Surgical treatment of anomalous coronary artery arising from the pulmonary artery.

Anomalous coronary arteries arising from the pulmonary trunk is a rare but potentially fatal condition. We report the clinical presentation, surgical treatment and long-term follow-up of seven surgical cases of anomalous left coronary and one case of anomalous right coronary artery arising from the pulmonary artery. Age ranged from 7 months to 13 years (average: 5.09+/-3.7 years) and weight ranged from 7 to 50 kg (average: 19.9+/-8.8 kg). Follow-up was 100% complete: average 78 months (S.D.: 52.7 months). Direct reimplantation was the surgical technique in six cases, Takeuchi procedure in one case and subclavian artery interposition in one case. Concomitant mitral valve repair was undertaken in two cases. In two children the coronary artery anomaly was diagnosed and treated only after a first surgery for other congenital heart anomaly. Left ventricle ejection fraction was restored in those cases of pre-operative dysfunction. Mortality was not observed and all children are asymtomatic and free of reoperation.

Mid-to-long term follow-up after surgical repair of atrioventricular septal defect with common atrioventricular junction and ventricular shunting associated with tetralogy of Fallot.

OBJECTIVES: Our aim is to describe our surgical approach in dealing with patients having atrioventricular septal defect with common atrioventricular junction and ventricular shunting associated with tetralogy of Fallot over the last 8 years, and to present our results in mid-to-long term follow-up. METHODS: Between November 1995 and January 2004, we performed surgical correction in 8 consecutive children with atrioventricular septal defect, common atrioventricular junction, interventricular shunting, and associated tetralogy of Fallot. The age at surgical correction varied from 8 months to 20 years, with a mean of 45 months, and standard deviation of 74 months. A palliative systemic-to-pulmonary shunt had previously been performed in 3 patients. Follow-up ranged from 57 to 135 months, with a mean of 93.5 months, and standard deviation of 32 months. We used a two-patch technique to repair of the atrioventricular septal defect, and a pericardial transjunctional patch for relief of the obstruction in the right ventricular outflow tract. RESULTS: There were no deaths, nor reoperations either in the postoperative period or during follow-up. All patients are asymptomatic, or in the second class created by the New York Heart Association. The mean period of cardiopulmonary by-pass was 136 minutes, and the mean stay in hospital was 11.8 days. At the last examination, pulmonary valvar insufficiency was considered severe in 2 patients, and moderate in another 2. No patient developed more than a trace of regurgitation across the reconstituted left atrioventricular valve. CONCLUSIONS: The two-patch technique, associated with ventriculotomy and a transjunctional pulmonary patch is safe and efficient when correcting atrioventricular septal defect associated with tetralogy of Fallot, resulting in good mid-to-long term clinical outcomes.

Surgical treatment of complete atrioventricular septal defect with the two-patch technique: early-to-mid follow-up.

We report our results on surgical treatment of complete atrioventricular septal defects using the two-patch technique. Forty patients with complete atrioventricular septal defects were operated on in the period from November 1995 to January 2004 and retrospectively analyzed. The age at the time of surgery ranged from 4 months to 20 years (average=18.8+/-37 months). Their weights ranged from 3 to 39 kg (average=7.6+/-5.8 kg). Associated tetralogy of Fallot was present in 20% of the cases (8 patients). Monitoring was complete until January 2007, corresponding to a follow-up ranging from 36 to 135 months (average=74+/-33.7 months). The surgical mortality rate was 2.5% and the hospital mortality rate was 5%. A third patient died from a brain abscess two years after surgery. Over the long-term, two patients needed further operations: one was submitted to mitral plasty due to severe residual mitral insufficiency, one year later; the other underwent a resection of a sub-aortic membrane after three years. Differences were evaluated using the Student-t or Mann-Whitney tests. Surgical treatment of complete atrioventricular septal defect using the two-patch technique results in low morbidity and mortality in early-to-mid term follow-up.

Heart failure surgery in Brazil.

Heart failure is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Brazil as in other western countries. The authors review the experience with heart transplantation in the country based on 835 patients showing that the most frequent indication was idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy followed by ischemic and Chagas disease cardiomyopathy. Early mortality was higher than other series and differently from literature, age and gender had no influence in survival. Unexpectedly, Chagas disease had better results. In regard to palliative surgical procedures it is made an analysis of the results literature of cardiomyoplasty in Brazil and South America comparing with data from literature. Following, it is reviewed the experience with ventriculectomy, showing its benefits and limitations and finally, correction of mitral insufficiency in cardiomyopathy, through valvoplasty or replacement, is considered. In summary, it is shown that palliative procedures can lead to improvement of clinical condition and ventricular function but are limited by recurrence of heart failure or sudden death.

Manuseio do canal arterial patente no prematuro com síndrome de angústia respiratória: ligadura ou indometacina? / Management of persistent ductus arteriosus in premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome: ligation or indomethacin?

A presença de canal arterial patente (PCA) com grande shunt sistêmico-pulmonar no prematuro com síndrome de angústia respiratória (SAR) está quase sempre associada a insuficiência cardíaca, displasia bronco pulmonar, enterocolite necrotizante, hemorragia intracraniana e morte. A ligadura do canal melhora a complacência pulmonar, reduz, significativamente, o tempo de assistência ventilatória e melhora o estado geral do paciente. Depois da introduçao, nesta última década, da indometacina para a interrupçao do PCA, no prematuro, vários estudos vêm procurando estabelecer as vantagens de uma forma de tratamento sobre a outra. O propósito do nosso estudo é comparar os resultados obtidos em 48 pacientes (pts) (Grupo 1) submetidos a ligadura cirúrgica, nos últimos 8 anos, com 28 pts. (Grupo 2) nos quais a indometacina foi, preferentemente, utilizada. A idade gestacional média do Grupo 1 foi de 29,13 + 2,33 semanas (24-34) e de 28,39 + 2,30 semanas (25-32) no Grupo 2. O peso médio foi de 954,17 + 220,68 g (540-1750 g) no Grupo 1 e de 923,21 + 191,74 g (550-1400 g) no Grupo 2. Trinta e três (60,75 por cento) dos pts. do Grupo 1 eram menores do que 1000 g (prematuros extremos), enquanto que 21 do Grupo 2 (75,0 por cento) estavam nessa condiçao. Nove pacientes (32,1 por cento) do Grupo 2 foram transferidos para o Grupo 1, devido ao insucesso da terapêutica com a indometacina, ou pela intolerância às doses indicadas. A ligadura foi realizada na própria unidade de terapia intensiva em 31 pts. (64,5 por cento). A técnica empregada tem sido a de uma toracotomia póstero-lateral pequena, com preservaçao dos músculos do tórax e abertura pelo 3( ou 4( espaço intercostal. Por via extrapleural, o canal é alcançado e ligado com dois clips metálicos, inicialmente, o tórax era rotineiramente drenado, apenas quando havia abertura da pleura. Mais recentemente, mesmo com a pleura aberta, somente sao drenados os casos que apresentam pneumotórax prévio, ou entao sangramento excessivo. A mortalidade no Grupo 1 foi de 18,75 por cento (9 pts.) e, no Grupo 2, de 25,0 por cento (7 pts.). Quatro pacientes do Grupo 2 transferidos para o Grupo 1 faleceram. As causas de óbito no Grupo 1 foram sépsis e hemorragia intracraniana; no Grupo 2, sépsis, enterocolite necrotizante com perfuraçao localizada, hemorragia intracraniana e pneumotórax. Nos dois grupos, a mortalidade foi significantemente maior nos prematuros extremos. A despeito dos problemas de comparaçao entre os 2 grupos e das conclusoes limitadas que podem ser retiradas de um estudo retrospectivo e nao randomizaçao, acreditamos que os resultados da ligadura cirurgica sao nitidamente superiores aos obtidos com o uso da indometacina.