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Biomedical subjects

S S Higgins

Publications and source records attributed to S S Higgins.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

Heart failure in the neonate due to extreme abnormalities of heart rate: clinical and radiographic features.

Extreme variations of heart rate caused clinical and radiographic findings of heart failure in six neonates in the absence of structural heart disease. Two infants had heart block with heart rates below 50/min and four had paroxysmal atrial tachycardia with rates approaching 300/min. Each infant had interstitial or alveolar pulmonary edema and most had cardiomegaly. After restoration of a normal heart rate, there was rapid and dramatic resolution of pulmonary edema and reduction in cardiac size.

Arrhythmias, Cardiac↗
PubMedDate not supplied

MRI vs echocardiography in the evaluation of the Jatene procedure.

OBJECTIVE: Effective, noninvasive imaging studies are essential in the long-term assessment of patients who have had surgical correction of congenital heart disease. The initial study in most patients is echocardiography. The objective of the current study was to define the additional information that might be provided by MRI in comparison to echocardiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Electrocardiogram-gated MRI was used to evaluate 12 patients (mean age 4.5 years) who had undergone the Jatene (arterial switch) procedure for transposition of the great arteries. Magnetic resonance imaging and two-dimensional echocardiography were compared for their ability to demonstrate common complications of this procedure, namely, focal stenoses of the aortic and pulmonary anastomoses, right ventricular outflow tract, and both branch pulmonary arteries. RESULTS: A total of 24 focal stenoses were detected by MRI and echocardiography. The MR detected 22 of these (92%) and echocardiography detected 14 (58%). Ten of 17 stenoses involving the branch pulmonary arteries were identified only by MR. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that MRI is effective in evaluating post-operative complications of the pulmonary arteries in patients who have undergone the Jatene procedure and can provide information additive to echocardiography in these patients.

Anastomosis, Surgical↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Infant heart transplantation: a survey of physician beliefs.

Heart transplantation in infancy has become the fastest growing area in pediatric heart transplantation. Infant heart transplantation presents a profoundly complex decision-making situation for parents. There is a relationship between physician beliefs and their manner of presenting heart transplantation options to parents. The purpose of this study was (1) to determine the beliefs of physicians about neonatal heart transplantation, (2) to define their perceptions about their role in counseling parents about heart transplantation, and (3) to evaluate the differences of beliefs by physician specialties (pediatric cardiologists, neonatologists, and pediatricians) and practice settings (university, private, health maintenance organization). A questionnaire was designed to survey 117 physicians on their beliefs about heart transplantation. Findings revealed significant differences related to beliefs: (1) infant heart transplantation is still experimental (pediatric cardiologists, 56%; neonatologists, 85%; pediatricians, 63%; p < 0.05), (2) neonatal heart transplantation is acceptable for fatal heart disease (pediatric cardiologists, 86%; neonatologists, 73%; pediatricians, 63%; p < 0.05), (3) newborn heart transplantation should be presented negatively to protect parents from potential negative consequences on their quality of life (pediatric cardiologists, 14%; neonatologists, 33%; pediatricians, 48%; p < 0.05); (university, 25%; private, 18%; health maintenance organization, 61%; p < 0.05), and (4) infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome should not be treated (university, 28%; private, 23%; health maintenance organization, 55%; p < 0.05). Though it is critical to impart information to parents with a fair representation of infant heart transplantation, we conclude that many physicians surveyed had a knowledge deficit or bias about the current state of the art of infant heart transplantation.

Academic Medical Centers↗