Traumatic rupture of anterolateral papillary muscle in a patient with congenital deficiency of left hemi-pericardium: case report.

Congenital absence or deficiency of the pericardium or hemi-pericardium is uncommon. When it happens, the protection given to the heart is greatly reduced, and blunt or penetrating trauma to the chest is transmitted directly to the heart. Valvular injuries from these traumas are however rare with a case of tricuspid valve rupture reported. Traumatic papillary muscle rupture in all patients group is also rare. Co-existing rupture of papillary muscle in patients with congenital absence of the pericardium is extremely rare. We report the rare case of a patient with deficient left hemi-pericardium who had a traumatic rupture of the anterolateral papillary muscle from a road traffic accident.

Twenty Years of Repair of Ventricular Septal Defects in Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) is the commonest congenital heart disease. Without appropriate treatment, it is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Surgical repair under cardiopulmonary bypass has been the standard treatment. Results of such treatment is not readily available from the West African sub region. We analysed the outcome of surgical repair of VSDs carried out in this Centre over a 20-year period. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was done for all patients who had surgical repair of VSD from January 1993 to December 2012. RESULTS: There were a total of 207 patients, with 6 and 23 of them operated on in the first and last years of the study respectively. There were 121 (58.5%) males and 86 (41.5%) females. The mean age was 10.0 ± 10.5 (11 months - 55 years), with a median of 7 years. The modal class interval was 0 - 5 years (46.4%). Most of the VSDs were perimembranous 168 (81.1%), followed by outlet VSDs 19 (9.2%), muscular VSDs 11 (5.3%) and inlet VSDs 9 (4.4%). Fifty-four cases (26%) had associated congenital cardiac anomalies that needed concomitant surgical intervention, with the commonest being Pulmonary Stenosis (PS) 21 (10.1%), followed by Patent Ductus Ateriosus (PDA) 10 (4.8%). The complication rate was 6.4% (13 cases), comprising a morbidity of 4.4 % (9 cases) and early mortality of 2.0% (4 cases). The morbidity was due to bleeding requiring re-exploration 2 (1.0%), residual VSD requiring re-do 3 (1.4%), complete heart block requiring permanent pacemaker implantation 2 (1.0%), acute renal failure requiring dialysis 1 (0.5%), sternal wound infection requiring debridement 1 (0.5%). The mortality was due to pulmonary hypertension. CONCLUSION: With a morbidity of 4.4% and early mortality of 2.0%, the outcome of surgical repair of VSDs from this study is good. Children with VSDs must be offered repair as soon as possible to avoid the numerous complications that usually follow untreated VSDs.

Placental malaria and immunity to infant measles.

The efficiency of transplacental transfer of measles specific antibody was assessed in relation to placental malaria. Infection at delivery was associated with a 30% decrease in expected cord measles antibody titres. Uninfected women who received anti-malarial drugs during pregnancy transmitted 30% more antibody than those who received no antimalarial drugs.