Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M M de Moor.
A 5-month-old infant with congenital mitral valve disease successfully managed by replacement with a mechanical prosthetic valve is reported. The incidence and management of congenital mitral valve defects is discussed.
A 5 1/2-month-old infant with Kawasaki disease complicated by coronary aneurysms is described. Despite myocardial infarction, the patient survived and is improving on medical management alone. Coronary aneurysms occur in 20% of cases presenting with Kawasaki disease. Medical management is aimed at preventing infarction and promoting healing of aneurysms. The use of anticoagulants and thrombolytics in Kawasaki disease is discussed.
The clinical and laboratory findings in 29 children with infective endocarditis over the past 10 years are reviewed retrospectively. Twenty children (70 per cent) had congenital heart disease, five (16 per cent) had rheumatic heart disease, and four (14 per cent) had no underlying cardiac abnormality prior to presentation. Twelve (41 per cent) patients had undergone cardiac surgery prior to developing endocarditis. The most common causative organisms were Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and viridans streptococci none of which was associated with a significantly greater mortality. There was a high case fatality rate of 35 per cent of children below the age of 6 months and children without an underlying cardiac abnormality were particularly at risk. There is a need for standardization of diagnostic criteria for infective endocarditis to facilitate accurate collaborative epidemiological investigation.
A patient with tricuspid atresia developed a pulsatile liver after palliative cardiac surgery. This was complicated by infective endocarditis causing gross mitral incompetence; it is postulated that this was the cause of the pulsatile liver.
Twenty-one neonates and infants less than 3 months old undergoing cardiac surgery for an obstructed right ventricular outflow tract, intact ventricular septum and a small or hypoplastic right ventricle were retrospectively analyzed, in order to assess the effects of a change in management protocol. Seven of the 8 patients with critical pulmonary stenosis survived surgery using a transannular outflow patch, whereas only 1 of the 8 patients with pulmonary atresia survived the same operation. Two patients in the latter group died 2 and 3 months after surgery but with complications arising from surgery. Of 5 patients with pulmonary atresia who had a modified Blalock Taussig shunt, 3 patients survived the surgery and were discharged home. These results significantly indicate that there is an unacceptably high mortality for the relief of pulmonary atresia (with intact septum) using a transannular outflow patch, and a Blalock Taussig shunt is the preferred operation. The transannular outflow patch is a safe operation for neonates with critical pulmonary stenosis, irrespective of the size of the right ventricle.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) presented in 10 children under 2 years of age (group 1) and in 5 between 3 and 8 years (group 2). The clinical, ECG, chest radiographic and echocardiographic features are reviewed and prognosis over a mean follow-up period of 3.5 years is reported. Patients in group 1 had more symptoms and 7 had evidence of heart failure at some stage; all had ECG abnormalities. Group 2 patients presented with murmurs and only 1 had heart failure. Medical management of these patients is discussed and the importance of accurate diagnosis stressed, since HCM may have a poor prognosis in childhood; 3 out of 15 patients have died.
The performance of the St. Jude prosthetic valve is reviewed in 81 patients aged 3 to 15 years. All 66 mitral (2 re-replacements), 8 aortic and 9 double valve replacements between February 1979 and August 1984 are included. The early mortality was 3.7% and actuarial analysis shows a 90% event free survival up to 5 years. Anticoagulant therapy was used in most patients, but comparison between groups receiving warfarin or aspirin or no therapy reveals no differences in the complication rate. The valve is well suited for use in children since the early degeneration seen with heterograft valves does not occur, and anticoagulation is not essential.
Endomyocardial biopsy is performed when a histological diagnosis is required, e.g. in patients with cardiac failure due to unknown causes, in anthracycline toxicity, and to evaluate cardiac transplant rejection. Right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy has been carried out in 10 infants and small children (average age 14 months); the technical aspects of the procedure are discussed. Performed by a paediatric cardiologist endomyocardial biopsy in infancy is as safe as a routine cardiac catheterization.
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Four children (age range 2 3/4-6 1/2 years) presented with acute mitral regurgitation due to rupture of the tendinous chords. All required urgent replacement of their mitral valve. Subsequent histological examination confirmed acute rheumatic carditis in all. Acute rheumatic carditis is a rare cause of ruptured tendinous chords of the mitral valve especially in young children. The difficulties in diagnosis and management are discussed.
Brain abscesses due to Streptococcus milleri occurring in 2 previously healthy children are reported. Both children had evidence of liver involvement and both responded well to antibiotic treatment.
Between January 1982 and May 1984 37 patients with a univentricular heart who had undergone two-dimensional echocardiography and cardiac catheterization were reviewed. The clinical, electrocardiographic, radiological and anatomical data are analysed and the controversy regarding this condition is discussed. The management and appropriate surgical procedures are presented.
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