Intermittent cyanosis due to prominent eustachian valve in a newborn infant.

A full-term neonate presented with cyanosis only when sleeping, which was considered due to a prominent eustachian valve, directing blood flow from the inferior vena cava to the left atrium through the foramen ovale resulting in interatrial right-to-left shunting. In addition to the anatomical features, hemodynamic features shortly after birth, such as patent foramen ovale and high pulmonary vascular resistance, were also probably involved in the mechanism responsible for the patient's cyanosis. This case may provide insight into differential diagnosis for cyanotic infants.

Ulinastatin therapy in kawasaki disease.

Background And Objective: Ulinastatin therapy may be an additional therapeutic approach to Kawasaki disease (KD). This study set out to determine whether primary intravenous ulinastatin therapy has more beneficial effects than intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy in the acute phase of KD, and whether addition of ulinastatin to IVIG might improve outcomes in KD.

Methods: Patients were included in the study if they had a diagnosis of KD with a Harada's score that predicted coronary artery lesions.

Left ventricular diastolic performance in neonates.

Background: The left ventricular (LV) diastolic performance of infants who were in a stable post-treatment condition in the neonatal intensive care unit was evaluated using echocardiography.

Methods And Results: The study group comprised 55 infants (Stable infant group, SI) and the parameters of LV performance were: LV propagation velocity (Vp) by color M-mode Doppler echocardiography (CMD), peak E wave, peak A wave, and the E/A ratio of transmitral flow. In a second set of measurements, a subset of 10 infants (patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) infant group, PI) were evaluated for LV diastolic performance during closure of PDA.

When should pulmonary artery angioplasty be performed for Fontan candidates with pulmonary coarctation? Two cases of pulmonary artery angioplasty with the Blalock-Taussig shunt on pump in neonates.

We performed concomitant pulmonary artery angioplasty and the Blalock-Taussig shunt under median sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass at the neonatal stage in Fontan candidates with pulmonary coarctation to obtain optimum pulmonary circulation. This surgical strategy realized appropriate early growth of the pulmonary artery necessary for the Fontan operation.

Co-occurrence of coarctation of the aorta and hypospadias in smaller twins in monochorionic pregnancies: two case reports.

We reconstructed of the aortic arches of two unrelated boys, who were the smaller twin in monochorionic pregnancies, because they had coarctation of the aorta (CoA). They both had hypospadias. The co-twins, the larger twins, had neither CoA nor hypospadias.

Who is at risk for cardiac events in young patients with long QT syndrome?

The objective of this study was to determine who is at risk for cardiac events among young patients with long QT syndrome (LQTS) with or without a past history of LQTS-related cardiac events. The subjects were young patients with LQTS who had visited one of 36 hospitals from January 1997 to August 2000 in Japan. To predict the risk factors for cardiac events, stepwise regression analyses were performed for a total of 197 cases.

Peripheral blood eosinophilia and eosinophil accumulation in coronary microvessels in acute Kawasaki disease.

Background: Early stage Kawasaki disease (KD) histopathology includes perivasculitis and vasculitis of the microvessels. The lesions then extend to larger vessels. Therefore the analysis of microvessel lesions is important to better understand the initial pathogenesis of KD vasculitis.