The adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa had significant structural and functional cardiac abnormalities in comparison to the control group. All these abnormalities were reversible except low R wave amplitude in V6.

Prolonged QTc interval (>440 ms) is a common abnormality in adult patients with CLD and has been reported to predict patient survival. In this study, 88 children who underwent evaluation for LT, including a 12-lead electrocardiogram and echocardiogram included to determine the frequency of QTc prolongation and related factors in children with CLD and the effect of LT on these factors. Sixty-nine healthy, age- and sex-matched children served as controls. QTc interval was prolonged in 40 CLD patients (45.4%). It was found to be related to PELD score and presence of portal hypertension. Mean QTc was higher in patients who died prior to LT than in the survivors without LT. Mortality risk was increased 3.66-fold in patients with prolonged QTc (p = 0.001, 95% CI: 2-7.2). Cox regression analysis showed that only PELD score was an independent predictor of survival (p = 0.001, beta = -0.41, 95% CI: 5.58-1.82). Five of 48 transplanted children died within three months post-transplant; QTc was not related to post-transplant survival (p = 0.27). QTc normalized in 63.8% patients after LT. After LT, LAD, LVEF, and LVPWT decreased. In conclusion, QTc prolongation is common in children with CLD and associated with high mortality. It may be useful for assessment of the severity of CLD and for the timing for transplantation.

Cardiac complications are considered to be the primary cause of death in patients with b thalassaemia major. QT dispersion is a marker variability of ventricular repolarization and is elevated in various high risk groups of patients. This study was carried out in patients with b thalassaemia major to evaluate QT dispersion and to investigate the relationship between QT dispersion and body iron load. Sixty-two b thalassaemia major patients were enrolled into the study. The average serum ferritin levels and liver iron concentration was assessed. For each patient, QTQTc intervals and QT-QTc dispersions were calculated and V1S and V5R were measured. All the subjects underwent two-dimensional M mode echocardiogram and Doppler study. LVMI was found higher in thalassaemia major patients compared to control group. b thalassaemia major patients showed significantly higher mean QT, QTc, QTd, and QTcd values compared to the control group. The mean V5R and V1S amplitudes were also higher in b thalassaemia major patients. There was a positive correlation between LVMI and QTc, QTd and QTcd. However, there was no significant correlation between QT dispersion and serum ferritin and liver iron concentration. Prospective longitudinal studies are needed to assess the prognostic significance of these findings. Am. J. Hematol. 81:901-906, 2006. V V C 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PPI measurements may be valuable for early detection of obstructive left heart lesions where pulse oximetry screening has limitations in diagnosis.

Background: A limited number of studies have reported various short-term cardiovascular changes in bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) patients in the postsurfactant era. Little is known about the course of these changes in children with BPD. Objectives: It was the aim of this study to investigate cardiovascular consequences of BPD at preschool ages and to find out possible risk factors related to cardiovascular sequelae. Methods: Prematurely born children with (n = 21) and without BPD (n = 20) were evaluated with conventional and myocardial tissue Doppler echocardiography at the age of 2-4 years. Results: BPD patients had a decreased pulmonary artery acceleration time and higher left and right ventricular myocardial performance indexes, consistent with higher pulmonary pressures and impaired biventricular systolic and diastolic functions at preschool ages. Low birth weight, disease severity and postnatal cumulative steroid dose were related to these changes. Conclusion: Negative effects of BPD on global cardiac performances of both ventricles and pulmonary arterial pressure persist up to preschool ages.

Obesity is pathogenically related to clinical and subclinical disorders that contribute to the development of atherosclerotic plaques and their complications leading to onset of cardiovascular events. Arterial stiffness may be an indicator of early vascular changes signaling the development of vascular disease. The purpose of this study was to assess the stiffness of the abdominal aorta using transthoracic echocardiography in normotensive obese and hypertensive obese pediatric patients and a control group. The study group consisted of 25 healthy children (M/F: 13/12) as a control group (Group I), 25 normotensive obese children (M/F: 13/12) (Group II) and 25 hypertensive obese children (M/F: 14/11) (Group III). The mean ages were 12.1 +/- 1.8, 11.9 +/- 1.5 and 12.4 +/- 1.4 years, respectively. Aortic strain (S), pressure strain elastic modulus (Ep) and normalized Ep (Ep*) measurements were significantly different in the hypertensive obese group, and cholesterol levels and body mass index were higher in this group. These findings may be important in determining the relationship between obesity and cardiovascular risk factors at pediatric age.

Increased abdominal aortic stiffness was detected in beta-thalassemia major patients and this increase in arterial stiffness correlated with LIC and LVMI.

Although frequency of von Willebrand factor deficiency is higher in children with congenital heart disease than in the normal population, this condition does not result in adverse clinical outcomes like increased bleeding tendency during operation.