Core components of a rehabilitation program in pediatric cardiac disease.

There is increasing effort in both the inpatient and outpatient setting to improve care, function, and quality of life for children with congenital heart disease, and to decrease complications. As the mortality rates of surgical procedures for congenital heart disease decrease, improvement in perioperative morbidity and quality of life have become key metrics of quality of care. Quality of life and function in patients with congenital heart disease can be affected by multiple factors: the underlying heart condition, cardiac surgery, complications, and medical treatment.

Esophageal Lesion Reveals an Aortic Pseudoaneurysm in the Setting of Bacteremia.

A toddler presented with hematemesis a few weeks after ingesting a penny. Workup revealed an esophageal lesion communicating with an aortic pseudoaneurysm in the setting of bacteremia. is an oropharyngeal bacteria known to cause fistulas when introduced into tissue planes.

Pre-Fontan Assessment Utilizing Combined Cardiac Catheterization and Cardiac MRI: Comparison to the Pre-Fontan Catheterization.

Single ventricle patients eligible for Fontan completion undergo pre-Fontan catheterization for hemodynamic and anatomic assessment prior to surgery. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging may be used to evaluate pre-Fontan anatomy, physiology, and collateral burden. We describe our center's outcomes in patients undergoing pre-Fontan catheterization combined with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Incidence of adverse events requiring intervention after initiation of oral beta-blocker in pediatric cardiac intensive care patients.

Only limited clinical data are available to establish the risk factors for adverse events and their frequency among children who have received oral beta-blockers in a critical care unit setting. The authors aimed to analyze the frequency of adverse events experienced by children treated with oral beta-blockers in a cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU) and sought out independent risk factors for these adverse events in a tertiary care hospital. The primary end point in this retrospective descriptive study was the incidence of adverse events associated with enteral beta-blocker administration, and the secondary end point was the incidence of readmission to the CVICU after transfer of patients to an acute care floor.

Prospective nutritional analysis of a diverse trauma population demonstrates substantial hypovitaminosis D.

Objectives: There are several metabolic factors known to be important for the maintenance of bone and muscle function. Causes of deficiency are multifactorial and can include such things as geographic region, latitude, and socioeconomic factors. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of metabolic deficiencies.