Association between weight-for-length percentile and ICU length of stay in patients with a single ventricle undergoing bidirectional Glenn repair: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Poor weight gain has been identified as an independent risk factor for increased surgical morbidity and mortality for patients with single-ventricle physiology undergoing staged surgical palliation. Conversely, excessive weight gain has also emerged as an independent risk factor predicting increased morbidity and mortality in a single-center study. Given this novel single-center concept, we investigated the impact of excessive weight on patients with single-ventricle physiology undergoing bidirectional Glenn palliation in a multicenter study model.

Identification of Low Cardiac Output Syndrome at the Bedside: A Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Survey.

Background: Low cardiac output syndrome is a transient constellation of signs and symptoms that indicate the heart's inability to supply sufficient oxygen to tissues and end-organs to meet metabolic demand. Because the term lacks a standard clinical definition, the bedside diagnosis of this syndrome can be difficult.

Objective: To evaluate concordance among pediatric cardiac intensive care unit nurses in their identification of low cardiac output syndrome in pediatric patients after cardiac surgery.

Obesity: Risk Factor for Increased Resource Utilization at Bidirectional Glenn.

Background: Underweight infants with single-ventricle cardiac physiology have been shown to have increased morbidity, mortality, and resource utilization. The purpose of this study was to determine whether patients who were overweight, as defined by weight-for-length z score >90th percentile, were similarly at risk for increased resource utilization, as defined by mechanical ventilation hours (VHs) and intensive care unit length of stay (ICU LOS).

Methods: We evaluated resource utilization for 109 patients from our institution who underwent bidirectional Glenn surgery from January 2010 to June 2015 and met prespecified inclusion criteria.

Utility of bedside angiography in the evaluation of vascular obstruction in the pediatric intensive care patient.

Objective: To review our experience with bedside angiography in order to demonstrate the utility of this technique for evaluation of blood vessels in the critically ill patient.

Design: Retrospective review.

Setting: Pediatric cardiac intensive care unit at a children's hospital.

Long-term risk of fatal malignancy following pediatric radiofrequency ablation.

Children undergoing radiofrequency ablation (RFA) are believed to be at increased risk of developing malignancy caused by radiation, although the magnitude of this risk is incompletely understood. We previously reported a strategy to reduce radiation exposure during pediatric RFA. In a cohort of 15 subjects (median age 12 years, range 9 to 17), radiation was measured using dosimeters at 5 sites.