Protrusion of the device: a complication of catheter closure of patent ductus arteriosus.

Objective: To assess the medium term results of percutaneous transvenous closure of patent ductus arteriosus, in particular with regard to protrusion of the device with or without turbulence of the bloodflow.

Design: Clinical examination and echocardiographic study (cross sectional Doppler, and colour Doppler examination) within 24 hours of and at least 6 months after implantation (range 6-26 (mean 15) months).

Setting: Multicentre study at the departments of paediatric cardiology of three academic hospitals.

Anatomic correction for transposition of the great arteries: first follow-up (38 patients).

Between April 1983 and October 1985, 38 consecutive patients with transposition of the great arteries (TGA) underwent anatomic correction. Ages ranged from 1 day to 284 weeks (mean 26.2 weeks).

The concurrence of fetal supraventricular tachycardia and obstruction of the foramen ovale.

Fetal supraventricular tachycardia (FSVT) is a cardiac arrhythmia that bears a high mortality rate. In the majority of cases no morphological anomalies are found and death is caused by congestive heart failure. This report presents two cases of FSVT in which cross sectional echocardiography revealed obstruction of the foramen ovale with dilatation of the right heart without structural cardiac anomalies.

Prenatal ultrasonic diagnosis of familial asymmetric septal hypertrophy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy usually manifests clinically in the second or third decade of life. Two dimensional echocardiography is a reliable indicator of the presence of the disease. This technique is of use in the screening of fetuses at risk for familial cardiomyopathy.

Congenitally corrected transposition in adults with left atrioventricular valve incompetence.

Congenitally corrected transposition of the great vessels (CCT) is usually detected in childhood owing to the presence of associated cardiac malformations. If such malformations are absent, the patient may remain asymptomatic until adulthood; such persons usually present with left atrioventricular valve incompetence and conduction disturbances. The chest radiograph may be the first clue to the diagnosis, demonstrating the typical cardiovascular silhouette produced by the convex left ascending aorta.