Seasonal Incidence of Patent Ductus Arteriosus and Maternal Rubella

Cardiofacial syndrome. Congenital heart disease and facial weakness, a hitherto unrecognized association.

“…Again it should be noted that the significance of these minor abnormalities of karyotype is not established, and it must be remembered that Court Brown, Jacobs, and Brunton (1965) noted a 3% incidence of minor chromosome change in a group of randomly chosen normal men and women. It is puzzling why there should have been such a high incidence of congenital heart disease associated with facial weakness during the past 16 months, and this may represent 'clustering', as observed by Day (1966), for aneuploid chromosomal anomalies (Down's syndrome and sex chromosome abnormalities) and by Rutstein, Nickerson, and Heald (1952) for persistent ductus. It is also puzzling why the association of facial weakness and congenital heart disease has not hitherto been recognized.…”

Isolated Patent Ductus Arteriosus in an Elderly Female, Aged 65 Years—A Case Report

“…Char syndrome (facial dysmorphism and hand anomalies) and abnormal fibronectin-dependent smooth muscle cell migration. PDA occurs with increased frequency in several genetic syndromes such as in chromosomal aberrations (trisomy 21, 4p-syndrome), single-gene mutations (Carpenter's syndrome, Holt-Oram syndrome), X-linked mutations (incontinenta pigmenti) and in some cases due to autosomal recessive inheritance with incomplete penetrance[44].Exposure to rubella infection during first trimester of pregnancy, particularly in the first 4 weeks, is associated with high incidence of PDA[45],[46] during later winter and early spring season[47]. Rubella virus interferes with the normal formation of arterial elastic lamina and derivatives of sixth aortic arch.…”

Could the United States experience rubella outbreaks as a result of vaccine refusal and disease importation?

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