Transcatheter Intervention for Infantile Hepatic Hemangioendothelioma with Amplatzer Duct Occluder II.

Introduction: Infantile Hepatic hemangioendothelioma is characterized by multifocal benign vascular dilatations involving the liver. The clinical course depends on tumor size, localization and complications. Case Report: 15 days old neonate with stormy postnatal period was referred for intractable congestive cardiac failure. Transthoracic 2D echocardiography showed multiple vegetations on all the four valves, noncompaction of left ventricle with multiple vascular channels in left lobe of liver. Computed tomography angiogram showed 58x29x50 mm markedly enhancing lesion in left lobe of liver suggestive of infantile hepatic hemangioendothelioma. The neonate was treated for bacterial endocarditis. Later 6x6 Amplatzer duct occluder II was parked in hepatic vein, then gel foam and polyvinyl chloride particles were injected into infantile hepatic hemangioendothelioma. Cardiac failure resolved with marked regression of lesion. Discussion: Infantile hepatic hemangioendothelioma is a rare anomaly causing heart failure in neonate causing death in up to 70% of untreated infants without adequate regression of lesion. Therefore aggressive treatment is warranted. For the first time in the world, we report a case of infantile hepatic hemangioendothelioma in a neonate, with pump failure due to noncompaction of left ventricle and vegetations on all four valves, successfully treated by combination of transcatheter deployment of Amplatzer duct occluder II to occlude the venous end and hand injection of gel foam and polyvinly chloride particles from the aortic end to close the feeder artery. Conclusion: The combination of closure of hepatic vein by Amplatzer duct occluder II and injection of gel foam and polyvinyl chloride particles is safe and effective in infantile hepatic hemangioendothelioma in neonate with heart failure.

Nitrogen assimilation in opaque and normal sorghum during grain development.

Activity of key nitrogen assimilating enzymes was studied in developing grains of high-lysine opaque sorghum P-721 and normal sorghum CSV-5. The higher percentage of protein in opaque sorghum was mainly due to lower starch content since protein per grain was less than in CSV-5. During grain development, albufn and globulin decreased while prolafne and glutelin increased. Prolafne content in CSV-5 was higher than in opaque sorghum. Average nitrate reductase activity in flag and long leaf were similar in both the varieties. The nitrate reductase activity decreased during grain development. Glutamate dehydrogenase activity was higher during early development and lower at later stages in opaque sorghum than in CSV-5. Glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase activity was higher and glutamine synthetase lower in opaque sorghum than in CSV-5 grains during development. Glutamate synthase activity was higher in opaque sorghum up to day 20 and lower thereafter than in CSV-5. It is suggested that reduced activities of glutamine synthetase as well as glutamate synthase in opaque sorghum as compared to CSV-5 during later stages of development may restrict protein accumulation in the former.