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Background and Aims: Malnutrition is found frequently during chronic diseases, and its prevalence and relation to disease outcome in adult patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) remains unknown.Methods and Results: A cohort of 393 consecutive stable congenital heart disease (CHD) patients was followed up in a single dedicated clinical unit. Demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters, along with a nutritional risk index (NRI), were studied, as well as major acute cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as arterial thrombotic events, heart failure requiring hospitalization or cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality. The median age of the patients was 23 years (17-35) and 225 (57%) were males. Median plasma albumin concentration was 4.5 (4.2-4.7) g/dL, the body mass index was 23 (21-27) kg/m2, the NRI was 112 (106-118), and 33 (8%) patients showed malnutrition (NIR<100). A worse NYHA functional class (II and III), total cholesterol and serum glucose levels were significant risk factors associated with malnutrition (NRI<100) in CHD patients. During a median follow-up of 8 (5-10) years, 39 (10%) CHD patients suffered a MACE. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that older patients (years) [HR 1.06 (1.04-1.09), p < 0.001], CHD patients with great anatomical complexity [HR 4.24 (2.17-8.27), p < 0.001] and those with a lower NRI [HR 0.95 (0.93-0.98), p = 0.001] had a significant worse MACE-free survival, being the NRI a better predictor of MACE than albumin concentration.Conclusions: A low NRI is independently associated with a significant increased risk of MACE in CHD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Vestibulopathy is a condition characterized by the onset of vertigo, nausea and vomiting, in the absence of hearing loss or tinnitus. The differential diagnosis includes peripheral otologic disorders and central disorders such as vascular insufficiency. Modified Blalock-Taussig (B-T) shunt, a polytetrafluoroethylene graft from the subclavian artery to the pulmonary artery, has become the palliative procedure of choice in cyanotic congenital heart disease patients. This palliative surgery creates a similar vascular haemodynamic to that seen in the subclavian steal syndrome and when associated with aplasia, hypoplasia or stenosis of the contralateral carotid, vertebral or posterior communicating arteries it may predispose to vascular hypoperfusion and peripheral hypofunctioning of the vestibular system. We report the case of a cyanotic congenital heart disease patient with vertigo and dizziness who underwent a modified B-T fistula on childhood and developed, many years later, a vertiginous syndrome probably of vascular origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Atherosclerosis has been correlated with known cardiovascular risk factors such as serum glucose or lipid levels. Because congenital heart disease patients tend to survive until adulthood, atherosclerosis has also become a matter of concern in these patients. One hundred fifty-eight congenital heart disease patients and 152 patients selected at random from the population were studied and compared to determine serum glucose, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides levels. Both groups had similar socioeconomic status levels and the same environmental influences. Significant differences were seen between congenital heart disease patients and the control group, after sex, age, and body mass index adjustment, in fasting plasma glucose (97.7 [94.2-101.2] vs 86.9 [83.2-90.7], P < .001), total cholesterol (171.5 [165.7-177.3] vs 199.8 [90.7-206.0], P < .001), LDL cholesterol (103.9 [98.8-108.8] vs 123.8 [118.5-129.1], P < .001), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (48.1 [46.2-50.0] vs 54.2 [52.1-56.2], P < .001) levels. Nonsignificant differences were seen in triglycerides concentrations. Those patients with ventricular septal defect, coarctation of the aorta, and cyanosis had the lowest total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol concentrations. Congenital heart disease patients have lower plasma cholesterol concentrations and higher serum glucose levels than noncongenital ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Española de Cardiología (18855857) is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Criss cross heart is an extremely rare anomaly accounting for less than 0.1% of congenital heart disease. It is characterized by an abnormal rotation of the heart on its long axis. Almost always there are associated cardiac anomalies such as pulmonary stenosis, ventricular septal defect, ventriculoarterial connection discord or hypoplasia of the tricuspid valve or right ventricle and thereby presenting in the neonatal period. We present a case of a 22 year old woman with a congenitally corrected transposition of great arteries and a criss cross heart. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]