Site-directed dual bioprobes inducing single-step nano-sandwich assay for the detection of cardiac troponin I.

Bioreceptor functionalized metallic nano-colloids have been identified as effective nanobioprobes to realize the detection of an analyte based on a common phenomenon of salt-induced aggregation. In marked contrast to this, we describe a nano-sandwich assay integrating the novel match-pair of aptamer and peptide functionalized gold nanoparticles. The site-directed biomolecular interaction of high affinity aptamer and peptide bioreceptors directed towards distinct sites of cardiac biomarker troponin I; this was found to form a nano-sandwich assay in a peculiar manner. The gold nanoconjugates interact with specific and distant regions of troponin I to result in collision of probes upon target identification. In the presence of TnI, both nanobioprobes bind at their respective sites forming a nano-sandwich pair providing a visual color change from red to blue. Thus, the presence of target TnI itself causes instant agglomeration in just a single-step without addition of any external aggregator. The assay imparts 100% specificity and 90% sensitivity in a dynamic concentration range of 0.1-500 ng/mL troponin I with detection limit as low as 0.084 ng/mL. The applicability of the assay has been validated in clinical samples of acute myocardial infarction patients thus establishing a promising point-of-care detection of TnI.

Congenital superior vena cava (SVC) stenosis and obstructed supracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC)-A surgical perspective.

Congenital superior vena cava (SVC) stenosis is a very rare anomaly, especially in pediatric population. Coexistence with obstructed supracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) has never been reported. Clinical examination should prompt detailed and focused evaluation for this treatable etiology. Pericardial patch augmentation can cure SVC stenosis, and may allow for growth potential as well. We describe a case of congenital SVC stenosis in a case of obstructed supracardiac TAPVC in a 3-month-old infant, managed successfully.

Carotid Intima-Media Thickness and Lipid Profile in Children With Kawasaki Disease: A Single-Center Follow-up Study After a Mean Duration of 6.9 Years.

BACKGROUND: Kawasaki disease (KD) has a predilection to involve coronary arteries, leading to several long-term cardiovascular sequelae. Apart from coronary artery abnormalities, children with KD are also prone to develop premature atherosclerosis, endothelial dysfunction, and lipid abnormalities. Some of these complications may occur even in children who have received appropriate treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin in the acute phase. METHODS: In 2009, we had studied carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and lipid profile in 27 children with KD at least 1 year after the acute episode. In the present study, we have followed up the same cohort of 27 children at least 5 years after the acute episode of KD. We measured the cIMT, a surrogate marker for premature atherosclerosis, and fasting lipid profile in the cohort and compared the results with values obtained in our previous study. RESULTS: There was significantly higher mean cIMT in children with KD as compared with control subjects. However, there was no significant difference in cIMT among children in the cohort at 1 and 5 years of follow-up. Abnormal lipid profile was seen in 7 of 27 children in the present study, 5 of whom also had had lipid abnormality at 1-year follow-up. This suggests that lipid abnormalities in KD may be long lasting. CONCLUSIONS: Children with KD need careful long-term follow-up even when they do not have overt and persistent coronary artery abnormalities. It is possible that consequences of KD in childhood may impact health status of young adults several years later.

Mid-term Risk for Subclinical Atherosclerosis and Chronic Myocarditis in Children with Kawasaki Disease and Transient Coronary Abnormalities.

There is evidence for premature atherosclerosis and systemic arterial stiffening during follow-up of children with Kawasaki disease (KD) and coronary artery abnormalities (CAA). Moreover, patients with KD may also have subclinical myocardial involvement and inhomogeneous ventricular repolarization. The inhomogeneous ventricular repolarization manifests as increased QT dispersion on electrocardiography. There is a paucity of studies in endothelial dysfunction and QT dispersion in children with KD and transient CAA. Twenty children with KD and transient CAA were studied at least 1 year after resolution of CAA. Mean follow-up period between KD onset and enrolment in the study was 53.7 months. Twenty age and sex-matched controls were enrolled. High-resolution B-mode ultrasonography was used to analyze brachial artery dilatation in response to reactive hyperemia (cases and controls) and sublingual nitroglycerine (cases only). Carotid artery intima-media thickness (cIMT) and stiffness index were calculated. The difference between maximum and minimum QTc intervals on 12 lead electrocardiogram was calculated as QTc dispersion (QTcd). No statistically significant difference was noted in percent flow-mediated dilatation of brachial arteries in response to reactive hyperemia between cases (13.31 ± 10.41%) and controls (12.86 ± 7.09%). Sublingual nitroglycerine-mediated dilatation in children with KD was 14.88 ± 12.03%. Mean cIMT was similar in cases (0.036 ± 0.015 cm) and controls (0.035 ± 0.076 cm; p = 0.791). No statistically significant difference between groups was observed in mean QTcd values (0.057 ± 0.018 s vs. 0.059 ± 0.015 s in controls, p = 0.785). No evidence of significant endothelial dysfunction or increased QT dispersion in patients with KD and transient coronary artery abnormalities was found in our cohort when studied at a mean follow-up of 53.7 months. This is reassuring, and indicates that risk of subclinical atherosclerosis and myocarditis in a subset of children with KD and transient coronary artery abnormalities is not significant.

Mortality in children with Kawasaki disease: 20 years of experience from a tertiary care centre in North India.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a common vasculitic disorder of childhood. Reported mortality in KD in Japan is 0.014%. We report the clinical and laboratory profile of 4 children who succumbed to KD during the period January 1994 to March 2015 at the Paediatric Allergy Immunology Unit, Advanced Paediatrics Centre, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Centre, Chandigarh, India. A total of 460 children were diagnosed with KD based on the American Heart Association criteria. Male to female ratio was 1.96:1 and 106 children were aged 2 years or less. Children with KD received 2 g/kg of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg). In addition, aspirin was administered in doses of 30-50 mg/kg/day during the acute phase and 3-5 mg/kg/day thereafter. 2-D echocardiography was carried out once during the acute phase and approximately 6-8 weeks later on follow-up. Four children (2 boys, 2 girls) died during this period and their details were analysed from their clinical records. All 4 were under 2 years of age and had had significant delays in diagnosis and referral. Symptomatic myocarditis was noted in 2 children, while 2 of them had thrombocytopenia. We report a mortality of 0.87% in children with KD. Delays in diagnosis and referral contributed significantly to this mortality. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on mortality in KD from any developing nation.

Carotid intima-media thickness in children with Kawasaki disease.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute medium vessel vasculitis seen in children. The most significant long-term complication is related to coronary artery abnormalities. Use of intravenous immunoglobulins, however, has led to significant reduction in incidence of coronary aneurysms. What is more alarming is the fact that higher risk of cardiovascular disease is seen in even those children who do not have coronary artery aneurysms during subacute phase. Various factors like abnormal lipid profiles, abnormal vessel wall reactivity and endothelial dysfunction have been implicated for this. Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) has been used as a surrogate marker for atherosclerosis. This study was planned to evaluate cIMT in children with KD. Twenty-seven children with diagnosis of KD at least 1 year prior to enrolment were evaluated for cIMT at enrolment and then after 3 months. Fasting lipid profile was done for all patients. Mean cIMT was significantly higher in children with KD compared to controls. In lipid profiles, undesirable HDL-C and triglyceride levels were seen in 2 and 3 children, respectively. Undesirable and borderline LDL-C levels were seen in 1 and 2 patients, respectively. Undesirable and borderline total cholesterol levels were seen in 1 and 3 patients, respectively. Higher cIMTs were seen in our cohort of KD patients. Proatherogenic abnormalities in lipid profile were seen in a few patients. Both abnormalities may predict a higher risk of atherosclerosis in future. The results of this study need to be replicated on a larger study sample and over longer follow-up periods.

Aortic stiffness studies in children with Kawasaki disease: preliminary results from a follow-up study from North India.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute medium vessel vasculitis seen in children. Coronary artery abnormalities are the most notable long-term complications. Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy has led to significant reduction in incidence of coronary aneurysms. However, higher risk of cardiovascular disease has been noted even in those children who have never been reported to develop coronary artery aneurysms during the subacute phase. Noninvasive estimation of this cardiovascular risk is useful in initiating timely preventive strategies. Arterial stiffness has been shown to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular events in general population. This study was aimed at measuring abdominal aorta stiffness in a cohort of children with KD from North India. Thirty children diagnosed to have KD at least 5 years prior to enrollment were evaluated by echocardiography for cardiac and abdominal aorta studies. Electrocardiographs were done in all patients for QT dispersion. There was a noticeable trend toward lower aortic strain, higher pressure strain elastic modulus and normalized pressure strain elastic modulus in children in the study group, though this difference did not reach statistical significance. Mean corrected QT dispersion was significantly higher in cases compared with controls. On cardiac evaluation, none of the subjects had any residual coronary artery involvement. A trend toward lower distensibility and higher stiffness of abdominal aorta was seen in cases compared with controls, though it was not found to be statistically significant. This could be a predictor of premature atherosclerosis in long term. Significantly higher QT dispersion was seen in cases compared with controls. More multicentric studies with larger sample size and longer follow-up periods are needed to clarify this issue.

Heart failure in children in tropical regions.

With the ever increasing younger population in tropical countries, the number of children with heart failure is increasing. However, the etiology of heart failure in this region varies considerably from that in the temperate region, with infectious causes leading the list. In this review, we have summarized the important causes of heart failure seen in the pediatric population in tropical regions.

Conformational switching of aptamer biointerfacing graphene-gold nanohybrid for ultrasensitive label-free sensing of cardiac Troponin I.

The development of hybrid biofunctionalized nanomaterials has emerged as an attractive substitute for development of advanced biosensing platforms with superior synergistic properties. Herein, we report a label-free ultrasensitive electrochemical aptasensor comprising nanohybrid of graphene oxide (GO) and aptamer conjugated gold nanoparticles (GNP-A) for detection of cardiac biomarker Troponin I (TnI). The GNP-A are homogenously arranged by self-assembly on GO sheet to construct nanohybrid (GO@GNP-A) onto which the biomarker protein is analysed. TnI interactions at the aptamer biointerfaced nanohybrid surface causes electrochemical signal enhancement probed by using a redox active molecule. The consecutive increase in current signal is strongly attributed to conformational switching of aptamer and charge neutralization at the interface induced by TnI binding. The sensitivity of the nanohybrid aptasensor platform was found to be 0.001 pg/mL. The study has been further substantiated in Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) clinical samples for usage towards early, sensitive and efficient point-of-care detection of TnI.

Role of intravenous aspirin versus oral aspirin in the treatment of acute coronary syndrome: Answering a clinical query by systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Aspirin is indicated in the emergency management of acute coronary syndrome. However, oral aspirin has erratic bioavailability compared to i.v. formulation. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the comparative efficacy and safety of intravenous (IV) and oral aspirin in acute coronary syndrome. STUDY DESIGN: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis. RESULTS: Two randomized controlled trials were included. Compared to oral aspirin, lower platelet aggregability was seen with IV aspirin at 5 min and 20 min. Lower thromboxane B2 and lower platelet CD-62p levels were noted in the IV group; however, no significant difference was observed in terms of "composite cardiovascular death, stroke, and myocardial infarction (MI) at 4-6 weeks," "any cause mortality," "cardiovascular mortality," "occurrence of stroke," and "occurrence of MI/reinfarction." However, no difference was noted in terms of the occurrence of serious adverse events. CONCLUSION: IV aspirin showed some advantages in terms of platelet aggregability biomarkers at 20 min and 1 week with comparable safety to oral aspirin. No difference was seen in terms of clinical outcomes (at 24 h, 7, and 30 days) and the occurrence of serious adverse events.

A fast region-based active contour model for boundary detection of echocardiographic images.

This paper presents the boundary detection of atrium and ventricle in echocardiographic images. In case of mitral regurgitation, atrium and ventricle may get dilated. To examine this, doctors draw the boundary manually. Here the aim of this paper is to evolve the automatic boundary detection for carrying out segmentation of echocardiography images. Active contour method is selected for this purpose. There is an enhancement of Chan-Vese paper on active contours without edges. Our algorithm is based on Chan-Vese paper active contours without edges, but it is much faster than Chan-Vese model. Here we have developed a method by which it is possible to detect much faster the echocardiographic boundaries. The method is based on the region information of an image. The region-based force provides a global segmentation with variational flow robust to noise. Implementation is based on level set theory so it easy to deal with topological changes. In this paper, Newton-Raphson method is used which makes possible the fast boundary detection.

Coarctation of aorta intervention: When covered stents should have been first choice?

Coarctation of aorta (CoA) is one of the common congenital heart diseases. The two approaches for intervention in CoA include surgical and transcatheter (TC). Out of the two TC interventions available, stenting has been proved better than balloon angioplasty. We have two types of stents; the conventional ones - balloon expandable and the covered stent grafts. The elective covered stent implantation in all CoA has not offered any advantage. However, there are peculiar situations, apart from acute aortic complications, when they should be considered the first choice. We describe our experience of three cases of coarctation stenting, in which covered stenting should have been the preferred choice. A 32-year-old female with Turner's syndrome and severe CoA developed dissection after balloon angioplasty which was successfully managed with a covered stent. A 27-year-old female with near atresia of aorta was managed with balloon expandable stent which remained underexpanded despite post dilatation. A 17-year-old girl with severe CoA and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) was managed with balloon angioplasty for the CoA and Amplatzer Duct Occluder I for the PDA. However, she developed re-coarctation in 6 months which was managed with a covered stent. Not all CoA requires the covered stents, but there are certain "high risk" CoA which require covered stent as first choice.

Epidemiological and clinical profile, management and outcomes of young patients (≤40 years) with acute coronary syndrome: A single tertiary care center study.

OBJECTIVE: To study the epidemiological and clinical profile, angiographic patterns, reasons for the delay in presentation, management, and outcomes of the acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in young patients (≤40yrs) presenting to a tertiary care hospital in North India. METHODS: We included a total of 182 patients aged ≤40 years and presenting with ACS to the cardiology critical care unit of our department from January 2018 to July 2019. RESULTS: The mean age of the study population was 35.5 ± 4.7years. 96.2% were males. Risk factors prevalent were smoking (56%), hypertension (29.7%), family history of premature coronary artery disease (18.2%), and diabetes (15.9%). The median time to first medical contact and revascularization was 300 (10-43200) minutes and 2880 (75-68400) minutes, respectively. ST-elevation ACS (STE-ACS) accounted for 82% and Non-ST-elevation ACS (NSTE-ACS) accounted for 18% of cases. Thrombolysis was done in 51.7% of the cases. Coronary angiography was done in 91.7% and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in 52.2% (95/182) of the total cases. Coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) was done in 2 patients (1.1%). Among those who underwent coronary angiography, single-vessel disease (SVD) was seen in 53% of the cases. There were no deaths in hospital, and only one patient died during the 30 days follow up. CONCLUSIONS: STE-ACS was the most common presentation of ACS in the young population. Smoking was the most common risk factor. The majority of the patients had single-vessel disease, and there was a significant delay in first medical contact and revascularization.

Sudden death of a young child due to cardiac rhabdomyoma.

This report describes a 1(1/2)-year-old boy who succumbed to acute obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract by a cardiac rhabdomyoma. He was admitted to have a transient loss of consciousness episode evaluated. A mobile intracardiac mass obstructing the left ventricular outflow tract and protruding into the aortic root during systole was detected by transthoracic echocardiography. At autopsy, it was confirmed to be a rhabdomyoma.

Approach to Cyanotic Congenital Heart Disease in Children.

Early recognition and timely management of cyanotic congenital heart disease (CCHD) is necessary for good outcome. CCHD is an umbrella term encompassing many diseases with variable pathophysiology, which determines clinical presentation of CCHD. Conditions like total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) and transposition of great arteries (TGA) usually present in neonatal period. Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) and related conditions present with squatting, cyanotic spells and silent chest with no evidence of congestive heart failure, whereas transposition physiology presents with congestive heart failure with cyanosis.

Management of Arrhythmias in Pediatric Emergency.

Pediatricians often find it difficult to make specific diagnosis of arrhythmia based on ECG. This article is an effort to make the pediatricians understand common arrhythmias. Diagnosing arrhythmias is important as some arrhythmias, if not diagnosed or suspected, can lead to heart failure. With proper diagnosis, some of them can be cured with therapeutic ablation. Adenosine is not only a therapeutic drug but in many circumstances, it gives definite diagnosis also.

Approach to a Child with Congestive Heart Failure.

Pediatric heart failure (PHF) is an important cause of mortality and morbidity. Whereas ischemic heart disease is the most important cause of heart failure in adults, congenital heart diseases (CHD) and cardiomyopathies are important etiologies of PHF. Management of PHF also differs from that of adults. Here authors have reviewed the literature on PHF with respect to etiology, symptoms, investigations and treatment strategies.

Acyanotic and Cyanotic Congenital Heart Diseases.

There has been tremendous progress in treatment of heart disease in children. Device therapy is increasingly being used in acyanotic congenital heart disease, while surgical results have improved significantly to give smile to many cyanotic heart disease children and their parents. This article makes an attempt to increase awareness of general pediatricians about common congenital heart diseases.