At present, the operative results of complex congenital heart disease are suboptimal which is closely correlated to the understanding of the anatomy and function of complex congenital heart disease, and operative techniques. With the further understanding to pathology and physiology of congenital heart disease, strategies and techniques in well-known operations and complex procedures have developed in recent years. Currently, designing and applying individual operative method in terms of patient’s characteristics of anatomy and physiology is very important trend. This article reviewed the advances of knowledgement and techniques in some representive complex congenital heart disease including complete atrioventricular septal defect, unifocalization for major aortopulmonary collateral arteries, transopsition of the great artery and Fontan type operation.
ObjectiveTo explore the predictive value of N-terminal-pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-ProBNP) for postoperative early outcomes in infants with aortic coarctation (CoA).MethodsA retrospective study was conducted in 344 children with CoA admitted to our hospital from September 2014 to October 2017, including 206 males (59.9%) and 138 females (40.1%), with an average age of 0.2-60.0 (7.1±10.6) months. The levels of NT-proBNP, clinical characteristics, imaging data and early follow-up results were collected and analyzed.ResultsCompared with the normal NT-proBNP group, there were statistical differences in age, the proportion of RACHS-1≥3, the proportion of preoperative pneumonia and dysplastic aortic arch, preoperative cardiac function, left ventricular wall thickness, left ventricular dilatation, hospital stay, ICU duration, ventilator duration, duration of vasoactive drugs use, delayed chest closure, nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP), postoperative cardiac insufficiency in the abnormal NT-proBNP group (P<0.05). According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, NT-proBNP level (>3 000 pg/mL) was an independent risk factor for prolonged ICU duration [OR=3.17, 95%CI (1.61, 6.23)], prolonged ventilator duration [OR=5.84, 95%CI (2.86, 11.95)], prolonged use of vasoactive drugs [OR=2.22, 95%CI (1.22, 4.02)], postoperative cardiac insufficiency [OR=3.10, 95%CI (1.64, 5.85)]; NT-proBNP level (> 5 000 pg/mL) was an independent risk factor for delayed chest closure [OR=3.55, 95%CI (1.48, 8.50)].ConclusionNT-proBNP level in children with CoA can be affected by many factors, including age, complexity of congenital heart disease, preoperative cardiac insufficiency, et al. The level of NT-proBNP has predictive value for postoperative early outcomes.
ObjectiveTo explore the role of increased preoperative ventricular-arterial stiffening in hypertensive infants with coarctation of the aorta (CoA).MethodsA retrospective study was conducted in 314 infants with CoA (CoA group, 193 males and 121 females, aged 5.4±2.2 months), and 314 infants receiving tumor chemotherapy with normal cardiovascular function and without pneumonia (control group, 189 males and 125 females, aged 4.4±3.8 months), who were admitted to our hospital from 2015 to 2017. The clinical data of the two groups were compared.ResultsThere were statistical differences in effective aortic elastance index (Eai), effective left ventricular end-systolic elasticity index (Eesi), ventricle-artery coupling index (VACi), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels, and ratios of left ventricular hypertrophy, dilation and systolic dysfunction between the two groups (P<0.05). Compared with non-hypertensive CoA infants, CoA infants with hypertension had higher Eai, Eesi, NT-ProBNP level and proportion of left ventricular hypertrophy (P<0.05). Compared with concomitant ventricular septal defect, infants with isolated CoA had higher Eai, Eesi, NT-proBNP level, incidence of hypertension and higher proportion of left ventricular hypertrophy, dilation and systolic dysfunction (P<0.05). Eai and Eesi were positively correlated with NT-proBNP level, left ventricular hypertrophy and fractional shortening of left ventricle (P<0.05), while Eai and Eesi were negatively correlated with left ventricular end diastolic volume index, left ventricular end systolic volume index and concomitant ventricular septal defect (P<0.05). Hypertension was related to preoperative left ventricular hypertrophy, Eai, Eesi and NT-ProBNP. Eai was an independent risk factor for hypertension.ConclusionPreoperative ventricular-arterial stiffening is increased in infants with aortic coarctation, which is related to the occurrence of hypertension. Isolated CoA shows more significant increase in ventricular-arterial stiffening, higher ventricular overload and incidence of hypertension.
Abstract： Objective To optimize surgical treatment for children with patent ductus arteriosus （PDA） and mitral regurgitation （MR） and evaluate its midterm to longterm outcome in terms of MR. Methods Between Jan. 2008 and Jan. 2011， 25 children with PDA and MR underwent surgical treatment in Shanghai Children’s Medical Center. There were 14 male patients and 11 female patients with average age of 26.36±40.75 （1.72-142.83）months and average weight of 8.98±6.85 （3.80-36.00） kg. The average diameter of PDA was 7.84±3.10 （3-15）mm. There were 22 children with duct-type PDA and 3 children with window-type PDA. There were 5 children with severe MR， 18 children with moderate MR， and 2 children with mild MR. Except one child with mitral stenosis who underwent PDA ligation plus mitral valvuloplasty supported with cardiopulmonary bypass， all other 24 children only underwent PDA ligation through left posterolateral thoracotomy without any management for the mitral valve. Results There was no in-hospital death. The average ventilation time in ICU was 6.70±4.39 （3-24） hours. Except one child was reintubated because of asthma， all other children recovered uneventfully without any postoperative complication. All the 25 children were followed up for 329.23±288.39 （29-967） days. During follow-up， 23 children （92.00%） had their MR level ameliorated in different degree. Preoperative severe MR in 5 children changed into moderate MR in 2 children and mild MR in 3 children. Preoperative moderate MR in 16 children changed into none MR in 5 children, trivial MR in 5 children and mild MR in 6 children. Preoperative mild MR in 2 children changed into none MR in 1 child and trivial MR in another child. Two children with preoperative moderate MR had no improvement during follow-up. Conclusion For infants and children with PDA and MR， conservative treatment strategy should be carried out. Simple PDA ligation can provide satisfactory clinical outcome， which may also avoid negative complications including myocardial injury caused by cardiopulmonary bypass.
Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of the application of selective cerebral perfusion (SCP) technique in pediatric aortic arch reconstruction, so as to alleviate brain injury during operation. Methods From April 2007 to May 2008, 32 children aged from 8 days to 103 months (14.4±25.4 months) and weighed from 27 kg to 22.0 kg (6.7±4.4 kg) underwent aortic arch reconstruction with selective cerebral perfusion in Shanghai Children’s Medical Center. Twentytwo suffered from aortic coarctationwith intracardiac anomaly, and 10 suffered from interrupted aortic arch with intracardiac anomaly. The arterial cannulation was achieved by placing a flexible wire wound cannula in ascending aorta close to the root part of innominate artery. The rectal temperature was about 1820℃. Then the cannula was moved upward into innominate artery to perform SCP. Results The time of SCP was 17-121 mins（39.6±19.4 mins）, perfusion blood flow maintained in 15-40 ml/(kg·min)［29.7±6.1 ml/(kg·min）］. Four cases died of low cardiac output syndrome or arrhythmia, and no evidence of brain injury was observed. No obvious neurologic complication was observed in 28 survivls. No abnormal electroencephalogram was observed in 25 cases. The results of head Bsonography and brain magnetic resonance image (MRI) were normal in 5 neonates. Conclusion Selective cerebral perfusion is a simple, feasible, safe and effective technique in pediatric aortic arch reconstruction.
ObjectiveTo compare and analyze the effect of myocardial protection between HTK and del Nido cardioplegia solutions in neonates with surgeries for transposition of the great arteries. MethodsThe clinical data of 208 neonates with complete transposition of the great arteries in our institution from 2014 to 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the cardioplegia solutions utilized in the operations, the patients were divided into two groups: a HTK group and a del Nido group. Propensity score matching was conducted to eliminate the biases. The cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic cross-clamping time, total amount of cardioplegia solutions, transfusion frequency of cardioplegia, ICU stay time, mechanical support time, inotropic score, hospital stay, left ventricular ejection fraction, N-terminal proBNP and troponin I were compared and analyzed between the two groups after matching. ResultsAfter 1:1 propensity score matching, a total of 54 patients were analyzed with 27 patients in each group. In the HTK group, there were 22 males and 5 females with a median age of 7.0 (2.0, 11.0) d. In the del Nido group, there were 23 males and 4 females with a median age of 8.0 (3.0, 11.0) d. A total of 3 children died after the surgery: 2 (7.4%) patients in the HTK group and 1 (3.7%) patient in the del Nido group. There was no significant difference in hospital mortality between the two groups (P=1.000). The total amount of cardioplegia solutions in the HTK group was significantly higher than that of del Nido group (P<0.001). Transfusion frequency of cardioplegia in del Nido group was significantly higher than that of the HTK group (P=0.043). There was no significant difference in the postoperative ICU time, mechanical support time, length of hospital stay, inotropic score, left ventricular ejection fraction, N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide precursor or troponin I between the two groups (P>0.05). ConclusionFor neonates with surgeries for complete transposition of the great arteries, HTK cardioplegia solutions can provide effective and safe myocardial protection, which is similar to del Nido cardioplegia solutions.
Objective Through establishment of brain slice model in rats with perfusion and oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD), we investigated whether this model can replicate the pathophysiology of brain injury in cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) or not and whether perfusion and OGD can induce preoligodendrocytes (preOL) injury or not, to provide cytological evidence for white matter injury after cardiopulmonary bypass. Methods Three to five living brain slices were randomly obtained from each of forty seven-day-old (P7) Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats with a mean weight of 14.7±1.5 g. Brain slices were randomly divided into five groups with 24 slices in each group: control group with normothermic artificial cerebralspinal fluid (aCSF) perfusion (36℃) and DHCA groups: OGD at 15℃, 25℃, 32℃ and 36℃. The perfusion system was established, and the whole process of CPB and DHCA in cardiac surgery was simulated. The degree of oligodendrocyte injury was evaluated by MBP and O4 antibody via application of immunohistochemistry. Results In the OGD group, the mature oligodendrocytes (MBP-positive) cells were significantly damaged, their morphology was greatly changed and fluorescence expression was significantly reduced. The higher the OGD temperature was, the more serious the damage was; preOL (O4-positive) cells showed different levels of fluorescence expression reduce in 36℃, 32℃ and 25℃ groups, and the higher the OGD temperature was, the more obvious decrease in fluorescence expression was. There was no statistically significant difference in the O4-positive cells between the control group and the 15℃ OGD group. Conclusion The perfused brain slice model is effective to replicate the pathophysiology of brain injury in CPB/DHCA which can induce preOL damage that is in critical development stages of oligodendrocyte cell line, and reduce differentiation of oligodendrocyte cells and eventually leads to hypomyelination as well as cerebral white matter injury.
Objective To investigate surgical strategy for the treatment of muscular ventricular septal defect （MVSD） in infants with multiple ventricular septal defects（VSD）. Methods Clinical data of 46 infants with multiple VSD who underwent surgical repair in Shanghai Children’s Medical Center from January 2010 to April 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 24 males and 22 females with their age of 8±6 months and body weight of 6.1±1.9 kg. All the patients received one-stage surgical repair，among whom MVSD of 10 patients was not found and repaired during the surgery. MVSD was repaired by surgical suture in 19 patients，hybrid repair under direct vision in 12 patients，and hybrid repair via the right ventricle in 5 patients. All the patients were regularly followed up after discharge by chest X-ray，ECG and color Doppler echocardiography to observe the closure of MVSD and the presence of residual shunt. Results All the 46 patients with multiple VSD survived their surgery without perioperative death. Three patients undergoing hybrid repair under direct vision received delayed sternal closure. One patient undergoing hybrid repair under direct vision had postoperative cardiac dysfunction. All the 46 patients were followed up for 1-17 months. Twenty-three patients had residual shunt of varying degrees during follow-up，and most of the MVSD of patients with residual shunt were ＜4 mm，who were receiving further follow-up and evaluation. Conclusion Appropriate surgical strategies can be applied according to specific surgical views during the operation for the treatment of MVSD in infants with multiple VSD，and satisfactory clinical outcomes can be achieved.
Objective To compare the postoperative outcomes of modified single-patch technique and one-and-a-half-patch technique for complete atrioventricular septal defect (CAVSD) with a large ventricular component (>1 cm). Methods We retrospectively reviewed clinical data of 79 CAVSD patients with a large ventricular component (>1 cm) in Shanghai Children's Medical Center from January 2005 through January 2016. There were 37 males, 42 females with a median age of 8 months (range, 1.5 months to 10.2 years). Among the patients, 45 patients (20 males, 25 females) with a median age of 6 months(range, 1.5 months to 10.2 years) received modified single patch technique and 34 patients (17 males, 17 females) with a median age of 5.3 months (range, 2.5 months to 8.3 years) underwent one-and-a-half-patch (1.5-patch) technique. All the patients complicated with complex malformation such as double outlet of right ventricular, single ventricle, and transposition of great arteries were excluded. Results The mortality and reoperation rate in modified single-patch group were higher than those of the one-and-a-half-patch group. There were 2 postoperative early deaths in the modified single-patch group (4.4%). Among them, one patient died of postoperative valvular regurgitation and heart pump failure. The other one died of respiratory failure caused by severe pneumonia. There were 3 reoperations. Two patients performed valve plastic surgery because of valve regurgitation and one patient because of residual ventricular septal defect. There was no death and reoperation in the one-and-a-half-patch technique group. No left ventricular outflow tract obstruction and atrioventricular block in both groups were developed. Conclusion The 1.5-patch technique is an attractive clinical option in CAVSD patients with a large ventricular component.