Background: The Fontan operation is widely regarded as a highly successful and effective palliative measure for many congenital heart diseases. However, among patients who undergo Fontan procedures, Fontan failure inevitably occurs in some cases, giving rise to various complications, including protein-losing enteropathy, plastic bronchitis, refractory arrhythmia, and coagulopathy. When Fontan fails, heart transplantation emerges as one of the treatment options.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Since April 2022, the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant has caused a notable increase in pediatric COVID-19 cases in Taiwan. During the acute phase of infection, some children required admissions to pediatric intensive care units (PICU). This study aimed to analyze their clinical presentations and outcomes while exploring associated factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Airway anomalies increase risk of morbidity and mortality in postoperative pediatric patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). We aimed to identify airway anomalies and the association with intermediate outcomes in patients undergoing surgery for CHD.
Design: Single-center, hospital-based retrospective study in Taiwan, 2017-2020.
Objectives: This study aimed to identify clinical characteristics to differentiate multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and Kawasaki disease (KD) in Taiwan, an island with a delayed cluster of MIS-C and a high incidence of KD. Additionally, we studied risk factors for developing severe complications in patients with MIS-C.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective, multicenter, cohort, and observational study that linked data on patients with MIS-C between May and December 2022 and patients with KD between 2019 and 2021 from 12 medical centers.
Background/purpose: The use of high-flow nasal cannulas (HFNC) in patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) has gradually increased worldwide; however, details on clinical efficacy remain limited in Taiwan. Therefore, we explored the clinical characteristics and outcomes of pediatric patients using HFNC in the PICU.
Methods: Medical records were retrospectively collected from pediatric patients (aged <18 years) who received HFNC support from December 2021 to January 2023 in the PICU of a medical center.
Background: The incidence of pediatric hospitalizations has significantly increased since the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19. Changes of characteristics in respiratory and neurological symptoms have been reported. We performed a retrospective, cross-sectional study to characterize the MRI change in children with an emphasis on the change of cerebral vasculatures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This study aimed to predict mortality in children with pneumonia who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) to aid decision-making.
Study Design: Retrospective cohort study conducted at a single tertiary hospital.
Patients: This study included children who were admitted to the pediatric ICU at the National Taiwan University Hospital between 2010 and 2019 due to pneumonia.
Background: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a novel disease associated with COVID-19. The COVID-19 epidemic peaked in May 2022 in Taiwan, and we encountered our first case of MIS-C in late May 2022. We aimed to present patients' clinical manifestations and identify risk factors for shock.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pain Symptom Manage
September 2023
Objectives: Pediatric palliative care (PPC), especially among noncancer pediatric patients, faces challenges including late referral, limited patient care, and insufficient data for Asian patients.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study used the integrative hospital medical database between 2014 and 2018 to analyze the clinical characteristics, diagnoses, and end-of-life care for patients aged less than 20 who had died in our children's hospital, a tertiary referral medical center implementing PPC shared-care.
Results: In our cohort of 323 children, 240 (74.
Influenza infection in children causes a tremendous global burden. In this study, we aimed to investigate the clinical predictors of severe influenza among children. We retrospectively included hospitalized children who had laboratory-confirmed influenza infection and were admitted to a medical center in Taiwan between 2010 and 2018.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Bronchiolitis is a common airway infection in young children. Hemodynamically significant congenital heart disease (CHD) predicts a more complicated course. However, the role of airway anomalies remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Normal ECG standards in newborns, infants, children and adolescents have been collected and published by many authors. Only those by Davignon et al., Rijinbeek et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCommunity-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a serious clinical concern. A lack of accurate diagnosis could hinder pathogen-directed therapeutic strategies. To solve this problem, we evaluated clinical application of nested multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in children with severe CAP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome (HHS) is the most severe form of dyskeratosis congenita (DC) and is caused by mutations in genes involved in telomere maintenance. Here, we identified male siblings from a family with HHS carrying a hemizygous mutation (c.1345C > G, p.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic challenges pediatric health globally by limited medical accessibility. In response to COVID-19 epidemic in Taiwan, public restrictions were applied and the Level 3 alert was announced from May to July in 2021 for local outbreak. This study aims to analyze patients' clinical features and outcomes in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) during the COVID-19 epidemic with the Level 3 alert in Taiwan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There has been a remarkable increase in the number of pediatric ventricular assist device (VAD) implanted over the past decade. Asian pediatric heart centers had not participated in the multicenter registries among the Western countries. This article aimed to report the outcomes of pediatric VAD in our hospital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a fatal or life-threatening disorder characterized by elevated pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance. Abnormal vascular remodeling, including the proliferation and phenotypic modulation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs), represents the most critical pathological change during PAH development. Previous studies showed that miR-486 could reduce apoptosis in different cells; however, the role of miR-486 in PAH development or HPASMC proliferation and migration remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn heterotaxy syndrome, bronchopulmonary situs usually reflects atrial situs, resulting in either right (RAI) or left atrial isomerism (LAI). This study determines airway anomalies and its implications in patients with heterotaxy. This retrospective study included 223 patients with heterotaxy syndrome who received an integrated cardiac computed tomography evaluation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical characteristics and surgical outcomes of thoracotomy and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) in children with congenital lung malformations (CLMs) in a tertiary referring center and to report our modified biportal VATS setting.
Methods: This is a single-center retrospective chart review study including children who underwent surgical resection for CLMs between January 2007 and December 2020. Patient characteristics and surgical outcomes were compared between open and thoracoscopy, as well as conventional VATS and biportal VATS.