Yunduo Charles Zhao^1,2,#, Parham Vatankhah^1,#, Tiffany Goh^1,2,3, Jiaqiu Wang⁴, Xuanyi Valeria Chen¹, Moein Navvab Kashani^5,6, Keke Zheng⁷, Zhiyong Li⁴, Lining Arnold Ju^1,2,3,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.18, No.1, pp. 1-10, 2021, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2021.012598

Abstract Platelet aggregation plays a central role in pathological thrombosis, preventing healthy physiological blood flow within the circulatory system. For decades, it was believed that platelet aggregation was primarily driven by soluble agonists such as thrombin, adenosine diphosphate and thromboxane A2. However, recent experimental findings have unveiled an intriguing but complementary biomechanical mechanism—the shear rate gradients generated from flow disturbance occurring at sites of blood vessel narrowing, otherwise known as stenosis, may rapidly trigger platelet recruitment and subsequent aggregation. In our Nature Materials 2019 paper [1], we employed microfluidic devices which incorporated micro-scale stenoses to elucidate the molecular insights underlying the… More >

Domenico Sirico¹, Biagio Castaldi^1,*, Giuseppe Tarantini², Giovanni Di Salvo¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.15, No.6, pp. 441-445, 2020, DOI:10.32604/CHD.2020.012863

Abstract Asymptomatic coronary artery obstruction represents a significant diagnostic challenge in patients with Dextro-Transposition of the Great Arteries and history of Arterial Switch Operation. We report the case of a 17-year-old boy with anomalous origin of left circumflex artery from the right coronary artery, who underwent neonatal arterial switch operation and developed silent myocardial ischemia under stress on myocardial scintigraphy. Despite coronary angiogram and intravascular ultrasound showed only intermediate stenosis of the right coronary artery ostium, the physiological analysis, through the employment of pressure wire, demonstrated a severe reduction of coronary fractional flow reserve after pharmacologically induced hyperemia. Thus, the patient… More >

Anber Saleem^1,2, Salman Akhtar³, Sohail Nadeem^3,*, Alibek Issakhov⁴, Mehdi Ghalambaz^5,6

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.125, No.2, pp. 565-577, 2020, DOI:10.32604/cmes.2020.011883

Abstract The blood flow through a catheterized artery having a mild stenosis at the wall together with a blood clot at the centre is studied in the current investigation. Stenosis can occur in vessels carrying blood to brain (i.e., Carotid arteries), Renal arteries that supply blood to kidneys etc. The flow is refined in such vessels by application of catheter. We have used a Newtonian viscous fluid model and also distinct shapes of stenosis, (i.e., symmetric and non-symmetric shapes) are considered for this study. The entropy generation together with viscous dissipation is also taken into account for a complete description of… More >

Alexander C. Egbe, William R. Miranda, Patricia A. Pellikka, Sorin V. Pislaru, Barry A. Borlaug, Srikanth Kothapalli, Sindhura Ananthaneni, Harigopal Sandhyavenu, Maria Najam, Mohamed Farouk Abdelsamid, Heidi M. Connolly

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.4, pp. 657-664, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12768

Abstract Background: We hypothesized that echocardiographic indices of right ventricular to pulmonary artery (RV‐PA) coupling were comparable to cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI)‐derived RV volumetric indices in predicting disease severity in chronic pulmonary regurgitation (PR).
Methods: Patients with ≥ moderate PR (2003‐2015) with and without prior CMRI scans were enrolled into the study cohort and validation cohort, respectively. Endpoint was to determine the association between noninvasive RV‐PA coupling in‐ dices (tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion/right ventricular systolic pressure [TAPSE/RVSP] and fractional area change [FAC]/RVSP ratio) and markers of disease severity, and compared this association to that of CMRI‐derived RV volumetric indi‐… More >

Donald J. Hagler^1,2, William R. Miranda², Brielle J. Haggerty¹, Jason H. Anderson¹, Jonathan N. Johnson¹, Frank Cetta^1,2, Sameh M. Said^1,3, Nathaniel W. Taggart¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.4, pp. 571-581, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12757

Abstract Background: Stenosis of the venous connections and conduits is a well‐known late complication of the Fontan procedure. Currently, data on the outcomes of percuta‐ neous intervention for the treatment of extra‐ or intracardiac conduits and lateral tunnel baffles obstruction are limited. In an attempt to better define the nature and severity of the stenosis and the results of catheter interventional management, we reviewed Fontan patients with obstructed extra‐ or intracardiac conduits and lateral tunnel baffles.
Methods: Retrospective review of all Fontan patients who had cardiac catheteriza‐ tion from January 2002 to October 2018 was performed. Hemodynamic and angio‐ graphic data… More >

Brian A. Boe¹, Mark D. Norris², Jeffrey D. Zampi², Albert P. Rocchini², Gregory J. Ensing²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.6, pp. 733-739, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12514

Abstract Objective: We sought to identify a time during cardiac ejection when the instantaneous pressure gradient (IPG) correlated best, and near unity, with peak-to-peak systolic ejection gradient (PPSG) in patients with congenital aortic stenosis. Noninvasive echocardiographic measurement of IPG has limited correlation with cardiac catheterization measured PPSG across the spectrum of disease severity of congenital aortic stenosis. A major contributor is the observation that these measures are inherently different with a variable relationship dependent on the degree of stenosis.
Design: Hemodynamic data from cardiac catheterizations utilizing simultaneous pressure measurements from the left ventricle (LV) and ascending aorta (AAo) in patients with… More >

Eun Young Choi¹, Jinyoung Song², Heirim Lee², Chang Ha Lee³, Jun Huh², I.-Seok Kang², Ji Hyuk Yang⁴, Tae Gook Jun⁴

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.6, pp. 746-750, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12507

Abstract Background: Balloon dilatation of a bioprosthetic valve in the pulmonary position could be performed to delay valve replacement. We proposed to identify the long-term effectiveness of such a procedure.
Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 49 patients who underwent balloon valvuloplasty between January 2000 and December 2015. The primary goal was to determine the time interval until the following surgical or catheter intervention.
Results: The mean age at bioprosthetic valve insertion was 5.7 years old, and the mean age for ballooning was 11.7 years. The mean interval after pulmonary valve replacement was 71.6 months. The mean ratio of balloon… More >

Takaya Hoashi¹, Toru Iwasa², Koji Kagisaki¹, Masatoshi Shimada¹, Kenichi Kurosaki², Isao Shiraishi², Hajime Ichikawa¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.4, pp. 441-447, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12477

Abstract Objective: To review long-term respiratory outcomes for tetralogy of Fallot and absent pulmonary valve (TOF/APV) in respiratory symptomatic populations.
Methods: Of 25 consecutive patients undergoing primary total correction for TOF/APV between 1987 and 2016, Sixteen patients (64%) with a preoperative respiratory disturbance were enrolled. The median age at operation was 1.9 months old, including 4 neonates and 12 infants. Ten patients (62.5%) preoperatively necessitated mechanical ventilator support. During operation, dilated central pulmonary arteries (cPAs) were plicated and retracted anteriorly in all patients, except for the first patient of the study cohort. VSD was completely closed, and the right ventricular outflow… More >

Aaron R. Prosnitz¹, Jane Leopold², Mira Irons³, Kathy Jenkins¹, Amy E. Roberts¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.4, pp. 475-483, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12471

Abstract Objective: To describe a group of children with co-incident pulmonary vein stenosis and SmithLemli-Opitz syndrome and to generate hypotheses as to the shared pathogenesis of these disorders.
Design: Retrospective case series.
Patients: Five subjects in a pulmonary vein stenosis cohort of 170 subjects were diagnosed with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome soon after birth.
Results: All five cases were diagnosed with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome within 6 weeks of life, with no family history of either disorder. All cases had pathologically elevated 7-dehydrocholesterol levels and two of the five cases had previously reported pathogenic 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase mutations. Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome severity scores ranged from mild to… More >

Talha Niaz¹, Joseph T. Poterucha¹, Jonathan N. Johnson^1,2, Cecilia Craviari¹, Thomas Nienaber¹, Jared Palfreeman¹, Frank Cetta^1,2, Donald J. Hagler^1,2

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.3, pp. 261-269, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12429

Abstract Background: Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) occurs both as an isolated cardiac lesion and in association with congenital heart defects (CHD). Their aim was to identify the incidence and morphology of BAV in patients with coexisting CHD and compare their disease progression to patients with isolated BAV.
Methods: The Mayo Clinic echocardiography database was retrospectively analyzed to identify pediatric and young adult patients (≤22 years) who were diagnosed with BAV from 1990 to 2015. The morphology of BAV was determined from the echocardiographic studies before any intervention.
Results: Overall, 1010 patients with BAV were identified, 619 (61%) with isolated BAV and… More >