonged jaundice were control infants. The polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method was used to detect the known variant sites (promoter area, nucleotides 211, 686, 1091, and 1456) of the UGT1A1 gene. RESULTS: Of 35 breast-fed infants with prolonged unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia, 29 had at least 1 mutation of the UGT1A1 gene. Variation at nucleotide 211 was most common. The percentages of the neonates carrying the variant nucleotide 211 were significantly different between the prolonged hyperbilirubinemia group and control neonates. Male breast-fed infants had a higher risk than female infants for prolonged hyperbilirubinemia. CONCLUSIONS: Male breast-fed neonates with a variant nucleotide 211 in UGT1A1 have a high risk for developing prolonged hyperbilirubinemia.

Intrathoracic kidney in a case of trisomy 18.

We report a case of trisomy 18 (47, XX+18) with intrathoracic kidney. It was discovered incidentally as an opacity at the right lower hemithorax on the chest radiograph, later confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging. Ultrasound can be used as the first-line imaging modality for intrathoracic kidney, even in the prenatal period.

Electrophoresis of a rigid sphere in a Carreau fluid normal to a large charged disk.

The electrophoresis of a rigid sphere in a Carreau fluid normal to a large disk is analyzed theoretically under the conditions of low surface potential and weak applied electric field. Previous analyses are extended to the case where a disk can be charged, and a more realistic electrostatic force formula is applied. We show that the qualitative behavior of a sphere depends largely on its distance from a disk, the thickness of double layer, and the nature of a fluid. In general, the presence of a disk has the effect of increasing the conventional hydrodynamic drag on a sphere, and a decrease in the thickness of the double layer surrounding a sphere has the effect of enhancing the shear-thinning effect. However, this might not be the case if a sphere is uncharged and a disk is charged, where the osmotic pressure field and the induced charge on the sphere surface can be significant. The shear-thinning effect is important only if the thickness of double layer is sufficiently thick. This result can play a significant role in practice such as in electrophoretic deposition, where the deposition electrode is charged and the fluid medium is usually of shearing-thinning nature.

Laparoscopic-assisted colonoscopic polypectomy for juvenile polyp in children: a new minimal-invasive therapeutic approach.

An 8-year-old boy was hospitalized with fresh bloody stool passage for 1 week. He underwent colonoscopy that revealed 1 large polyp in the rectosigmoid junction. The polyp was too large to be encircled by the snare. Laparoscopic-assisted colonoscopic polypectomy was performed successfully to remove this large polyp without the need for segmental resections. This patient treated using this technique were discharged 2 days after the procedure and returned to full activity within 3 to 4 days. There were no complications.

Noise contribution to the correlation between temperature-induced localized reflectance of diabetic skin and blood glucose.

We used the effect of temperature on the localized reflectance of human skin to assess the role of noise sources on the correlation between temperature-induced fractional change in optical density of human skin (DeltaOD(T)) and blood glucose concentration [BG]. Two temperature-controlled optical probes at 30 degrees C contacted the skin, one was then cooled by -10 degrees C; the other was heated by +10 degrees C. DeltaOD(T) upon cooling or heating was correlated with capillary [BG] of diabetic volunteers over a period of three days. Calibration models in the first two days were used to predict [BG] in the third day. We examined the conditions where the correlation coefficient (R2) for predicting [BG] in a third day ranked higher than R2 values resulting from fitting permutations of randomized [BG] to the same DeltaOD(T) values. It was possible to establish a four-term linear regression correlation between DeltaOD(T) upon cooling and [BG] with a correlation coefficient higher than that of an established noise threshold in diabetic patients that were mostly females with less than 20 years of diabetes duration. The ability to predict [BG] values with a correlation coefficient above biological and body-interface noise varied between the cases of cooling and heating.

Heart rate variability monitoring in the detection of central nervous system complications in children with enterovirus infection.

PURPOSE: Previous studies suggest the possibility of autonomic dysfunction in patients with complicated hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) and herpangina. Heart rate variability (HRV), an index for autonomic nervous system, may be useful to detect disease progression. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2001 to 2002, 66 patients (1-9 years old) were enrolled prospectively in either a control (20 patients) or disease (46 patients with HFMD or herpangina) group. The disease group was subdivided into stage I (fever only), stage II (with complications of encephalomyelitis), and stage III (with complications of encephalomyelitis as well as tachycardia, hyperglycemia, tachypnea, and hypertension or hypotension) groups. Data from electrocardiograms were transformed for HRV. RESULTS: The HRV parameters generally decreased and the low frequency (LF)/high frequency ratio (HF) increased in the disease groups. Patients in disease group stage II had significantly lower parameters of HRV (triangular index, total power, LF power, and HF power) and higher LF/HF ratio than those in disease group stage I. With this trend, patients with stage III disease had extremely low HRV parameters. The inferred criteria of HRV (standard deviation of normal-to-normal interval <17 milliseconds and HF power <24 milliseconds(2)) to define stage III patients (sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 71.4%) were also useful to predict disease progression. CONCLUSIONS: The HRV markedly decreased, most likely because of autonomic dysfunction, in patients with HFMD and herpangina when complicated with central nervous system involvement and cardiopulmonary failure and may be useful parameters to monitor disease progression.