Exploring viral infections' role in Kawasaki disease onset: A study during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, known viral diseases declined in all ages. By using the current situation as a natural experiment, this study aimed to evaluate whether the change in the incidence of Kawasaki disease (KD) during the COVID-19 pandemic varies with age and whether a specific infectious disease mediates the occurrence of KD. Monthly number of KD patients were extracted from the nationwide inpatient database.

BMP2 is a potential causative gene for isolated dextrocardia situs solitus.

BMP2 (bone morphogenic protein-2) is a member of the TGF-β superfamily and has essential roles in the development of multiple organs, including osteogenesis. Because of its crucial role in organ and skeletal development, Bmp2 null mice is fetal lethal. The recent report has characterized multiple patients with BMP2 haploinsufficiency, describing individuals with BMP2 sequence variants and deletions associated with short stature without endocrinological abnormalities, a recognizable craniofacial gestalt, skeletal anomalies, and congenital heart disease.

The Anti-Inflammatory Effects and Clinical Potential of Dexmedetomidine in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

A pathogenic aspect of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is the aberrant pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cell (PASMC) proliferation. PASMC proliferation is significantly affected by inflammation. A selective -2 adrenergic receptor agonist called dexmedetomidine (DEX) modulates specific inflammatory reactions.

In Vivo and Ex Vivo Experimental Approach for Studying Functional Role of Notch in Pulmonary Vascular Disease.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a severe disease characterized by sustained vasoconstriction, concentric wall thickening and vascular remodeling leading to increased pulmonary vascular resistance, causing right heart failure and death. Acute alveolar hypoxia causes pulmonary vasoconstriction, while sustained hypoxia causes pulmonary hypertension (PH). Activation of Notch signaling is implicated in the development of PAH and chronic hypoxia induced PH via partially its enhancing effect on Ca signaling in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs).

Transient ventricular bigeminy during emergence from general anesthesia in a pediatric patient with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia.

Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is a rare genetic disease that is characterized by ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death, induced by exogenous and endogenous catecholamine. We performed general anesthesia for dental treatment of multiple teeth in a 7-year-old boy with CPVT. To avoid sympathetic tone, anesthesia was maintained by total intravenous anesthesia, but ventricular bigeminy was induced by stimulation on emergence form general anesthesia.

Electrocardiographic Diagnosis of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in the Pre- and Post-Diagnostic Phases in Children and Adolescents.

Background: The usefulness of electrocardiographic (ECG) voltage criteria for diagnosing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in pediatric patients is poorly defined.

Methods and results: ECGs at the 1st grade (mean [±SD] age 6.6±0.

Revisiting the mechanism of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction using isolated perfused/ventilated mouse lung.

Hypoxic Pulmonary Vasoconstriction (HPV) is an important physiological mechanism of the lungs that matches perfusion to ventilation thus maximizing O saturation of the venous blood within the lungs. This study emphasizes on principal pathways in the initiation and modulation of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction with a primary focus on the role of Ca signaling and Ca influx pathways in hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction. We used an ex vivo model, isolated perfused/ventilated mouse lung to evaluate hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction.

Pathophysiological roles of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kB) in pulmonary arterial hypertension: effects of synthetic selective NF-kB inhibitor IMD-0354.

Aims: Proliferation of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) is one histological sign of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We hypothesized that a signalling cascade from fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF₂) to plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) via nuclear transcription factor nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kB) play a critical role in progression of PAH, and tested this hypothesis both in vivo and in vitro using a synthetic selective NF-kB inhibitor, N-(3,5-Bis-trifluoromethyl-phenyl)-5-chloro-2-hydroxy-benzamide (IMD-0354).

Methods And Results: Monocrotaline (MCT) was injected into 75 Sprague-Dawley rats.

Exercise-induced myocardial ischemia in a case of anomalous origin of the left main coronary artery from the noncoronary sinus of valsalva.

We report a case of anomalous origin of the left main coronary artery (LCA) from the noncoronary sinus of valsalva (LCANCS) in a young healthy patient who presented with syncope and cardiopulmonary arrest during exercise. The enhanced computed tomography showed acute angle take-off (AAT) of LCA, and the exercise stress thallium-201 myocardial scintigraphy demonstrated a large defect at the LCA perfusion region. We propose that the coexistence of AAT and resulting ischemia causes sudden cardiac death during exercise in the patients with LCANCS.