Anomalous origin of the pulmonary artery from the aorta: early diagnosis and repair leading to immediate physiological correction.

INTRODUCTION: Anomalous origin of one pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta is a rare cardiac anomaly in which the pulmonary artery abnormally arises from the ascending aorta. Physiologically, most patients develop signs of cardiac failure due to high flow to both lungs, with systemic or supra-systemic pressures in the normally connected lung. The purpose of this study is to present our experience with this rare anomaly, in which early anatomic repair lead to rapid physiologic correction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective case review of all patients with anomalous origin of one pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta at Schneider Children's Medical center of Israel between 1986 and 2007. All clinical operative and echocardiographic charts were analysed. RESULTS: Twelve patients were diagnosed as anomalous origin of one pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta. In 10 patients, the right pulmonary artery rose from the ascending aorta, while in two an anomalous origin of the left pulmonary artery was associated with a right aortic arch. Initial diagnoses was made with two-dimensional echocardiography in all patients. In six patients, diagnostic cardiac catheterisation was performed in order to confirm the diagnosis. Age at diagnosis ranged from 5 to 180 days with a median of 15 days, and patient weight ranged from 780 grams to 5 kilograms, with a median of 3 kilograms. Initial echocardiographic evaluation showed systemic (four patients) or supra-systemic (seven patients) pressures in the right ventricle and normally connected lung. All underwent surgical repair. There was no operative mortality. All reconstructed patients achieved normal right ventricular pressures within days after surgery. The flow pattern in both pulmonary arteries was normalised. CONCLUSIONS: Early surgical repair of anomalous origin of one pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta is feasible and safe even in newborn and premature babies with complete resolution of the pulmonary hypertension and normalisation of pulmonary vascular resistance.

A vein entry indicator device for facilitating peripheral intravenous cannulation in children: a prospective, randomized, controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Vascular access is often technically difficult in children because of the small caliber and impalpability of the veins. In this study, we sought to determine if use of the Vein Entry Indicator Device (VEIDtrade mark) in children facilitates peripheral venous access. METHODS: Two-hundred-two healthy (ASA grade I and II) children scheduled for same-day surgery at a major tertiary hospital in Israel were randomly allocated to undergo VEID-assisted or standard peripheral venous cannulation. All cases involved the insertion of a 22-gauge cannula into an upper limb vein. Primary outcome measures were number of attempts to successful cannulation, rate of success at first attempt, and time required for insertion. The data were presented as mean (sd). Analyses of variance and Pearson chi(2) test or Fisher's exact test were used to compare the groups; forward stepwise logistic regression was used to identify the three variables (age, vein assessment category, use of the VEID) significantly associated with a successful first attempt. A P value of < or =0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Successful cannulation was achieved at the first attempt in the majority of patients in both groups. Two attempts were needed in 8% of the VEID group and 28% of the control group, and 3 attempts were needed in 1% and 3%, respectively (P < 0.01). Analysis by vein assessment category yielded a similar rate of successful first-attempt cannulations in the two groups for easy veins. However, for the difficult and intermediate categories, the rate was 89.7% in the VEID group compared to 23.3% in the control group (P < 0.001). The fewer number of attempts in the study group was associated with a shorter time from the start of the search for an appropriate vein to successful cannulation (9.1 s versus 22.5 s in the control group). CONCLUSIONS: The VEID facilitates the insertion of peripheral venous cannulas in healthy children with intermediate/difficult veins undergoing same-day surgery, reducing the number of attempts and the overall time required.