Proximal aortic stiffness is increased in systemic lupus erythematosus activity in children and adolescents.

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are prone to premature atherosclerosis and are at risk for the development of cardiovascular disease. Increased arterial stiffness is emerging as a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. Purpose.

N-Terminal proBNP Levels and Tissue Doppler Echocardiography in Acute Rheumatic Carditis.

Background. Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a leading cause of heart failure in children and young adults worldwide. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a useful marker of critical pediatric heart disease, and its N-terminal peptide, NT-proBNP, is elevated in congenital and acquired heart disease in children.

Pediatric cardiomyopathies over the last decade: a retrospective observational epidemiology study in a tertiary institute, Egypt.

Background: Pediatric cardiomyopathy (CM) is a rare, life-threatening disorder of unknown etiology. Data on CM in Egypt are scarce as there is no national registry. This study was an effort to understand the demographic features, clinical presentation, and frequency of different types of childhood CM in Egypt.

Radionuclide ventriculography detects early anthracycline cardiotoxicity in children with Hodgkin lymphoma.

Serial echocardiography to detect doxorubicin dose-related cardiotoxicity correlates poorly with endomyocardial biopsy-proven cardiotoxicity. To compare radionuclide ventriculography (RVG) and echocardiography for the assessment of left ventricular (LV) function in children with Hodgkin disease (HD) receiving doxorubicin, we studied 39 children with HD before radiotherapy, both early (≤ 2 adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine cycles) (group A; n=10) and late (≥ 6 adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine cycles) (group B; n=36) during treatment. Seven children were assessed twice.

Patent arterial duct.

Patent arterial duct (PAD) is a congenital heart abnormality defined as persistent patency in term infants older than three months. Isolated PAD is found in around 1 in 2000 full term infants. A higher prevalence is found in preterm infants, especially those with low birth weight.