Right and left ventricular mass development in early infancy: Correlation of electrocardiographic changes with echocardiographic measurements.

Background: Right ventricular mass indexed to body surface area (RVMI) decreases and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) increases rapidly and substantially during early infancy. The relationship between these sizeable mass transformations and simultaneous electrocardiographic changes have not been previously delineated.

Methods: Normal term infants (#45 initially enrolled) were prospectively evaluated at 2 days and at 2-week, 2-month, and 4-month clinic visits.

Plasma biomarkers and echocardiographic indices of left ventricular function in very low birth weight infants.

Objective: Evaluate plasma markers of myocardial function and ischemia [B-type natriuretic peptide] (BNP) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT)] in relationship to echocardiographic indices of left ventricular (LV) function and severity of illness score (SNAPPE-II) in Very-Low-Birth-Weight-Infants (VLBWIs) prospectively.

Study Design: Serial echocardiography studies, clinical data, BNP and cTnT were obtained in thirty VLBWIs on postnatal days 1, 2, 3 and 7.

Results: BNP increased and cTnT decreased significantly day 1 through 3.

Death from cardiac failure in a child with ruptured cerebral arteriovenous malformation.

We present the case of a 13-year-old boy with a ruptured cerebral arteriovenous malformation who had rapidly progressive cardiac failure leading to death. Serial electrocardiograms, cardiac enzymes, echocardiograms, and pulmonary artery catheter data confirmed severe ventricular dysfunction related to myocardial ischemia and infarction. Cardiac dysfunction after cerebral insult is commonly described in adults with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and has been termed "neurogenic stunned myocardium" because of its transient nature in most of patients.

Costello syndrome with pancreatic islet cell hyperplasia.

A 3-month-old boy with Costello syndrome (CS) developed respiratory distress and fatal arrhythmias. An autopsy showed cardiac hypertrophy, mild coarctation of the aorta, and pancreatic islet cell hyperplasia. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a pancreatic abnormality in CS.

Normal right and left ventricular mass development during early infancy.

The average newborn's right ventricular mass, indexed to body surface area, is approximately 20% above the adult level, consistent with in utero physiologic hypertrophy. In contrast, the left ventricular mass index is underdeveloped by about 30% at birth, resulting in a ratio of right to left ventricular mass that is nearly 75% higher than at maturity. Left ventricular mass index increases rapidly during the first 2 weeks of life and then more slowly thereafter, whereas the right ventricular mass index decreases steadily during the first 4 months of life.