Partition of Common Atrioventricular Valve in a Patient With Dextrocardia and Univentricular Circulation.

Long-term outcomes in children with atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) and univentricular palliation are of concern, with <60% survival at 25 years.1 Common atrioventricular valves (AVV) often become insufficient in patients with univentricular physiology, leading to heart failure.1,2 We have recently observed that outcomes of children with AVSD who reach Fontan circulation are not as bad as previously thought, provided that the AVV remains competent.1 Common AVV surgery is associated with substantial mortality and reoperation rates.3 Although successful AVV repair is associated with better survival and freedom from reoperation, good quality repair is difficult to achieve in univentricular circulation,3 especially in patients with dextrocardia.4 Herein, we report a patient with unbalanced AVSD and dextrocardia who underwent AVV repair using the "polytetrafluoroethylene (Gore-Tex, W.L. Gore & Associates, Flagstaff, AZ) bridge" technique5 with excellent early outcome.

Age makes a difference: Symptoms in pediatric supraventricular tachycardia.

BACKGROUND: Supraventricular tachycardia is a group of rhythm disturbances that affect 1 in 300-1200 Australian children annually. The differentiation of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) symptoms and age of onset according to their subtype is not well understood in the pediatric population. Most studies rely on ECG criteria only to characterize the subtype of the SVT, which is not applicable to all subtypes. The purpose of this study was to identify the symptoms and ages of onset of SVT subtypes, and to analyze whether ethnicity or severity correlated with the SVT subtype confirmed in an invasive Electrophysiology (EP) study. METHODS: A retrospective analysis and prospective survey evaluated 364 patients who underwent an EP study at The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne between 2009 and 2015. Age of onset, symptoms, and ethnicity were collected by phone survey or medical records in addition to EP study diagnostic data, medication status, and follow-up information about their symptom status following EP procedure. Patients were grouped according to their SVT subtype. Data analysis was performed using chi-squared, Fisher's exact, and ANOVA statistical tests to determine associations between SVT substrates. RESULTS: Two hundred and thirty-three suitable cases of SVT were identified (131 men, 102 women) aged between 0 and 18 years. Atrioventricular Reentrant Tachycardia (AVRT) (n = 153) was the most common SVT subtype, followed by Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia (AVNRT) (n = 55), Atrial Tachycardia (AT) (n = 17), and other SVT subtypes (n = 8) which included Atrial Fibrillation, Atrial Flutter, and Junctional Tachycardia. There was a male predominance in all subtypes, except for AVNRT. AVNRT patients had palpitations, dyspnoea, dizziness, and anxiety more than any other group, AVRT patients complained of vomiting most and patients with AT had the most fatigue. The mean age of symptom onset varied among groups, being earlier in AVRT, later in AVNRT with a significant difference between AVRT with unidirectional retrograde accessory pathway (URAP) and AVNRT subtypes (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Some specific symptoms were strong discriminators between different SVT subtypes. Ethnicity did not have strong correlations with SVT subtype incidence. This study was able to show clinical differences among children with SVT due to AVRT (URAP) compared to AVNRT, allowing the prognosis and intended management of pediatric SVT to be anticipated by less invasive means.

Right coronary artery arising within an aorta-to-left ventricle tunnel: surgical repair in a neonate.

We herein describe the successful surgical repair of a very rare combination of an aorta-to-left ventricle tunnel with the right coronary artery arising from it. The neonate presented with signs of heart failure due to significant regurgitation of blood via the tunnel. The closure of the tunnel was feasible during neonatal period without patches.

Field test results of the motherhood method to measure maternal mortality.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Measuring maternal mortality in developing countries poses a major challenge. In Nepal, vital registration is extremely deficient. Currently available methods to measure maternal mortality, such as the sisterhood method, pose problems with respect to validity, precision, cost and time. We conducted this field study to test a community-based method (the motherhood method), to measure maternal and child mortality in a developing country setting. METHODS: Motherhood method was field tested to derive measures of maternal and child mortality at the district and sub-regional levels in Bara district, Nepal. Information on birth, death, risk factors and health outcomes was collected within a geographic area as in an unbiased census, but without visiting every household. The sources of information were a vaccination registry, focus group discussions with local health workers, and most importantly, interview in group setting with women who share social bonds formed by motherhood and aided by their peer memory. Such groups included all women who have given birth, including those whose babies died during the measurement period. RESULTS: A total of 15,161 births were elicited in the study period of two years. In the same period 49 maternal deaths, 713 infant deaths, 493 neonatal deaths and 679 perinatal deaths were also recorded. The maternal mortality ratio was 329 (95%CI: 243-434)/100,000 live birth, infant mortality rate was 48 (44-51)/1000LB, neonatal mortality rate was 33 (30-36)/1000LB, and perinatal mortality rate was 45 (42-48)/1000 total birth. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: The motherhood method estimated maternal, perinatal, neonatal and infant mortality rates and ratios. It has been field tested and validated against census data, and found to be efficient in terms of time and cost. Motherhood method can be applied in a time and cost-efficient manner to measure and monitor the progress in the reduction of maternal and child deaths. It can give current estimates of mortalities as well as averages over the past few years. It appears to be particularly well-suited to measuring and monitoring programmes in community and districts levels.

Epidural analgesia and risks of cesarean and operative vaginal deliveries in nulliparous and multiparous women.

Objective is to examine the effect of epidural analgesia in first stage of labor on occurrence of cesarean and operative vaginal deliveries in nulliparous women and multiparous women without a previous cesarean delivery. Design of the Prospective cohort study. Prenatal care was received at 12 free-standing health centers, 7 private physician offices, or 2 hospital-based clinics; babies were delivered at a free standing birth center or at 3 hospitals, all in San Diego, CA. This study of 2,052 women used data from the San Diego Birth Center Study that enrolled women between 1994 and 1996 to compare the birthing management of the collaborative Certified Nurse Midwife-Medical Doctor Model with that of the traditional Medical Doctor Model. Main Outcome Measures of the Cesarean or operative vaginal deliveries. After adjusting for differences between women who used and those who did not use epidural analgesia in 1st stage of labor, epidural use was associated with a 2.5 relative risk (95% CI: 1.8, 3.4) for operative vaginal delivery in nulliparous women, and a 5.9 relative risk (95% CI: 3.2, 11.1) in multiparous women. Epidural use was associated with a 2.4 relative risk (95% CI: 1.5, 3.7) for cesarean delivery in nulliparous women, and a 1.8 relative risk (95% CI: 0.6, 5.3) in multiparous women. Epidural anesthesia increases the risk for operative vaginal deliveries in both nulliparous and multiparous women, and increases risk for cesarean deliveries in nulliparous more so than in multiparous women.

Transfers among women intending a birth center delivery in the San Diego birth center study.

Using data from the San Diego Birth Center Study that enrolled underserved women between 1994 and 1996, we examined demographic, sociobehavioral, and medical predictors of hospital transfer in a group of women who intended to deliver at a freestanding birth center. Of the 1808 women, 34.6% transferred to the hospital antenatally and 19.6% transferred during labor, while 45.7% delivered at the birth center. Compared with multiparous women who had never had a cesarean and never had a previous hospital delivery, nulliparous women were 2.0 times more likely (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-2.7), multiparous women with a previous cesarean were 2.6 times more likely (95% CI, 1.7-3.8), and women without a previous cesarean but who had a previous hospital delivery were 2.1 times more likely (95% CI, 1.5-3.0) to transfer after adjusting for other predictors of transfer. Nulliparity, cesarean history and having a previous hospital delivery were among the strongest predictors of a hospital transfer even after adjusting for demographic, sociobehavioral, and other medical conditions. Understanding predictors of transfer may assist practitioners, patients, and policy makers in considering the appropriateness of individuals for birth center delivery or to target further education to reduce nonmedical transfers.

Using prescription claims data for drugs available over-the-counter (OTC).

PURPOSE: Many pharmacoepidemiologic studies use automated prescription claims data to estimate the association between exposure and disease. One limitation of automated data, when studying drugs that are also available via retail, is that over-the-counter (OTC) exposure is missed. The purpose of this study is to quantify the effect of misclassification of OTC use in research that uses prescription claims data as the sole source of exposure information. METHODS: We conducted a sensitivity analysis in the context of studies of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and colorectal cancer. The following factors were widely varied to examine the impact on the validity of the effect estimate for NSAIDs and colorectal cancer: (1) the overall prevalence of NSAID exposure in the population, (2) the proportion of NSAID exposure due to OTC use (the prevalence of missed NSAID exposure in studies of prescription claims), and (3) the true risk ratio (RR(true)). We graphed the RR that would be observed (RR(observed)) as a function of overall prevalence of NSAID use and the prevalence of NSAID use that is OTC exposure. RESULTS: We found that when the true RR ranges from 0.25 to 0.75, missing OTC drug exposure is not a large source of bias in those situations in which the overall prevalence of drug use is relatively low (less than 35%) and the proportion of drug use that is OTC exposure is as high as 80%. CONCLUSION: Results from our sensitivity analysis indicate that, in many circumstances, prescription claims data can give valid estimates of association even though some of the drugs are available OTC.

Influence of sex on lung cancer histology, stage, and survival in a midwestern United States tumor registry.

BACKGROUND: A study was performed to identify differences between men and women with regard to lung cancer type, stage at diagnosis, and survival in a single hospital system cancer registry. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was designed based on a study population drawn from the lung cancer tumor registry at a single hospital system composed of 2 independent hospitals in the Midwestern United States. This database included all patients from 1996 to 2002 with known lung cancer or abnormal findings on chest radiography or computed tomography (N=2618). Patients with adenocarcinoma or squamous cell, small-cell, or large-cell carcinoma were included in the study. Data were collected on patient sex, age, cancer type, stage at diagnosis, and survival status. RESULTS: A total of 1216 men and 997 women met inclusion criteria for the study. There was no significant difference in age between sexes at diagnosis. Women were significantly more likely to have adenocarcinoma or small-cell carcinoma but less likely to have squamous cell carcinoma compared with men. There were no significant differences between sexes in the incidence of large-cell carcinoma. No significant differences were found between men and women in terms of cancer stage at diagnosis. There were significant differences in survival between the histologic types at years 3, 4, and 5. Only patients with stage I disease showed a difference between sexes and only for years 2, 3, 4, and 5. CONCLUSION: Overall differences in lung cancer histology and survival were found between men and women. Because a high mortality rate of lung cancer exists in both sexes, it is important to understand its occurrence and survival rates in both sexes.

Maternal epidural analgesia and rates of maternal antibiotic treatment in a low-risk nulliparous population.

BACKGROUND: Epidural analgesia is associated with an increased rate of fever in prospective randomized trials. While the evidence suggests that epidural fever is not infectious, epidural analgesia has been associated with increased rates of antibiotic use, the indications that prompt treatment have not been examined. METHODS: We analyzed 1235 nulliparous women with singleton term pregnancies presenting in labor with a temperature of < 99.5 degrees F. Antibiotic use during labor was categorized by indication. RESULTS: A total of 59.6% of women received epidural analgesia. The rate of antibiotic use was significantly higher in women receiving epidural analgesia (28 vs 10.8%). After adjusting for confounders using logistic regression, epidural analgesia was associated with a relative risk of 2.6 (95% CI 2.0, 3.4) for antibiotic treatment. The majority of the increased risk was due to significantly higher rates of antibiotic treatment for presumed chorioamnionitis (9.0 vs 0.4%) in the epidural analgesia group. CONCLUSION: Epidural-related fever results in excess maternal antibiotic treatment for presumed chorioamnionitis.

Outcomes, safety, and resource utilization in a collaborative care birth center program compared with traditional physician-based perinatal care.

OBJECTIVE: We compared outcomes, safety, and resource utilization in a collaborative management birth center model of perinatal care versus traditional physician-based care. METHODS: We studied 2957 low-risk, low-income women: 1808 receiving collaborative care and 1149 receiving traditional care. RESULTS: Major antepartum (adjusted risk difference [RD] = -0.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -2.5, 1.5), intrapartum (adjusted RD = 0.8%; 95% CI = -2.4, 4.0), and neonatal (adjusted RD = -1.8%; 95% CI = -3.8, 0.1) complications were similar, as were neonatal intensive care unit admissions (adjusted RD = -1.3%; 95% CI = -3.8, 1.1). Collaborative care had a greater number of normal spontaneous vaginal deliveries (adjusted RD = 14.9%; 95% CI = 11.5, 18.3) and less use of epidural anesthesia (adjusted RD = -35.7%; 95% CI = -39.5, -31.8). CONCLUSIONS: For low-risk women, both scenarios result in safe outcomes for mothers and babies. However, fewer operative deliveries and medical resources were used in collaborative care.

Impact of collaborative management and early admission in labor on method of delivery.

OBJECTIVE: This study compared the effects of early admission in labor and perinatal care provider on delivery method. Higher spontaneous vaginal delivery rates for certified nurse midwives as compared with physicians have been reported in observational studies and randomized clinical trials. Certified nurse midwives, with their more expectant approach to labor management, would be expected to admit women later in labor than obstetricians. METHODS: Prospective cohort study of 2,196 low-risk pregnancies, with singleton, vertex infants admitted in spontaneous labor. Independent and joint effects of perinatal care provider and cervical dilation at admission on delivery method were evaluated. Confounding was addressed using restriction and multiple regression. RESULTS: Fewer (23.4%) women in collaborative care were admitted in early labor (< 4 cm cervical dilation) than women managed by obstetricians (95% CI = -27.6 to -19.2). Obstetrician care had 9% to 30% fewer spontaneous vaginal deliveries. Women admitted early in labor also had 6% to 34% fewer spontaneous vaginal deliveries. Evaluation of joint effects suggested that interaction between obstetrician provider and earlier admission increased the risk of operative delivery. CONCLUSION: Later admission in labor (at 4 cm or greater cervical dilation) and management of perinatal care by certified nurse midwives in collaboration with obstetricians increased the rate of spontaneous vaginal delivery in low-risk women.

Differences in systemic opioid use do not explain increased fever incidence in parturients receiving epidural analgesia.

BACKGROUND: It has been hypothesized that an increased incidence of fever in patients receiving epidural analgesia might result not from epidural per se, but rather from the antipyretic effect of opioids preferentially administered to women in the no-epidural group. If this were the case, then one would expect the incidence of fever in parturients who did not receive systemic opioids to be independent of whether they received epidural analgesia. METHODS: Using a cohort study design, the authors evaluated the records of 1,233 nulliparous patients whose labor analgesia was managed with (1) no medication (N = 170); (2) 10 mg intravenous systemic nalbuphine plus 10 mg intramuscular every 3 to 4 h as required (N = 327); (3) epidural analgesia with continuous infusion of 0.125% bupivacaine with 2 microg/ml fentanyl (N = 278); or (4) patients who received both systemic nalbuphine and epidural analgesia (N = 458). Fever was diagnosed if the maximum temperature during labor exceeded 100.4 degrees F (38 degrees C). RESULTS: The incidence of fever did not differ according to nalbuphine administration for women not receiving epidural analgesia (1% no nalbuphine, 0.3% with nalbuphine, P = 0.27) or for women receiving epidural analgesia (17% no nalbuphine, 17% with nalbuphine, P = 1.0). However, the incidence of fever differed significantly between patients who received no analgesia as compared to those who received epidural analgesia alone (1% vs. 17%, P = 10(-6)). Controlling for confounding did not alter these associations. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that an antipyretic effect of nalbuphine in patients who do not receive an epidural does not explain the greater incidence of fever observed in women who receive epidural analgesia for labor.