[Cardiopulmonary stress testing in children who have had congenital heart disease surgery. Physical exercise recommendations during school hours].

Introduction And Objectives: To analyze and discover if stress testing with exhaled gases in children who have had congenital heart surgery is useful so we could make physical exercise recommendations according to heart disease, type of surgery performed, present hemodynamic state and level of exercise practiced.

Methods: Prospective study of 108 children, who performed stress testing with exhaled gases, electrocardiogram monitoring and blood pressure. A questionnaire was used to obtain variables concerning heart disease, surgery, present functional condition and level of exercise practiced.

[Surgical treatment of anomalous left pulmonary artery].

We report our experience with the surgical treatment of anomalous origin of the left pulmonary artery in eight children between 2004 and 2009. The congenital heart disease most frequently associated with this condition was patent ductus arteriosus. Surgery was carried out with extracorporeal circulation in five children, and without, in three.

Idebenone treatment in paediatric and adult patients with Friedreich ataxia: long-term follow-up.

Background: Antioxidant therapy is a new therapeutical approach for patients with Friedreich ataxia.

Aims: To assess the effectiveness of long-term idebenone treatment in Friedreich ataxia patients.

Methods: An open-labelled prospective study.

[Aortic origin of the left pulmonary artery in an infant with Fallot's tetralogy].

We report the case of a male neonate who had a prenatal diagnosis of Fallot's tetralogy. He presented with respiratory distress during the second week of life. Chest x-ray showed an enlarged right ventricle and pulmonary edema.

[Ductus arteriosus patency with stenting in critical pulmonary stenosis and pulmonary atresia with intact interventricular septum].

We report our experience with stenting of the ductus arteriosus in three neonates. Two patients had pulmonary atresia with an intact interventricular septum and one had critical pulmonary stenosis. Radiofrequency ablation was used to open the atretic pulmonary valve in two patients.

[Percutaneous closure of ventricular septal defect with an Amplatzer device].

We present a series of 4 patients in whom a ventricular septal defect (VSD) was closed with an Amplatzer muscular VSD device during cardiac catheterization. In one patient with type I truncus arteriosus and subarterial VSD, closure of a wide apical defect was done to allow further surgical correction while avoiding left ventricular ventriculotomy. The second patient had congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries with complete A-V block and a pacemaker implanted from birth.