Subclinical cardiac involvement in student athletes after COVID-19 infection - Evaluation using feature tracking cardiac MRI strain analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate subclinical cardiac dysfunction in student athletes after COVID-19 infection using feature tracking cardiac MRI strain analysis. METHODS: Student athletes with history of COVID-19 infection underwent cardiac MRI as part of screening before return to competitive play. Subjects were enrolled if they had no or mild symptoms, normal cardiac MRI findings with no imaging evidence of myocarditis. Feature tracking strain analysis was performed using short and long axis cine MRI images of athletes and a separate cohort of healthy controls. Differences between the cardiac strain parameters were statistically analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: The study cohort included 122 athletes (49 females, mean age 20 years ± 1.5 standard deviations) who had a history of COVID-19, and 35 healthy controls (24 females, mean age 34 years ± 18 standard deviations). COVID-19 positive athletes had normal physiologic cardiac adaptations, including significantly higher left and right ventricle end-diastolic volumes (p = 0.00001) when compared to healthy controls. There was no significant difference between biventricular ejection fraction between athletes and control subjects (p > 0.05). Cardiac MRI parameters, including left ventricle global longitudinal strain (LV-GLS), global circumferential strain (LV-GCS), and global radial strain (LV-GRS) values were normal but slightly lower in athletes compared to controls. LV-GCS and LV-GRS were significantly lower in athletes compared to controls (p = 0.007 and p = 0.005 respectively), but there was no significant difference for LV-GLS (p = 0.088). CONCLUSION: In this study of 122 athletes, there was no evidence of subclinical myocardial alterations following recovery from COVID-19 found on cardiac MRI strain analysis. When compared to healthy controls, the competitive athletes had higher end-diastolic volume indices and reduced, albeit normal, strain values of LV-GLS, LV-GCS, and LV-GRS.

Case Report: Challenging Perioperative Decision-Making in a Neonate With Transposition of Great Arteries and Novel Coronary Anatomy.

Transposition of great arteries (d-TGA) is often associated with various coronary artery (CA) patterns. These anomalous patterns can cause variable clinical symptoms of coronary ischemia including sudden death. CA pattern is one of the major determinants of outcome in TGA postoperatively. An advanced cardiac imaging and a multidisciplinary care approach are essential for a favorable outcome. Here, we describe a novel CA origin pattern in a neonate with d-TGA, who developed myocardial ischemia and required a coronary unroofing procedure for a full recovery.

Venous Myocardial Infarction in an Infant with Obstructed Totally Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Drainage and Coronary Sinus Ostial Atresia.

We report a rare causal association between obstructed supracardiac totally anomalous pulmonary venous drainage and coronary sinus ostial atresia. Our 12-week-old patient developed venous myocardial infarction secondary to coronary venous hypertension because her sole route of coronary venous drainage was obstructed. She recovered after the obstruction was relieved by balloon dilation. Surgical repair then included anastomosis of the pulmonary venous confluence to the left atrium, ligation of the vertical vein, and unroofing of the coronary sinus. Coronary sinus ostial atresia is rarely diagnosed before autopsy.

Eponymous cardiovascular surgeries for congenital heart diseases--imaging review and historical perspectives.

Advances in pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgical techniques over the past few decades have revolutionized the management of the patients with congenital heart disease, and many now survive into adulthood. Several eponymous surgical procedures performed for congenital heart disease have been named after eminent surgeons. In this article, we provide a short biography of the surgeons associated with these eponymous surgical procedures along with their other important scientific contributions. This is followed by a review of these surgical procedures and their most common complications. Imaging appearances of these surgical procedures along with common complications are described and illustrated, with particular emphasis on magnetic resonance imaging. The surgical procedures described in this review include Blalock-Taussig, Potts, Waterston, Glenn, Fontan, Kawashima, Norwood, Sano, Damus-Kaye-Stansel, Mustard, Senning, Jatene, LeCompte, Rastelli, Rashkind, Ross, and Waldenhausen.

Left ventricular dysfunction in duchenne muscular dystrophy and genotype.

Prognosis in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is guarded, and most deaths are due to cardiac or respiratory causes. It is unclear if some DMD gene mutations might be predictive of either mild or severe cardiac dysfunction. We studied 75 patients with DMD followed at our institution. Cardiac function, as assessed by yearly echocardiography, showed marked variability in left ventricular (LV) function. Some patients in their 3rd decade had no or minimal dysfunction, whereas others in their 2nd decade had very severe dysfunction. Therefore, 4 severity groups were defined ranging from no or mild LV dysfunction to severe LV dysfunction using patient age at first abnormal echocardiographic finding and degree of LV dysfunction. Genetic data were collected for all patients. Most patients had mutations from exon 1 to 20 to exon 41 to 55. The distribution of the 4 severity groups of LV dysfunction did not significantly differ between these 2 mutation groups. An analysis based on the number of exons involved (<5 vs ≥5 exons) also found no significant difference in cardiac severity. When patients having identical mutations were compared with their cardiac course, concordance was often not evident. Steroid therapy had no apparent protection for the development of cardiomyopathy. In conclusion, 75 patients with DMD showed marked variability in the severity of LV dysfunction. Neither the age of onset nor the severity of cardiomyopathy correlated with any of the mutation groups.

A tale of two rings.

We describe a rare case of double vascular ring diagnosed with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in a patient with ventricular septal defect, pulmonary stenosis, and right aortic arch.

Fetal diagnosis of superior vena cava aneurysm.

Superior vena cava aneurysm is a rare intrathoracic vascular lesion with only 27 cases reported in the literature. The majority are fusiform and can be associated with cystic hygroma due to the close embryonic relationship between lymphatic vessels and systemic veins. This is the first report of superior vena cava aneurysm diagnosed with fetal echocardiography in a fetus with a cystic hygroma. There is a need of a prospective registry to further delineate all aspects of this condition and establish the most appropriate therapeutic approach.