Pediatric pulmonary hypertension in the Netherlands: epidemiology and characterization during the period 1991 to 2005.

Background: Incidence and prevalence rates for pediatric pulmonary hypertension (PH) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are unknown. This study describes the nationwide epidemiological features of pediatric PH in the Netherlands during a 15-year period and the clinical course of pediatric PAH.

Methods And Results: Two registries were used to retrospectively identify children (0-17 years) with PH.

Outcome of pediatric patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension in the era of new medical therapies.

Little is known about the effects of "second-generation drugs" (prostanoids, endothelin receptor antagonists, 5-phosphodiesterase inhibitors) in children with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This study describes the outcome of a national cohort of children with PAH in an era when these drugs became available. From 1993 to 2008, 52 consecutive children with idiopathic PAH (n = 29) or systemic-to-pulmonary shunt-associated PAH (n = 23) underwent baseline and follow-up assessments.

Normal values for cardiopulmonary exercise testing in children.

Background: A reference set of data of normal values of newly developed cardiopulmonary parameters of exercise testing in an 8-18-year-old population is lacking.

Patients And Methods: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing was performed in 175 healthy school children (8-18 years old). Continuous electrocardiography was performed, and minute ventilation, oxygen uptake (VO2), and carbon dioxide (CO2) production were measured continuously with a respiratory gas analysis system.

Clinical characterization of pediatric pulmonary hypertension: complex presentation and diagnosis.

Objectives: To describe the clinical presentation of pediatric pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and the intricacies of how to classify pediatric PAH according to the Venice classification.

Study Design: Children (n = 63) seen at a national referral center for pediatric PAH underwent a diagnostic work-up for diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and associated conditions and for assessment of the explanatory role of associated conditions for the PH. Subsequently, PH was classified.

Diastolic dysfunction in paediatric patients on peritoneal dialysis and after renal transplantation.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in children with end-stage renal disease. We investigated the presence of cardiac systolic and diastolic dysfunction in patients on peritoneal dialysis or after renal transplantation. Methods and results.

Follow-up outcomes 10 years after arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries: comparison of cardiological health status and health-related quality of life to those of the a normal reference population.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the cardiological health status and health-related quality of life after the arterial switch operation (ASO) for transposition of the great arteries (TGA) in comparison with a normative reference group. Chart review and cross-sectional systematic follow-up, including echocardiography, exercise testing, and electrocardiography, were performed on all survivors of ASO for TGA between 1990 and 1995. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was assessed using a standardized questionnaire.