Peak circulatory power as an indicator of clinical status in children after Fontan procedure.

Peak circulatory power (CircP), a product of peak exercise oxygen uptake (VO(2)) and peak mean or systolic arterial blood pressure, has proved to be a strong predictor of poor outcome in adults with congenital heart disease. This study sought to compare CircP with other cardiopulmonary exercise (CPX) test variables and to assess whether CircP is superior in categorizing patients into well-functioning vs. poorly functioning at-risk groups in the pediatric population after a Fontan procedure.

Maturational and adaptive modulation of left ventricular torsional biomechanics: Doppler tissue imaging observation from infancy to adulthood.

Background: Left ventricular (LV) torsional deformation, based in part on the helical myocardial fiber architecture, is an important component of LV systolic and diastolic performance. However, there is no comprehensive study describing its normal development during childhood and adult life.

Methods And Results: Forty-five normal subjects (25 children and 20 adults; aged 9 days to 49 years; divided into 5 groups: infants, children, adolescents, and young and middle-age adults) underwent assessment of LV torsion and untwisting rate by Doppler tissue imaging.