Hitesh Agrawal^1,2, Douglas Moodie¹, Athar M. Qureshi^1,2, Alisa A. Acosta³, Jose A. Hernandez⁴, Michael C. Braun³, Henri Justino^1,2

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.3, pp. 349-356, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12608

Abstract Background: Renovascular hypertension (RVH) can be caused by renal artery stenosis (RAS) and/ or middle aortic syndrome (MAS).
Methods: Patients who received surgical or transcatheter treatment for RVH between 1/1991 and 11/2017 were retrospectively reviewed using age = adjusted blood pressure ratio (BPR).
Results: Fifty-three patients diagnosed with RVH at a median age of 4.5 (0–18) years were included. Vascular involvement ranged from MAS with RAS (20), RAS only (32), and MAS only (1). The first intervention was transcatheter in 47 patients (transcatheter group: angioplasty = 41, stenting = 5, and thrombectomy = 1), and surgical in 6… More >

Amir-Reza Hosseinpour¹, Marie-Hélène Perez², David Longchamp², Jacques Cotting², Nicole Sekarski³, Michel Hurni¹, René Prêtre¹, Stefano Di Bernardo³

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.2, pp. 210-216, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12545

Abstract Objective: Congenital cardiac malformations with high pulmonary blood flow and pressure due to left-to-right shunts are usually repaired in early infancy for both the benefits of early relief of heart failure and the fear that the concomitant pulmonary hypertension may become irreversible unless these defects are corrected at an early age. Age, however, has been a poor predictor of irreversibility of pulmonary hypertension in our experience, which is presented here.
Design: A retrospective observational study. We defined “late” as age ≥2 years. We examined clinical, echocardiographic, and hemodynamic data from all patients aged ≥2 years with such… More >

Jason F. Goldberg¹, Craig L. Jensen², Rajesh Krishnamurthy³, Nidhy P. Varghese⁴, Henri Justino¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.1, pp. 124-130, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12537

Abstract Objective: We describe the long-term follow-up of a child with recurrent hemoptysis due to severe pulmonary vein stenosis decompressing via collaterals to esophageal varices.
Design: Case report
Setting: Tertiary children’s hospital
Patient: Single child through ages 2- to 11-year old
Interventions: The child underwent cutting balloon angioplasty, bare metal stenting, and implantation of a PTFE-covered stent, all of which failed rapidly. Only after placement of a paclitaxel drug eluting stent did he have prolonged relief from hemoptysis and long-term patency of the treated vein. The stents were serially dilated to keep up with somatic growth of the child, eventually culminating More >

Longling Fan^1,*, Jing Yao ^{2, *}, Chun Yang³, Di Xu², Dalin Tang^{1, 4, §}

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.114, No.2, pp. 221-237, 2018, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2018.114.221

Abstract Understanding cardiac blood flow behaviors is of importance for cardiovascular research and clinical assessment of ventricle functions. Patient-specific Echo-based left ventricle (LV) fluid-structure interaction (FSI) models were introduced to perform ventricle mechanical analysis, investigate flow behaviors, and evaluate the impact of myocardial infarction (MI) and hypertension on blood flow in the LV. Echo image data were acquired from 3 patients with consent obtained: one healthy volunteer (P1), one hypertension patient (P2), and one patient who had an inferior and posterior myocardial infarction (P3). The nonlinear Mooney-Rivlin model was used for ventricle tissue with material parameter… More >

Shi-Min Yuan

European Cytokine Network, Vol.28, No.1, pp. 1-7, 2017, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2016.0386

Abstract Pulmonary artery hypertension is a syndrome that shows similar clinical and pathophysiological features characterized by elevated pulmonary arterial pressure and resistance. There have been a series of hypotheses trying to describe the development of pulmonary artery hypertension; however, none of them perfectly explains its pathogenesis. To highlight the pathogenesis, novel vasomotorial cytokines including hypoxia-inducible factor-1α endothelin-1, urotensin II, Krüppel-like factor 4, calcitonin gene-related peptide, angiopoietins and serotonin closely related to pulmonary artery hypertension are discussed. The development of the new agents relating to these cytokines may improve the relevant treatment strategies. More >

Shankar Baskar¹, Philippa Horne², Samantha Fitzsimmons³, Philip R. Khoury¹, Joseph Vettukattill⁴, Koichiro Niwa⁵, Teiji Agaki⁶, Mark Spence⁷, Hisanori Sakazaki⁸, Gruschen Veldtman¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.4, pp. 512-519, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12481

Abstract Background: Patients with Eisenmenger syndrome have a shorter lifespan than the general population. A significant proportion develop arrhythmia and some, sudden death.
Objective: The aims of this study were to characterize the frequency, type and effects of arrhythmias in adult patients with Eisenmenger’s syndrome and to identify risk factors for arrhythmias.
Methods: This retrospective study included patients aged ≥18 years of age with Eisenmenger’s syndrome from three institutions. Arrhythmias were noted from electrocardiograms and Holter study reviews.
Results: A total of 167 patients, 96 females, 63 males (gender not available in 9 patients) were included in this study. The… More >

Chih-Hsin Hsu^1,2, Jun-Neng Roan^1,3, Jieh-Neng Wang⁴, Chien-Chi Huang⁵, Chao-Jung Shih³, Jyh-Hong Chen^2,6, Jing-Ming Wu⁴, Chen-Fuh Lam^7,8

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.4, pp. 533-539, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12479

Abstract Objectives: Atrial septal defects may result in pulmonary hypertension and right heart remodeling. We analyzed improvements in patients with flow-induced pulmonary hypertension and the activation of endothelial progenitor cells after flow reduction.
Design: This prospective cohort study included 37 patients who were admitted for an occluder implantation. Blood samples were collected before and after the procedure. We determined the number of endothelial progenitor cells in outgrowth colonies and serum Hsp27 concentrations. Daily performance and cardiothoracic ratio were reevaluated later.
Results: Closure of the defect significantly reduced the pulmonary pressure and B-type natriuretic peptide levels. The cardiothoracic ratio and… More >

Sarah A. Twichell¹, Corinna J. Rea¹, Patrice Melvin², Andrew J. Capraro¹, Joshua C. Mandel¹, Michael A. Ferguson¹, Daniel J. Nigrin¹, Kenneth D. Mandl¹, Dionne Graham², Justin P. Zachariah³

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.4, pp. 484-490, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12469

Abstract Background: Recognition of high blood pressure (BP) in children is poor, partly due to the need to compute age-sex-height referenced percentiles. This study examined the change in abnormal BP recognition before versus after the introduction of an electronic health record (EHR) app designed to calculate BP percentiles with a training lecture.
Methods and results: Clinical data were extracted on all ambulatory, non-urgent encounters for children 3–18 years old seen in primary care, endocrinology, cardiology, or nephrology clinics at an urban, academic hospital in the year before and the year after app introduction. Outpatients with at least 1… More >

Nicola Maschietto¹, Luca Semplicini², Giulio Ceolotto², Arianna Cattelan², Helen Poser³, Ilaria Iacopetti³, Gabriele Gerardi³, Giulia Maria De Benedictis³, Tommaso Pilla³, Daniele Bernardini³, Luca Aresu⁴, Stefania Rizzo⁵, Cristina Basso⁵, Andrea Semplicini², Ornella Milanesi¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.1, pp. 74-83, 2017

Abstract Background: Stent implantation is the treatment of choice for adolescents and adults with aortic coarctation (CoAo). Despite excellent short-term results, 20%–40% of the patients develop arterial hypertension later in life, which was attributed to inappropriate response of the aortic baroreceptors to increased stiffness of the ascending aorta (ASAO), either congenital or induced by CoAo repair. In particular, it has been hypothesized that stent itself may cause or sustain hypertension. Therefore, we aimed to study the hemodynamic and structural impact following stent implantation in the normal aorta of a growing animal.
Methods: Eight female sheep completed the study… More >

Patrick J. Hensley^1,2, Lisa R. Bailey¹, Matthew S. Purdom², Daniel L. Davenport³, Stephen E. Strup¹

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.23, No.6, pp. 8551-8556, 2016

Abstract Introduction: This study investigated the polar sub-localization of prostate cancer on needle core biopsy ("polar" defined as tumor ≤ 1 mm from the tissue polar edge) as a predictor of extraprostatic extension.
Materials and methods: Histologic sections from 58 patients who underwent preoperative prostate biopsy and radical prostatectomy at the University of Kentucky from 2006 to 2013 were evaluated. Patients were retrospectively case matched based on pathologic stage (pT2 versus pT3/4) using biopsy Gleason grade and prostate-specific antigen. Histologic sections of needle core biopsies were analyzed for polar involvement. The location of polar involvement was correlated to… More >