Maternal obesity and excessive maternal weight gain during pregnancy: effects on outcomes after neonatal cardiac surgical procedures.

Unlabelled: Introduction Maternal obesity is associated with an increased risk for adverse perinatal outcomes. Obesity is also associated with a chronic inflammatory state and metabolic derangements that affect the newborn. The additional use of cardiopulmonary bypass during the neonatal period could impact the systemic inflammatory response in the immediate postoperative period that manifests as cardiac depression and multi-organ dysfunction.

Vancomycin-associated acute kidney injury in pediatric cardiac intensive care patients.

Objective: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a significant source of morbidity among critically ill pediatric patients, including those that have undergone cardiac surgery. Vancomycin may contribute to AKI in pediatric patients admitted to a cardiac intensive care unit.

Design And Setting: Patients admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit at Texas Children's Hospital and received vancomycin over a 4-year period were included in a case-control study.

Does ICU structure impact patient outcomes after congenital heart surgery? A critical appraisal of "care models and associated outcomes in congenital heart surgery" by Burstein et al (Pediatrics 2011; 127: e1482-e1489).

Objective: To review the findings and discuss the implications of different ICU care models on morbidity and mortality in pediatric patients after congenital heart surgery.

Data Sources: The electronic PubMed database was used to perform the clinical query, as well as to search for additional pertinent literature.

Study Selection And Data Extraction: The article by Burstein DS et al "Care Models and Associated Outcomes in Congenital Heart Surgery.

An institutional experience with epidural analgesia in children and young adults undergoing cardiac surgery.

Background: Allowing spontaneous respiration after cardiac surgery eliminates complications related to mechanical ventilation and optimizes cardiopulmonary interaction. Epidural analgesia has been proposed to promote early extubation after cardiac surgery.

Objective: To identify the characteristics of patients with epidural analgesia and safety profiles with respect to the timing of extubation following cardiac surgery.

Tricuspid atresia and tetralogy of Fallot in an infant of a diabetic mother.

An infant of a diabetic mother with a prenatal diagnosis of tetralogy of Fallot and tricuspid atresia is presented. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of such an association.