Efficacy of MRI in complicated congenital heart disease with visceral heterotaxy syndrome.

Purpose: The authors' goal was to assess the diagnostic accuracy and clinical effect of MRI compared with echocardiography and catheterization in the evaluation of cardiac defects with situs ambiguous.

Method: Twenty-two patients with visceral heterotaxy syndrome were included.

Results: Because situs determined by the relation between the pulmonary artery and bronchi showed most predominantly a tendency toward lateralization, this was regarded as the standard reference of situs determination.

Magnetic resonance imaging of unroofed coronary sinus: three cases.

Unroofed coronary sinus is a rare cardiac anomaly in which communication occurs between the coronary sinus and the left atrium due to the partial or complete absence of the roof of the coronary sinus. It is usually associated with other cardiovascular anomalies, especially persistent left superior vena cava. It is often not discovered during cardiac catheterization without clinical suspicion.

Albumin elicits calcium signals from astrocytes in brain slices from neonatal rat cortex.

1. Albumin causes calcium signals and mitosis in cultured astrocytes, but it has not been established whether astrocytes in intact brain also respond to albumin. The effect of albumin on intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) in single cells was therefore studied in acutely isolated cortical brain slices from the neonatal rat.

Computing system for pediatric cardiology (CathEcho 2.5).

CathEcho version 2.5 (CathEcho 2.0) was developed as database system of clinical data for pediatric cardiology patients including X-ray and echocardiogram picture for a scientific purpose.

Takayasu arteritis in Korean children: clinical report of seventy cases.

Seventy cases of Takayasu arteritis in Korean children are reported. There were 57 females and 13 males (male-to-female ratio; 1:4.4).

Tricuspid atresia or severe stenosis with partial common atrioventricular canal: anatomic data, clinical profile and surgical considerations.

The anatomic findings in 11 cases of tricuspid atresia and in two cases of severe tricuspid stenosis, both combined with partial common atrioventricular (AV) canal, are presented in detail. Twelve cases were documented by postmortem examination and the diagnosis was confirmed by echocardiography and surgical observation in the one living patient. Clinical data available in nine cases and cardiac catheterization data obtained in eight are included in this report.