The efficacy and safety of percutaneous balloon angioplasty for aortic coarctation in children. Acute and mid-term results in a single center experience.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy and safety of balloon angioplasty (BAP) procedure for treatment of coarctation of the aorta (CoA) in children. Methods: A retrospective study included 27 consecutive children, underwent BAP for either native-CoA (Na-CoA) or recoarctation (Re-CoA). Medical records, echocardiographic findings, angiographic and hemodynamic data were collected from the hospital database. Follow­up was scheduled at 1, 3, 6, 12 months after the procedure. The study took place over a period of 4.5 years, from April 2014 to January 2019, in Madinah Cardiac Center, Madinah, Northwest region, Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 11.86±8.96 months. Seven children had Na-CoA and 20 children had Re-CoA. The success rate of the procedure was achieved in 23 children (85%), as BAP reduced the mean systolic pressure gradient across the CoA (Na-CoA: from 45.28± 18.3 to 9.8± 6.57 mm Hg, p=0.0009), and in Re-CoA groups (from 42.48±16.7 to 10.9±8.5 mm Hg, p less than 0.0001). In mid-term follow-up, the need for re-intervention occurred in 8 children of the cohort (3 children [42.8%] from the Na-CoA group, and 5 children [25%] from the Re-CoA group).  Conclusions: Balloon angioplasty is considered a safe procedure for the management of CoA, but its efficacy remains questionable especially for young infants with Na-CoA type. However, it is a reliable option for managing Re-CoA children, with a lower rate of future re-intervention.

Transcatheter device closure of ventricular septal defects in children: a retrospective study at a single cardiac center.

BACKGROUND: Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is the most common congenital heart disease in the pediatric population. Nowadays, trans-catheter closure is considered a feasible method of therapy for most muscular and some perimembranous types of VSDs. OBJECTIVE: Assess the safety, efficacy and outcome of percutaneous transcatheter closure of VSDs in children. DESIGN: Retrospective, single center study. SETTING: Madinah Cardiac Center, Madinah, Saudi Arabia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included all consecutive children who underwent transcatheter closure of isolated VSD during the period from December 2014 to January 2019. The data were collected from hospital database medical records. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and an electrocardiogram (ECG) were done before and after the procedure in all the patients. The device was implanted by the retrograde or antegrade approach. All patients were subjected to follow-up evaluation at 1, 3, 6, 12 months, and annually thereafter with TTE and ECG. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Procedure success rate, clinical follow-up, TTE. SAMPLE SIZE: 70 children. RESULTS: The mean (standard deviation) age of patients was 10.2 (4.1) years (range: 2-18 years), and their mean body weight was 30.9 (13.9) kg (range: 7.0-57.7 kg). Forty-eight (68.6%) children had muscular VSD (mVSD), and 22 (31.4%) children had perimembranous VSD (pmVSD). The majority of defects were closed via the retrograde approach using the Amplatzer muscular occluder device. At 24 hours after the procedure, the success rate was 90%. Only four (5.7%) cases had major adverse events including complete atrioventricular block, hemolysis, and thrombus formation. CONCLUSION: Transcatheter closure is a safe and feasible procedure in VSDs of various morphologies, with a low adverse event rate. LIMITATIONS: Retrospective design, single-center study, absence of control group. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.

Pristimerin protects against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity and fibrosis through modulation of Nrf2 and MAPK/NF-kB signaling pathways.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Pristimerin (Pris) is triterpenoid compound with many biological effects. Until now, nothing is known about its effect on doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cardiotoxicity. Hence, this study investigated the impact of Pris on DOX-induced cardiotoxic effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rats were treated with Pris 1 week before and 2 weeks contaminant with repeated DOX injection. Afterwards, electrocardiography (ECG), biochemical, histopathological, PCR, and Western blot assessments were performed. RESULTS: Pris effectively alleviated DOX-induced deleterious cardiac damage. It inhibited DOX-induced ECG abnormities as well as DOX-induced elevation of serum indices of cardiotoxicity. The histopathological cardiac lesions and fibrosis were remarkably improved in Pris-treated animals. Pris reduced hydroxyproline content and attenuated the mRNA and protein expression of the pro-fibrogenic genes. The antioxidant activity of Pris was prominent through the amelioration of oxidative stress parameters and enhancement of antioxidants. Furthermore, Pris enhanced the activation of nuclear factor-erythroid 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway as it increased the mRNA and protein expression of Nrf2 and Nrf2-dependent antioxidant genes (GCL, NQO1, HO-1). Additionally, the anti-inflammatory effect of Pris was obvious through the inhibition of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK)/nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-kB) signaling and subsequent inhibition of inflammatory mediators. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence of the cardioprotective activity of Pris which is related to the modulation of Nrf2 and MAPK/NF-kB signaling pathways.

Assessment of cardiac functions in children with sickle cell anemia: doppler tissue imaging study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The extent in which sickle cell anemia (SCA) impacts myocardial function in children is unclear. Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) was introduced as a new non-invasive echocardiographic method for assessment of ventricular systolic and diastolic functions. We undertook this study to assess subclinical impact of SCA on global myocardial performance in affected children using DTI and to correlate it with mean hemoglobin concentration. METHODS: Eighty five children with SCA (mean age 11.82 ± 3.7 years) was included as the study group and 55 age- and sex-matched healthy children as the control group. Conventional two-dimensional echocardiography was performed in both groups and DTI was used to determine right ventricular (RV) and left ventricular (LV) Tei indexes. Mean Hb concentration was correlated to the cardiac functions of SCA children. RESULTS: RV and LV Tei indexes were significantly higher in SCA group (mean ± SD: 0.54 ± 0.19 vs. 0.27 ± 0.01, p <0.0001 and 0.47 ± 0.09 vs. 0.30 ± 0.07, p <0.0001, respectively). Also, mean Hb concentration was correlated negatively with both LV Tei index (r = -0.611, p <0.0001) and with RV Tei index (r = -0.894, p <0.0001). On the contrary, fractional shortening (FS) did not correlate with mean Hb concentration (r = -0.044, p = 0.681). CONCLUSIONS: DTI technique appears to be more sensitive than conventional echocardiography in the early detection of myocardial dysfunction in children with SCA. This provides insights into the value of early screening and the potential for preventive therapy in children to avert cardiac morbidity and mortality in adults with SCA.