[Severe accidental hypothermia with cardiac arrest and extracorporeal rewarming. A case report of a 2-year-old child]. / Schwere akzidentelle Hypothermie mit Kreislaufstillstand und extrakorporaler Erwärmung. Fallbericht eines 2-jährigen Kindes.

In patients with severe hypothermia and cardiac arrest, active rewarming is recommended by extracorporeal circulation with cardiopulmonary bypass. The current guidelines for resuscitation of the European Resuscitation Council now include the recommendation regarding patients with hypothermia remaining comatose after initial resuscitation to accomplish an active rewarming only up to a temperature of 32-34 degrees C and to maintain a mild hypothermia for 12-24 h. We report the case of a 2-year-old boy who suffered from severe hypothermia after falling into ice-cold water. On discovery cardiac arrest with asystole was present and the first measured temperature was 23.8 degrees C. Resuscitation led to restoration of spontaneous circulation. The patient was rewarmed by extracorporeal circulation with cardiopulmonary bypass to 33 degrees C then mild hypothermia was maintained for a further 12 h. On the third day after the accident the patient was extubated and after a further 9 days was discharged without any sequelae.

Ross and Ross-Konno procedure in children and adolescents: mid-term results.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to analyze mid-term results of aortic root replacement with pulmonary autograft in children and adolescents in two centers. METHODS: From December 1997 through August 2003, a total of 66 patients underwent the Ross procedure in two centers. Indication for Ross procedure was predominantly aortic stenosis in 24 patients and predominantly aortic regurgitation (AR) in 22 patients. Twenty patients with severe left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) underwent Ross-Konno procedure. No patient had a geometric mismatch of more than 5 mm in favor of the aortic annulus. RESULTS: There was no early death. One patient died 3 months after surgery due to bacterial endocarditis. Survival on median follow-up period of 2.4 years was 98.5%. Neo-aortic regurgitation was none in 29 (44%) patients, trivial in 35 (53%) patients and mild in 2 (3%) patients. One patient (1.5%) needed aortic valve replacement because of autograft failure. Actuarial freedom from more than trivial neo-aortic regurgitation, or aortic valve replacement was 95% at 5 years follow-up. There was no patient either with recurrent LVOTO or significant aortic root dilatation. Freedom from redo was 93% at 5 years of follow-up. There had been a significant reduction (P = 0.001) and normalization in the left ventricle diastolic diameter index and left ventricle mass index, respectively, within 3-12 months after operation. Sixty-three percent of all operated patients are without medication; no one is on anticoagulation therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Our 7 years experience with the Ross and Ross-Konno operation has shown excellent mid-term results, with mortality rate approaching zero in both simple and complex left heart lesions, even in the neonates and infants. It is a procedure of choice in children with severe anomaly of the aortic valve and/or left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. The main concern is dilatation of the neo-aortic root leading to progression of AR, especially in the settings of geometric mismatch of aortic and pulmonary roots and bicuspid, regurgitant aortic valve. The risk of autograft failure in these specific subsets of patients remains to be determined.

Biventricular repair of double outlet right ventricle with non-committed ventricular septal defect (VSD) by VSD rerouting to the pulmonary artery and arterial switch.

OBJECTIVES: Biventricular repair of double outlet right ventricle non-committed ventricular septal defect (DORVncVSD) is usually achieved by a VSD rerouting to the aorta. This technique can be limited by the presence of tricuspid chordae and by the pulmonary artery to tricuspid valve distance. Furthermore, there is an important risk of late subaortic obstruction related to the long patch required that creates a potential akinetic septal area. Presented here is another technique; by VSD rerouting to the pulmonary infundibulum and arterial switch. METHODS: Ten patients, with DORVncVSD, underwent a VSD rerouting to the pulmonary infundibulum followed by arterial switch. Seven had a previous pulmonary artery banding and one a moderate infundibular stenosis. The median age at surgery was 16 months (range 3 weeks to 4.5 years). All patients had a bilateral infundibulum, with a large persistent subaortic conus, D malposition of the aorta, side-by-side vessels and double loop coronary patterns. The VSD was perimembranous with inlet or trabecular extension. Subaortic obstruction was constant. The VSD was severely distant from both the aortic and the pulmonary annulus. The operation was conducted through a combined approach. The VSD was constantly enlarged superiorly. The almost permanent subaortic obstruction was released. The VSD was always found quite close to the pulmonary infundibular ostium. The arterial switch technique was adapted to the complex coronary anatomy. RESULTS: There was one non-cardiac death. At a mean follow-up of 20 months, all nine survivors are in NYHA class I, in sinus rhythm, and have no subaortic gradient greater than 15 mm. CONCLUSION: This technique of VSD rerouting to the pulmonary artery and arterial switch limits greatly the size of the rerouting patch, respects the tricuspid chordae and is independent of the pulmonary artery-tricuspid valve distance. In this early series of biventricular repair of DORVncVSD, the VSDs were always found close to the pulmonary artery, allowing this new type of repair.