Premature "closing" of the foramen ovale in transposition of the great arteries with intact ventricular septum: rare cause of sudden neonatal death.

We report a male neonate who developed severe cyanosis and bradycardia at birth unresponsive to resuscitation. At autopsy he was found to have premature "closure" of the foramen ovale together with transposition of the great arteries and an intact ventricular septum. Reviewing the literature, we found only one case report describing a similar neonate with this lethal combination of cardiac malformations.

Hemodynamic and neuroendocrine adaptations of the preterm lamb left ventricle to acutely increased afterload.

The birth process is associated with dramatic alterations of left ventricular (LV) volume loading, pressure loading, and contractile state. The preterm LV has considerable volume loading reserve. We have assessed neuroendocrine and related hemodynamic responses of the preterm lamb LV at 0.

Left ventricular performance and contractility before and after volume infusion: a comparative study of preterm and full-term newborn lambs.

We studied left ventricular performance and contractility after volume loading in lambs at 122 days (group I, n = 9) and 139 days gestational age (group II, n = 9) and in 8-day-old full-term lambs (group III, n = 7). All were mechanically ventilated; each preterm lamb was treated with surfactant to stabilize pulmonary function and the ductus arteriosus was occluded with an inflated catheter balloon. Cineangiograms, left ventricular and vascular pressures, and the isovolumetric index of contractility, first derivative of left ventricular pressure (dP/dt), were recorded before and after three successive whole blood volume infusions of 10 ml/kg (total 30 ml/kg).

Hemodynamic effects of high frequency ventilation in surfactant-treated preterm lambs.

We compared the hemodynamic status and left ventricular (LV) performance in 7 twin pairs of preterm lambs delivered at 124 days gestational age (83% of term gestation) and ventilated by either conventional ventilation (CV) or high frequency ventilation (HFV) at 15 Hz. The lambs were treated with suspensions of natural sheep surfactant to permit ventilation and survival, and ventilatory settings were adjusted to maintain physiologic blood gas values. The ductus arteriosus was occluded with a balloon catheter at 40-45 min of age to eliminate the variable of a left to right ductal shunt.

The contractility and performance of the preterm left ventricle before and after early patent ductus arteriosus occlusion in surfactant-treated lambs.

The influence of left-right ductal shunting on early hemodynamic responses, namely left ventricular performance, contractility, and systemic perfusion was evaluated in nine preterm lambs (120 days gestational age) treated with surfactant. Blood gases were maintained in the physiological range using mechanical ventilation; hemodynamic and blood flow measurements (radionuclide labeled microspheres) were obtained before and after occlusion of the patent ductus arteriosus with a catheter balloon. The mean left-right ductal shunt before occlusion (1.