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Background: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in childhood has a considerable morbidity and mortality and high incidence of heart transplantation. Pulmonary artery banding (PAB) has been proposed in patients with corrected transposition of the great arteries to retrain the sub-pulmonic left ventricle (LV) and to improve a failing sub-aortic right ventricle. We evaluated the short-term and medium-term effects of PAB in young patients with LVDCM., Methods: A retrospective single-center observational study was performed to evaluate the possible benefits of a dilatable surgical PAB in infants and young children with LVDCM., Results: Reported are 12 patients (10 infants, 2 toddlers) with LVDCM referred for heart transplant who received a surgical PAB. There were no hospital deaths. Clinical functional status improved in all patients. The pressure gradient across the PAB increased within 20 days from 28 ± 7 to 43 ± 15 mm Hg. The LV ejection fraction increased from 14.5% ± 5% pre-PAB to 27% ± 13% at hospital discharge and to 47% ± 10% at 3 to 6 months. The LV end-diastolic diameter (z-score) decreased (p > 0.001) from 46 ± 6.1 (+7.0 ± 1.3) to 35 ± 15 mm (+3.0 ± 1.3) after 3 to 6 months and to 34 ± 15 mm (+1.3 ± 1.14) after a median age of 2 years (maximum 6.6 years), respectively. Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide levels decreased from 3431 ± 2610 to 288 ± 321 pg/ml at discharge and to 102 ± 96 pg/ml 22 months later. Eight children were subsequently de-banded by transcatheter technique and 6 of them are currently at Ross Heart Failure Classification for Children class I. Two patients, both with non-compaction DCM, deteriorated at 5 and 6 months after PAB debanding and finally died., Conclusion: In young children with LVDCM and still-preserved right ventricular function, PAB led to an improvement of LV and mitral valve function by ventricular interaction., (Copyright © 2013 International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

DCM is the most common cardiomyopathy in childhood. Effectiveness of anticongestive therapy is limited in most cases and about one-third of children diagnosed with DCM die or receive heart transplantation within the first year after diagnosis. Cardiac stem cell transplantation has become a promising therapy to treat heart failure in adult patients. Based on these promising results, the cardiac stem cell therapy might also represent a new therapeutic option particularly in young children. The present case documents for the first time intracoronary administration of autologous bone marrow-derived progenitor cells in a critically ill two-yr-old child with severe heart failure caused by DCM. Because of progressive worsening of the clinical condition despite maximal anticongestive treatment, the decision to perform autologous stem cell therapy was made. Cardiac stem cell therapy proved to be technically feasible, was associated with improvement in cardiac function, and might represent an option before heart transplantation in children with severe heart failure.

Aims: Circulating cells repopulate the heart at a very low rate in adult humans. The knowledge about time-dependent cardiac regeneration is very limited and the contribution of circulating cells to cardiomyocytes or vascular cells in children is unknown. This study investigates the endogenous repair capacity and the long-term incorporation of circulating cells in heart-transplanted children., Methods and Results: Cardiac and endothelial chimerism was detected in endomyocardial biopsies of nine children (age 1 months-14 years) with sex-mismatched heart transplantation by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Time from transplantation to biopsy ranged from 1 month up to 10 years. The extent of repopulating cardiomyocytes was 2.39 +/- 1.54% (range: 0-4.2%) and correlated significantly with the time from transplantation to biopsy sampling (r(2) = 0.69, P = 0.006; n = 9). The calculated contribution of male cardiomyocytes in the female heart per year was 0.36 +/- 0.09%. Consistent with the previous reports, the incorporation of vascular cells was higher compared with cardiomyocytes (14.4 +/- 4.17%), but did not correlate in a time-dependent manner., Conclusion: Circulating cells contribute to cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells in children after heart transplantation. The incidence of repopulating cardiomyocytes continuously increases in a time-dependent manner ( approximately 4% Y-chromosome(+) cardiomyocytes/10 years) and resembles the cardiac regeneration activity observed in adults.

Studies assessing the long-term outcome after heart transplantation HTX in patients with cardiomyopathy (CM) in the paediatric age range are rare. The aim of this study was to determine the survival rate of children with CM undergoing HTX and to analyse how aetiology of cardiomyopathy influenced morbidity and mortality. We retrospectively analysed the medical records of children; who were transplanted in our centre between June 1988 and October 2019. 236 heart transplantations were performed since 1988 (9 re-transplants). 98 of 227 patients (43.2%) were transplanted because of CM. Survival rates were 93% after 1; 84% after 10 and 75% after 30 years. Overall; the aetiology of CM could be clearly identified in 37 subjects (37.7%). This rate increased up to 66.6% (12/19) by applying a comprehensive diagnostic workup since 2016. The survival rate was lower (p < 0.05) and neurocognitive deficits were more frequent (p = 0.001) in subjects with systemic diseases than in individuals with cardiac-specific conditions. These data indicate that the long-term survival rate of children with CM after HTX in experienced centers is high. A comprehensive diagnostic workup allows unraveling the basic defect in the majority of patients with CM undergoing HTX. Aetiology of CM affects morbidity and mortality in subjects necessitating HTX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]