Nutritional Status in Children with Un-Operated Congenital Heart Disease: An Egyptian Center Experience.

Background: Malnutrition is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in children with congenital heart disease (CHD). This study aimed to identify prevalence and predictors of malnutrition in Egyptian children with symptomatic CHD.

Methods: This case-control study included 100 children with symptomatic CHD (76 acyanotic and 24 cyanotic) and 100 healthy children matched for age and sex as a control group.

Non-invasive cardiac output measurement in low and very low birth weight infants: a method comparison.

Background: Cardiac output (CO) measurement in low (LBW) and very low (VLBW) birth weight infants is difficult. Hitherto, sporadical transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is the only non-invasive measurement method. Electrical velocimetry (EV) has been evaluated as an alternative in normal weight newborns.

Electrical velocimetry as a tool for measuring cardiac output in small infants after heart surgery.

Purpose: Cardiac output (CO), the product of stroke volume (SV) and heart rate, is essential to guarantee organ perfusion, especially in the intensive care setting. As invasive measurement of CO bears the risk of complications there is a need for non-invasive alternatives. We investigated if electrical velocimetry (EV) and transthoracic Doppler (Doppler-TTE) are interchangeable for the non-invasive measurement of SV and able to reflect the post-surgical SV/CO trend.

Continuous cerebral perfusion for aortic arch repair: hypothermia versus normothermia.

Background: Deep hypothermia with circulatory arrest (CA) is routinely used for aortic arch repair. Antegrade selective cerebral perfusion (ASCP) has been proposed to avoid neurologic complications. The optimal temperature during aortic arch repair with ASCP is not well established.

Results of the double switch operation for congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries.

Background: Congenitally corrected TGA (CC-TGA) is characterized by discordant atrioventricular and ventriculo arterial connections. In absence of right ventricular outflow tract obstruction (RVOTO), repair by atrial and arterial switches remains a challenging procedure for which long term follow-up is uncertain.

Methods: From 1995 to 2007, 20 patients (median age: 26 months) with CC-TGA had double switch procedure.

Normal limits for heart rate as established using 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiography in children and adolescents.

Background: To the best of our knowledge, normal limits of heart rate with respect to gender, and as established using 24-hour ambulatory Holter electrocardiography, have yet to be published for the entire age range of children and adolescents.

Objectives: To establish the normal limits for heart rate in newborns, infants, children, and adolescents of both genders.

Patients And Methods: We obtained 24-hour Holter recordings from 616 healthy subjects aged from birth to 20 years with structurally normal hearts.