Disección coronaria espontánea en paciente trasplantada de corazón / Spontaneous coronary artery dissection in a heart transplant patient: report of one case

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is an uncommon cause of acute coronary syndrome that predominantly affects women without cardiovascular risk factors. In transplant patients, spontaneous coronary artery dissection is an extremely rare condition, having been described in only three patients, in whom vascular damage secondary to the use of anticalcineurinics is postulated as a probable mechanism. We report a spontaneous coronary dissection in a female who received a heart transplant at 34 years of age. The diagnosis was made in a follow-up coronary angiography three years after transplantation, supplemented with optical coherence tomography. A percutaneous coronary revascularization of the involved artery was performed, with good immediate results and at one year of follow-up.

Miocardiopatía dilatada en el niño / Dilated cardiomyopathy in children

Las miocardiopatías (MC) son enfermedades del músculo cardíaco infrecuentes, con una incidencia anual de 1.1-1.2 casos por 100.000 niños. La miocardiopatía dilatada (MCD) es la principal forma, se caracteriza por dilatación ventricular y disfunción sistólica, y es causa importante de insuficiencia cardíaca congestiva (ICC). Las etiologías en niños son múltiples, siendo idiopáticas en el 50%-70%. En la evaluación de un niño con MCD es fundamental descartar causas secundarias potencialmente reversibles. El ecocardiograma es la principal herramienta diagnóstica: permite establecer el fenoti po cardíaco, grado de compromiso funcional, y la evolución y respuesta al tratamiento médico. El pronóstico es limitado, siendo mejor en pacientes menores a 1 año al momento de presentación, post miocarditis, o con menor grado de disfunción sistólica ventricular. En los primeros 2 años post presentación alrededor de 20% tienen normalización de la función ventricular; 40%-50% fallece o requiere un trasplante cardíaco (TC) en los primeros 5 años. El tratamiento médico se basa en recomendaciones de adultos, siendo la evidencia pediátrica muy limitada. El TC es la terapia definitiva en pacientes con ICC terminal, con excelentes resultados a corto y mediano plazo. Una proporción importante de pacientes requiere estabilización en lista de espera, incluyendo asistencia mecánica circulatoria como puente a trasplante. El objetivo de este artículo es actualizar la información dis ponible en etiología, mecanismos fisiopatológicos, factores pronósticos, y tratamiento de la MCD en niños.

Pediatric cardiomyopathies are infrequent diseases of the cardiac muscle, with an annual inciden ce of 1.1 to 1.2 per 100,000 children. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the predominant form, characterized by ventricular dilatation and systolic dysfunction. Etiologies are multiple, with at least 50%-70% of cases being idiopathic. When assessing a child with DCM, secondary potentially reversible causes must be ruled out. The main diagnostic tool is the echocardiogram which allows the identification of cardiac phenotype, to establish the degree of functional compromise, and res ponse to medical therapy. Prognosis is limited but more favorable in infants younger than 1 year at the onset, post myocarditis, or with a lesser degree of ventricular dysfunction. At least 20% of patients may recover ventricular function in the first 2 years after the onset and 40%-50% may die or need heart transplant in the first 5 years. Medical therapy is mainly based on adult experience with limited scientific evidence in children. Heart transplant is the therapy of choice in patients with end-stage disease, with excellent short- and medium-term survival. A significant proportion of patients may require stabilization on the waiting list, including the use of mechanical circulatory support as a bridge to transplantation. The purpose of this revision is to update the available infor mation on etiology, physiopathological mechanisms, prognostic factors, and management of DCM in children.

Hypobaric Spinal Anesthesia in a Patient with Transplanted Heart: A case report / 대한마취과학회지

Heart transplantation is an accepted procedure for treatment of end-staged cardiac failure. A return to near-normal quality on life can be expected in many patients with a nonrejecting cardiac allograft, and many of these patients will return to the operating room for noncardiac surgical procedures. Anesthesiologists should be alert to recognizing problems caused by the presence of infection in immunosuppressed patients, modes of presentation of rejection phenomena and how transplanted organs, notably significantly denervated ones, may behave and respond under the pathophysiologic circumstance that arise during surgery, resuscitation and intensive care. The use of regional techniques require adequate preloading to avoid exaggerated hypotension and aseptic technique to avoid infection. Hypobaric spinal anesthesia has some benefit. It does not depress cardiovascular and respiratory system and keep adequate venous return by trendelenberg position. We report herein a case of successfully undergone total hip replacement in a patient who had previously undergone orthotopic heart transplantation under hypobaric spinal anesthesia.

Anesthetic Management of 10 Heart Transplantation cases / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: For 3 years since November, 1992, when first heart transplantation was performed in Asan Medical Center, total of 16 heart failure patients underwent that operation with succesful results. We are describing anesthetic management of former 10 cases. METHODS: Retrospective study by reviewing patients' medical records. RESULTS: Recipients had severe heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. Their age distribution was between 22 and 50 years and ratio of male to female was 8:2. Careful administration of midazolam and fentanyl was the preferred induction method and vecuronium was used for both intubation and maintenance in most of the cases. High dose narcotic technique(fentanyl 100 microgram/kg) was satisfactory for the induction and maintenance of anesthesia. Sterile technique was used placing endotracheal tubes and catheterizations. After transplantation, dobutamine, dopamine, isoproterenol and isosorbide dinitrate(Isoket) were required to support venticular performances. At ICU, postoperative courses were uneventful. Average duration of ICU stay was 10 days. There was no mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Anesthetic management of heart transplantation patients regarding fentanyl anesthesia, sterile technique,inotropic drug usages were described.