ABSTRACT
An aortico-left ventricular tunnel was diagnosed at echocardiography in a 6 week old baby after fortuitous detection of a systolic and diastolic murmur. Its association with atresia of the right coronary ostium, suspected at echocardiogoraphy, was confirmed at surgery which included occlusion of the tunnel orifices, aortic commissurotomy and reimplantation of the right coronary artery. The short-term postoperative result is excellent. This is an exceptional malformation, the clinical diagnosis of which is relatively easy. Its relationship with the right coronary artery conforms to an embryological logic and must be investigated thoroughly before surgery to avoid compromising myocardial revascularisation.
Subject(s)
Aorta, Thoracic/abnormalities , Coronary Vessel Anomalies/surgery , Heart Defects, Congenital/surgery , Heart Ventricles/abnormalities , Aorta, Thoracic/surgery , Cardiac Surgical Procedures/adverse effects , Coronary Vessel Anomalies/complications , Coronary Vessel Anomalies/diagnostic imaging , Echocardiography, Doppler , Heart Defects, Congenital/complications , Heart Defects, Congenital/diagnostic imaging , Heart Ventricles/surgery , Humans , Infant , Male , Mediastinitis/drug therapy , Mediastinitis/etiology , Staphylococcus aureus/isolation & purification , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Since 1987, percutaneous transluminal dilatation with a balloon catheter was performed in 4 patients with subaortic diaphragm. The patients' mean age was 13 years (range 6 to 22 years). Two of them were asymptomatic and all had mild to moderate aortic valve regurgitation. In all patients two-dimensional echocardiography showed the presence of sub-aortic stenosis. Following dilatation, 2D-echocardiography showed an image of membrane floating in the left ventricular outflow tract. The left ventricular systolic pressure fell from 194 +/- 24 to 147 +/- 16 mmHg and the intraventricular systolic gradient, from 92 +/- 21 to 31 +/- 3 mmHg. There were no changes in aortic regurgitation. No complication was observed.
Subject(s)
Aortic Valve Stenosis/therapy , Catheterization , Adolescent , Adult , Aortic Valve Stenosis/congenital , Aortic Valve Stenosis/physiopathology , Child , Echocardiography , Female , Hemodynamics , Humans , MaleSubject(s)
Catheterization/methods , Heart Failure/therapy , Pulmonary Valve Stenosis/therapy , Child , Female , Hemodynamics , Humans , Jugular VeinsABSTRACT
Thirty-five patients with moderate or severe valvular pulmonary stenosis underwent percutaneous transluminal valvuloplasty (PTV). The average age of the patients was 12 years (range 4 to 34 years). Sixty per cent were under the age of 10, 20 p. 100 were between 10 and 17 years old and 20 p. 100 between 18 and 34 years old. Systolic right ventricular pressures were greater than the pressures in the systemic circulation in 22 cases. The right ventricular-pulmonary artery pressure gradient was greater than 50 mmHg in 29 patients and less than or equal to 50 mmHg in the other 6 patients. The diameter of the balloon of the dilation catheter varied from 12 to 20 mm in 31 PTV; in the other 4 cases two dilating catheters were used simultaneously to dilate the pulmonary valves. The tolerance of PTV was generally good and the results were satisfactory: right ventricular pressures (RVP) fell from 140 +/- 45 to 77 +/- 25 mmHg (p less than 0.001); the RV-PA pressure gradient fell from 82 +/- 40 to 32.4 +/- 15 mmHg (p less than 0.001) and the ratio of RVP to systemic pressure from 1.2 +/- 0.4 to 0.65 +/- 0.2 (p less than 0.01). Clinical and haemodynamic reevaluation in 19 patients 4 to 16 months after PTV (mean 8.5 +/- 2 months) showed that RVP, RV-PA pressure gradients and RVP/systemic pressure ratios had significantly decreased respectively from 78 +/- 30 to 52 +/- 14 mmHg (p less than 0.001), from 27.7 +/- 7.7 to 21.8 +/- 7.3 mmHg (p less than 0.02) and from 0.6 +/- 0.2 to 0.4 +/- 0.1 (p less than 0.001). Pulmonary valvuloplasty is well tolerated, safe and may reduce the number of patients requiring surgical valvotomy.
