This study aimed to illustrate the experience of treating children with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA). The clinical data for 19 children with ALCAPA admitted to Beijing Anzhen Hospital from August 1993 to June 2009 were reviewed. According to the data, 47.4% (9/19) of the patients had a misdiagnosis of endocardial fibroelastosis, and 15.8% (3/19) had a misdiagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy. Electrocardiography showed abnormal Q waves with T wave inversion in leads I, avL, and V4-V6 of 18 patients, especially in lead avL. The ratio of proximal right coronary artery diameter to aotic root diameter exceeded 0.20 for 15 of 16 patients. Apical ventricular aneurysm or aneurysmal dilation (52.6%,10/19), enhanced echogenicity of papillary muscles (84.2%, 16/19), and increased coronary collaterals (78.9%, 15/19) were detected frequently during echocardiography. A total of 18 patients underwent cardiac surgery including left coronary artery (LCA) ligation for 1 patient (5.6%), LCA ligation plus coronary artery bypass grafting for 1 patient (5.6%), Takeuchi operation for 7 patients (38.9%), and LCA reimplantation for 9 patients (50.0%). Five patients died in the hospital, and the remainder were asymptomatic during a follow-up period of 6 to 166 months. Their abnormal Q waves gradually regressed, and left ventricular systolic function and size returned to normal with alleviation of mitral insufficiency. The clinical features of ALCAPA are helpful for determining an accurate diagnosis. This anomaly can be treated successfully by several types of operations with good prognosis.

Background:Restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) is the least common cardiomyopathy in which the walls are rigid and the heart is restricted from stretching and filling properly. Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) mutation-caused myofibril Ca2+ hypersensitivity has been shown to be associated with impaired diastolic function. This study aimed to investigate the linkage between the genotype and clinical therapy of RCM.Methods:Five sporadic pediatric RCM patients confirmed by echocardiography were enrolled in this study. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed for the cohort to find out candidate causative gene variants. Sanger sequencing confirmed the WES-identified variants.Results:TNNI3 variants were found in all of the five patients. R192H mutation was shared in four patients while R204H mutation was found only in one patient. Structure investigation showed that the C terminus of TNNI3 was flexible and mutation on the C terminus was possible to cause the RCM. Catechins were prescribed for the five patients once genotype was confirmed. Ventricular diastolic function was improved in three patients during the follow-up.Conclusions:Our data demonstrated that TNNI3 mutation-induced RCM1 is the most common type of pediatric RCM in this study. In addition, WES is a reliable approach to identify likely pathogenic genes of RCM and might be useful for the guidance of clinical treatment scheme.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Background:Pulmonary stenosis is common in children with complex congenital heart diseases. Proper management of this problem, especially postoperatively, is still controversial. This study was designed to assess the rate and determinants of success or failure of balloon angioplasty for such lesions.Methods:Clinical and hemodynamic data from 40 pediatric patients (24 boys and 16 girls) with complex congenital heart diseases who underwent balloon angioplasty were reviewed retrospectively from January 2012 to December 2016. Patients were divided into four groups according to the site of stenosis, which included pulmonary valve stenosis (PVS), valved conduit stenosis, pulmonary artery stenosis (PAS), and supravalvular pulmonary stenosis (SVPS). Success rates were calculated according to defined criteria for initial success and favorable clinical impacts, and comparison between the successful subgroup and the unsuccessful subgroups was analyzed.Results:Grouped by the site of stenosis, initial success rates varied from 40.0% to 52.4% with the greatest success being seen in the PVS group, followed by the PAS group and SVPS group. In the PVS group and the PAS group, there was no statistical difference among age at dilation, postoperative interval, balloon/stenosis ratio, or pressure gradient predilation between the successful and the unsuccessful subgroups. Favorable clinical impacts included success rates of balloon angioplasty in the SVPS group, which was best (100%), followed by the PVS group (90.9%) and the PAS group (85.7%). There were a total of two transient complications (5.0%).Conclusions:Balloon angioplasty was proven to be a safe and useful modality in children with complex congenital heart diseases and postoperative pulmonary stenosis, which should be the initial therapeutic modality in selected patients.

BackgroundLeft main coronary artery atresia (LMCAA) is an extremely rare abnormality and only <100 cases have been reported worldwide. We describe the clinical manifestations, imaging features, prognosis, and treatments of LMCAA who were admitted in our department, which aimed to improve the clinical diagnosis and treatments of LMCAA in children.MethodsA retrospective study identified 12 patients diagnosed with congenital left coronary artery atresia at Pediatric Heart Center of Beijing Anzhen Hospital from June 2010 to June 2019. The clinical characteristics, imaging data, and treatment follow-up were analyzed.ResultsAmong the 12 cases, 8 were boys and 4 were girls; the age of onset was 2 months to 2 years old (median age 7 months); the age of diagnosis was 7 months to 6 years old (median age 2 years and 11 months). At the initial diagnosis, there were 4 cases of respiratory tract infection with cardiac murmur, 3 cases of cardiac shadow enlargement, 1 case of recurrent syncope, 2 cases of feeding difficulty with cardiac enlargement, and 2 cases of simple cardiac murmur. In 12 cases of electrocardiogram examination, 7 cases showed pathological Q waves of lead I, AVL and v4–v6; in 12 cases of chest X-ray examination, 8 cases showed cardiac shadow enlargement; in 12 cases of our hospital's first cardiac ultrasound examination, 4 cases were definitely diagnosed, and 8 cases showed the possibility of left coronary artery abnormality; in 5 cases of cardiac coronary CT angiography examination, 2 cases were confirmed, 2 cases reported suspected left coronary artery abnormality, and 1 case did not report abnormality; All cases were definitely diagnosed in 8 cases of angiography. Follow-up was performed from 1 to 8 years; one case died suddenly, one case of syncope after activity was treated by oral medication, 3 cases received open coronary angioplasty and mitral valvuloplasty, recovered well after operation, the rest of the children were treated by oral medication, and the symptoms are stable at present.ConclusionsLeft main coronary artery atresia is difficult to diagnose and can result in heart failure early in life. Timely diagnosis and reasonable treatment are the keys to improve the prognosis.

AIM:To c o m p a re t h e fe a t u re s o f b i o c h e m i c a l metabolic changes detected by hepatic phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 31 P MRS) with the liver damage score (LDS) and pathologic changes in rabbits and to investigate the diagnostic value of 31 P MRS in acute hepatic radiation injury. METHODS:A total of 30 rabbits received different radiation doses (ranging 5-20 Gy) to establish acute hepatic injury models. Blood biochemical tests, 31 P MRS and pathological examinations were carried out 24 h after irradiation. The degree of injury was evaluated according to LDS and pathology. Ten healthy rabbits served as controls. The MR examination was performed on a 1.5 T imager using a 1 H/ 31 P surface coil by the 2D chemical shift imaging technique. The relative quantities of phosphomonoesters (PME), phosphodiesters (PDE), inorganic phosphate (Pi) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were measured. The data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS:(1) Relative quantification of phosphorus metabolites: (a) ATP: there were significant differences among control group, mild injured group, moderate injured group, and severe injured group according to both LDS grading and pathological grading, respectively, and it decreased progressively with the increased degree of injury (r = -0.723, P = 0.000). (b) PME and Pi; the relative quantification of PME and Pi decreased significantly in the severe injured group, and the difference between the control group and severe injured group was significant (P < 0.05) (PME: LDScontrol group vs LDS-severe group, 0.86 ± 0.23 vs 0.58 ± 0.22, P = 0.031; pathological control group vs pathological severe group, 0.86 ± 0.23 vs 0.60 ± 0.21, P = 0.037; Pi: LDS-control group vs LDS-severe group, 0.74 ± 0.18 vs 0.43 ± 0.14, P = 0.013; pathological control group vs pathological severe group, 0.74 ± 0.18 vs 0.43 ± 0.14, P = 0.005) according to LDS grading and pathological grading, respectively. (c) PDE; there were no significant differences among groups according to LDS grading, and no significant differences between the control group and experimental groups according to pathological grading.(2) The ratio of relative quantification of phosphorus metabolites: significant differences (P < 0.05) (LDSmoderate group and LDS-severe group vs LDS-control group and LDS-mild group, 1.94 ± 0.50 and 1.96 ± 0.72 vs 1.43 ± 0.31 and 1.40 ± 0.38) were only found in PDE/ATP between the moderate injured group, the severe injured group and the control group, the mild injured group. No significant difference was found in other ratios of relative quantification of phosphorus metabolites. www.wjgnet.com CONCLUSION:3 1 P M R S i s a u s e fu l m e t h o d t o evaluate early acute hepatic radiation injury. The relative quantification of hepatic ATP levels, which can reflect the pathological severity of acute hepatic radiation injury, is correlated with LDS.