Cheatham platinum (CP) and Palmaz stents for cardiac and vascular lesions treatment in patients with congenital heart disease.

Aims: To compare Cheatham Platinum (CP) stent and Palmaz stent for the treatment of native and postoperative lesions of congenital heart disease (CHD) patients.

Methods And Results: From January 1998 to December 2007, 96 CP stents and 77 Palmaz stents were implanted in 89 and 64 CHD patients. All stents could be deployed.

Safety and accuracy of 64-slice computed tomography coronary angiography in children after the arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries.

Objectives: We investigated the accuracy of 64-slice computed tomography (CT) angiography, as compared to invasive angiography, to evaluate reimplanted coronary arteries in children after arterial switch operation (ASO) for transposition of the great arteries (TGA).

Background: Assessment of the integrity of reimplanted coronary arteries is crucial for long-term outcome after ASO for TGA. Noninvasive tests have limited accuracy for detecting significant coronary lesions, and invasive coronary angiography is usually required in this setting.

Percutaneous treatment of neonatal aortic coarctation presenting with severe left ventricular dysfunction as a bridge to surgery.

Background: Neonatal aortic coarctation presenting with multiorgan failure is a life threatening condition.

Objective: Our aim was to investigate whether emergency balloon dilation improved the prognosis of neonates with aortic coarctation who present with multiorgan failure.

Methods: We studied all neonates referred over a period of 6 years with aortic coarctation and left ventricular dysfunction, with or without multiorgan failure.

Screening of strain-specific Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae genes using a combination method.

We describe a three-step method designed to identify distinct antigen-coding genes between two related bacterial genomes by: (a) constructing a subtractive library using Representational Difference Analysis (RDA), (b) characterization of gene expression in vitro using a ribosome display system combined with antibody screening and (c) gene recovery and confirmation using RT-PCR and reverse Southern hybridization, respectively. To test the efficacy of this strategy we screened the antigen-coding gene profile of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP) strains CCVC259 and CCVC263 that do not elicit cross-protective immunity. This strategy identified six different DNA fragments from CCVC259 and 10 different DNA fragments from CCVC263.

Conotruncal defects associated with anomalous pulmonary venous connections.

Background: Conotruncal defects constitute one of the major categories of congenital heart disease. Our understanding of how these defects develop has been derived from knowledge of the role of neural crest cells in heart development. However, recent studies have revealed a role for the myocardium in the formation of both the arterial and venous poles of the heart.

Coronary myocardial bridging in Noonan syndrome: definitive diagnosis with high-resolution CT.

Noonan syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder reported at an incidence of 1 in 1000-2500 live-born patients. Pulmonary stenosis with a dysplastic pulmonary valve and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are often associated with this syndrome. We report on a 9-year-old patient affected by Noonan syndrome with left ventricle hypertrophy, in whom a sudden clinical presentation of chest pain after effort led to the clinical suspicion of associated coronary myocardial bridging, which was confirmed by high-resolution CT.

Binary sub-wavelength diffractive lenses with long focal depth and high transverse resolution.

This study explores two-dimensional binary sub-wavelength diffractive lenses (BSDLs) for implementing long focal depth and high transverse resolution based on the rigorous electromagnetic theory and the finite-difference time-domain method. Focusing performances, such as the actual focal depth, the ratio between the focal depth of the designed BSDL and the focal depth of the conventional sub-wavelength lens and the spot size of the central lobe at the actual focal plane, for different f-numbers, have been studied in the case of TE incidence polarization wave. The rigorous numerical results indicate that the designed BSDLs indeed have long focal depth and high transverse resolution by modulating the binary sub-wavelength characteristic sizes.

Acute amiodarone-induced pulmonary toxicity: an association of risk factors in a child operated by arterial switch operation.

Amiodarone is an antiarrhythmic benzoflurane drug with an imposing adverse effect profile. Amiodarone pulmonary toxicity is the major complication. It is well described in adults, whereas it is extremely rare in pediatric patients.

Cardiac CT angiography after coronary artery surgery in children using 64-slice CT scan.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice CT with that of invasive angiography in the detection of graft and/or coronary angioplasty stenosis in children who had undergone coronary artery surgery.

Population And Methods: Fifteen consecutive children (8 male and 7 female; age 9.2+/-6.

Right superior vena cava draining into the left atrium.

The right superior vena cava draining into the left atrium is a rare malformation causing cyanosis and clubbing in patients in whom no other signs of congenital heart defect are present. Diagnosis may be difficult as cyanosis may be mild and the anomaly is not always easily detectable by echocardiography. For this reason we report a 13-month-old male in whom we confirmed the clinical and echocardiographic suspicion of anomalous drainage of the right superior vena cava using multidetector CT.

Optical generation of binary-phase-coded, direct-sequence ultra-wideband signals by polarization modulation and FBG-based multi-channel frequency discriminator.

In this paper a novel optical generation approach for binary-phase-coded, direct-sequence ultra-wideband (UWB) signals is experimentally demonstrated. Our system consists of a laser array, a polarization modulator (PolM), a fiber Bragg grating (FBG), a length of single mode fiber, and a photo detector (PD). The FBG, designed based on the superimposed, chirped grating, is used as the multi-channel frequency discriminator.

Arterial aneurysms and tuberous sclerosis: a classic but little known association.

Tuberous sclerosis is a rare autosomal dominant syndrome in which aortic aneurysm is a classic but little known cause of sudden death. We report a 20-month-old boy with tuberous sclerosis and iliofemoral arterial aneurysms. This case highlights the importance of systematic screening for such vascular complications.

CT demonstration of "chicken trachea" resulting from complete cartilaginous rings of the trachea in ring-sling complex.

We report a 10-month-old infant who presented with tetralogy of Fallot and respiratory disease in whom the suspicion of a ring-sling complex was confirmed by high-resolution CT. CT demonstrated the typical association of left pulmonary artery sling and the "chicken trachea" resulting from complete cartilaginous rings of the trachea.

Non-invasive assessment of congenital pulmonary vein stenosis in children using cardiac-non-gated CT with 64-slice technology.

Background: Management of congenital pulmonary vein stenosis is a diagnostic challenge. Echocardiography may be insufficient and thus cardiac catheterization remains the reference standard in this setting. The aim of the study was to investigate the accuracy of cardiac-non-gated CT using 64-slice technology in detecting congenital pulmonary vein stenosis in children.

Acute angulation of the aortic arch predisposes a patient to ascending aortic dilatation and aortic regurgitation late after the arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries.

Objective: We assessed the contribution of acute aortic arch angulation and enhanced systolic pulse wave reflection to dilatation of the ascending aorta and aortic regurgitation late after the arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries.

Methods: We performed aortography, radial artery applanation tonometry, and transthoracic echocardiography in 47 children (aged 5-6 years) who underwent the arterial switch operation and in 20 matched healthy controls. The aortic arch angle, ratio of ascending/descending aortic diameter, degree of aortic regurgitation, central pulse pressure, aortic augmentation pressure, and augmentation index were measured.

[Multislice thoracic CT scanner].

The scanner, or computed tomography, is the reference imaging test for most thoracic diseases in both adults and children. It has gone through tremendously rapid technological progress over the last few years with the appearance of multirow (or multidetector or multislice) scanners. This technology currently provides volume acquisition of a child's thorax in 2-5 s.

Angular (Gothic) aortic arch leads to enhanced systolic wave reflection, central aortic stiffness, and increased left ventricular mass late after aortic coarctation repair: evaluation with magnetic resonance flow mapping.

Objective: We sought to investigate the mechanism whereby a particular deformity of the aortic arch, an angulated Gothic shape, might lead to hypertension late after anatomically successful repair of aortic coarctation.

Methods: Fifty-five normotensive patients with anatomically successful repair of aortic coarctation and either a Gothic (angulated) or a Romanesque (smooth and rounded) arch were studied with magnetic resonance angiography and flow mapping in both the ascending and descending aortas. Systolic waveforms, central aortic stiffness, and pulse velocity were measured.

Increased central aortic stiffness and left ventricular mass in normotensive young subjects after successful coarctation repair.

Background: Hypertension occurs in 20% to 40% of survivors of anatomically successful repair of aortic coarctation (CoA). The aim of the present study was to examine the role of central aortic function in this setting.

Methods: Forty normotensive asymptomatic subjects with successful CoA repair (age 12 +/- 8 years) and 20 age- and sex-matched control subjects underwent detailed magnetic resonance imaging investigation of the thoracic aorta and left ventricle.

Left coronary to right ventricle fistula in a child: management strategy based on cardiac-gated 64-slice CT.

Congenital coronary fistulae are a diagnostic challenge. A prerequisite for best management is accurate anatomical evaluation, traditionally provided by invasive catheter angiography. Multislice CT (MSCT) is an emerging noninvasive technique for coronary artery evaluation.

An unusual case of left aberrant innominate artery with right aortic arch: evaluation with high-resolution CT.

A left aberrant innominate (brachiocephalic) artery is an angiographically well-known entity that may cause tracheal compression. We report a male newborn who was admitted for further investigation of a prenatally suspected major vessel anomaly. High-resolution CT was used to completely assess the abnormal anatomy and the relationship with the airway, as well as to guide the surgical approach for its correction.

Pediatric coronary artery bypass after arterial switch operation: noninvasive evaluation with ECG-gated 64-slice CT in routine practice.

Coronary artery bypass is increasingly used as a revascularization procedure to treat pediatric coronary artery problems. We report here the clinical usefulness of high resolution computed tomographic scan in the evaluation of the internal mammary artery bypass graft in a 12-year-old child who had undergone arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries. Our case suggests the following practice already applied in our institution: 64-slice computed tomography can be used as a valuable noninvasive diagnostic and screening tool for detecting coronary and artery bypass graft complications in the follow-up of the arterial switch operation before having recourse to conventional angiography.