Normothermic Versus Hypothermic Norwood Procedure.

Background: Either deep hypothermia with circulatory arrest or hypothermic perfusion with antegrade selective cerebral perfusion is used during the Norwood procedure for hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Normothermic perfusion has been described for pediatric patients. The aim of this study was to compare the early outcomes of patients undergoing the Norwood procedure with antegrade selective cerebral perfusion under hypothermia with the procedure under normothermia.

MiRNA-124a: a Potential Biomarker for Neurological Deficits Following Cardiac Surgery in Pediatric Patients.

Brain injury is a major source of patient morbidity after cardiac surgery in children. New early accurate biomarkers are needed for the diagnosis of patients at risk for cerebral postoperative damage. Specific circulating miRNAs have been found as suitable biomarkers for many diseases.

Preoperative miRNA-208a as a Predictor of Postoperative Complications in Children with Congenital Heart Disease Undergoing Heart Surgery.

Major perioperative cardiovascular events are important causes of morbidity in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease who undergo reparative surgery. Current preoperative clinical risk assessment strategies have poor accuracy for identifying patients who will sustain adverse events following heart surgery. There is an ongoing need to integrate clinical variables with novel technology and biomarkers to accurately predict outcome following pediatric heart surgery.

Dehydration as a Rare Cause of Pulmonary Artery Thrombosis in a 2-Week-Old Term Neonate.

Pulmonary arterial thrombosis is an extremely rare occurrence in the neonatal population. We describe a 2-week-old female neonate who presented in critical condition with severe cyanosis and dehydration and was found to have a large thrombus in the main branches of the pulmonary arteries. She was successfully treated with surgical embolectomy.

MiRNA-208a as a Sensitive Early Biomarker for the Postoperative Course Following Congenital Heart Defect Surgery.

Current clinical risk assessment strategies have poor accuracy for identifying patients who will suffer adverse perioperative events. There is an ongoing need to integrate clinical variables with novel technology and biomarkers to accurately predict outcome after pediatric heart surgery. We tested the hypothesis that miRNAs-208a, -208b, and -499 can serve as noninvasive biomarkers for the extent of myocardial damage and the postoperative clinical course of pediatric patients with congenital heart defects (CHDs) at an early time point following surgery.

Circulating MicroRNAs: a Potential Biomarker for Cardiac Damage, Inflammatory Response, and Left Ventricular Function Recovery in Pediatric Viral Myocarditis.

Viral myocarditis (VM) can be a life-threatening event resulting in cardiac failure, chronic cardiomyopathy, and death. VM typically includes three phases, i.e.

Point of care testing in children undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass.

Background: Excessive hemorrhage is a major complication after cardiac surgery requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The aim of this study was to define the potential role of the cone and platelet analyzer (CPA) and the rotating thromboelastogram (ROTEM) point of care tests in children undergoing CPB.

Procedure: We prospectively studied 15 pediatric patients aged 1 month to 10 years.

The genetic architecture of Down syndrome phenotypes revealed by high-resolution analysis of human segmental trisomies.

Down syndrome (DS), or trisomy 21, is a common disorder associated with several complex clinical phenotypes. Although several hypotheses have been put forward, it is unclear as to whether particular gene loci on chromosome 21 (HSA21) are sufficient to cause DS and its associated features. Here we present a high-resolution genetic map of DS phenotypes based on an analysis of 30 subjects carrying rare segmental trisomies of various regions of HSA21.