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Objective: The arterial switch operation was introduced in 1976 to correct transposition of the great arteries and has since replaced atrial palliation. This study examines the long-term outcomes of the arterial switch operation. Methods: Included in the study were 195 patients who underwent the arterial switch operation from 1977 through June 2000. Patients were evaluated for functional class, pulmonary stenosis, left ventricular function, arrhythmias, aortic sequelae, and coronary disease. Results: Overall perioperative mortality was 15%, but rates dropped in the last 5 years to 4% for complex transposition and 0% for simple transposition. Of 151 survivors, 2 died late; 1 died of persisting pulmonary hypertension and 1 died of ventricular fibrillation after coronary pathologic changes. At last follow-up, a total of 145 patients were in New York Heart Association functional class I and 4 patients were in class II. The most frequent complication was pulmonary stenosis, necessitating 45 reinterventions in 26 patients. Left ventricular dysfunction was noted in 5 patients. Arrhythmias were seen in 5 patients: 2 patients had ventricular fibrillation (1 died and 1 required a defibrillator implantation), 1 had sick sinus syndrome, 1 had atrial flutter, and 1 had a single attack of supraventricular tachycardia. Aortic valve incompetence was absent or trivial in 146 patients, 3 had mild incompetence, 1 had moderate incompetence, and 1 had severe incompetence. Coronary sequelae were found in 5 of the 61 patients who underwent angiography. Conclusion: Long-term clinical outcome of the arterial switch operation is good, and perioperative mortality is now low. Morbidity is dominated by pulmonary stenosis and coronary artery disease, with the potential for lethal arrhythmias. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2002;124:790-7

To investigate the impact of prenatal detection of congenital heart disease on preventing severe preoperative lactacidosis.Patients operated upon for congenital heart disease during the first 31 days of life (n = 209) were studied retrospectively, 21 were diagnosed prenatally and 188 patients had not been diagnosed prenatally. Preoperative lactate, pH and base excess were evaluated.Differences were noted in preoperative pH (7.28 +/- 0.03 vs. 7.24 +/- 0.01, P = 0.29), base excess (-5.83 +/- 0.64 vs. -6.93 +/- 0.46 mmol/L, P = 0.10) and lactate (3.05 +/- 0.35 vs. 6.08 +/- 0.45 mmol/L, P0.001), indicating a significant difference in blood lactate values in favor of the prenatally diagnosed group.Prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease and the resulting immediate postnatal care prevent lactate increase in the preoperative period of these patients. This may decrease the risk of cerebral damage and result in the patient being in better condition at surgery.

To examine the results of the arterial switch operation which is used to correct the transposition of the great arteries.Descriptive.In the period May 1977-October 2000 195 patients at the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital in Utrecht, the Netherlands, underwent an arterial switch operation. The patient group consisted of 132 boys and 63 girls, with a median age at surgery of 8 days (range: 0-1976). In accordance with the protocol, the postoperative follow-up consisted of echocardiography and an ECG. Further investigations were performed on indication. Additional data were collected from the status reports. The mean follow-up was 8.0 years (range: 0.04-22.17).The overall peri-operative mortality was 15% (30/195). Initially this figure was about 50%, in the 1980s it was 15% and from 1996 onwards it was 4%. Of the 151 surviving and traceable patients, 2 patients died years later (1.3%). Of the remaining 149 patients, 145 were classified in New York Heart Association class I and 4 in class II. Due to pulmonary stenosis, 45 reinterventions were required in 26 patients (/149; 17%). Left ventricle dysfunction occurred in 5 patients (3%), arrhythmias in 5 patients and aorta abnormalities in 5 patients. Coronary artery abnormalities were found in 5 of the 61 patients who underwent angiography (8%).Peri-operative mortality decreased to 4% and late mortality was 1.3%. The long-term clinical outcome of the arterial switch operation was good. Morbidity was predominantly caused by pulmonary stenosis and late coronary obstruction.

A 10-year-old boy with a medical history of fatigue became nauseous, short of breath and cyanotic within 24 hours after a frightening incident. He was successfully resuscitated after a cardiac arrest. A CT scan revealed a ruptured aneurysm of the ascending aorta. During emergency surgery the ascending aorta and aortic arch were replaced with a 22 mm synthetic graft. No postoperative complications occurred. There was no associated trauma, syphilis, collagen diseases (Marfan's syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome), congenital heart disease or autoimmune disease. The cause of the aneurysm and rupture remain unclear.

To assess the number of possible candidates for paediatric cardiac transplantation and the number of available donors.Retrospective.The population (date of birth 1 January 1980-31 March 1998) of the Department of Paediatric Cardiology of the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Utrecht, the Netherlands, was reviewed for possible candidates for cardiac transplantation and the resulting number of candidates was extrapolated to the entire country. Figures of the transplant co-ordination unit of the University Hospital Utrecht over 1993-1997 were obtained, to estimate the number of available donors. Furthermore, an overview was made of the results of paediatric cardiac transplantations reported in centres around the world.A total number of 15 possible candidates could be selected over the studied period. Extrapolated to the entire country, about 5 candidates each year could be expected. Per year 5 donor hearts of children (12 yr) and 11 hearts of adult donors with a low body weight (40-65 kg) have been available for paediatric cardiac transplantation. Worldwide 5- and 10-year survival rates reach 60% and 50%, respectively, morbidity seems low and the quality of life can be considered reasonably good.The number of expected recipients corresponds with the number of available donors. Together with the promising results reported in transplant centres around the world, this seems to justify the option of paediatric cardiac transplantation for children with end-stage cardiac disease.

Seventy-six patients were studied after arterial switch operation (ASO) between May 1977 and February 1992. Pulmonary artery reconstruction was initially performed by: conduit interposition in 5 patients, direct main pulmonary artery anastomosis and button patches in 60 patients, and pantaloon-like patch repair in 11 patients. Pulmonary stenosis developed in 17 patients (22%), requiring a total of 26 late re-interventions. Re-intervention was required in four out of five patients operated with pulmonary artery conduits, 11 out of 60 with a button patch repair and 2 out of 11 following pantaloon-type repair. In this series pulmonary artery stenosis (PS) involving the pulmonary valve occurred in 9/17 patients. Involvement of the pulmonary valve was related to the technique of pulmonary artery reconstruction. In these patients surgery is necessary. Balloon angioplasty can be a valuable tool when the stenosis is more distal. The incidence of PS was not influenced by the type of reconstruction or the use of Lecompte's maneuver.

Twenty-two patients with a ventricular septal defect and aortic incompetence underwent surgical repair. Mean age was 9.6 years (range, 9 to 15 years). Mean follow-up was 32.4 ± 15.8 months. The ventricular septal defect was perimembranous in 19 patients and doubly committed or juxtaarterial in 3. Most showed only a small left-to-right shunt. Mean diameter was 11.9 ± 4.8 mm. Aortic incompetence was mild in 6 patients, moderate in 4, and severe in 12. In 16 patients closure of the ventricular septal defect and aortic valvoplasty were both performed through the aortic root. There were no deaths. All patients retained normal sinus rhythm. No complete heart block was found. In 3 patients secondary aortic valve replacement was required for severe incompetence; in 1 the cause was bacterial endocarditis, in another technical failure, and in a third progressive incompetence over an 8-month period. All patients showed substantial clinical improvement, marked decrease or disappearance of the valvar incompetence, diminution of the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, and decreased cardiothoracic ratio. We conclude that primary repair is the operation of choice for this combination of lesions. This can avoid or delay considerably valvar replacement. The left-sided approach proves safe and is our preferred technique.

Epicardial cryosurgery for ablation of atrioventricular accessory pathways has surgical advantages. However, it is applied directly to the valve base. To assess the risk of valve impairment, 10 anaesthetized dogs were subjected to standardized epicardial cryosurgery of the right atrioventricular junction. Two of these underwent sham procedure (dissection only). Valve function was assessed by colour Doppler echocardiography preoperatively and at 2 days, 1 week, 2 weeks and 10 weeks postoperatively. Three out of the eight animals subjected to cryosurgery developed moderate (grade 2/4) tricuspid insufficiency, which appeared at 1 week postoperatively, following regression of congestive oedema. Two out of the three cases of TI were associated with leaflet prolapse. No tricuspid insufficiency was seen in the sham-operated animals. At the end of each interval two animals were killed for histological examination. Histological examinations showed that cryolesions extended a maximum of 3 mm into the valve leaflet. The tricuspid insufficiency is attributed to the extensive scarring (including chondroid metaplasia), which causes retraction and restricted motion of the annulus. It is concluded that cryolesions may impair atrioventricular valve function. Patients undergoing cryosurgery should be monitored postoperatively by echocardiography for atrioventricular valve insufficiency.

In dit artikel wordt een patient besproken met klachten die passen bij de psychiatrische diagnose van paniekstoornis met agorafobie. Deze patient ervaarde bij perioden een onregelmatige hartslag. Routinelaboratoriumonderzoek van bloed en urine en een ECG leverde geen bijzonderheden op. De rontgenfoto van de thorax liet een kleine bobbel in de laterale wand van het hart zien. Echocardiografie en fluorescopie onthulden een congenitaal aneurysma. Na operatieve behandeling verdwenen de klachten. Het belang van een somatische screening van patienten met een paniekstoornis, die klagen over een ritmestoornis, beklemming op de borst en atypische hartklachten wordt benadrukt.

A 30 year old man presented with symptoms of constrictive pericarditis. Echocardiography and computed tomography showed a mass extending from the pericardium to surround the heart and penetrating the left ventricular apex. An unresectable pleomorphic liposarcoma arising from the pericardium was found at thoracotomy.

An 11 year old boy was referred for surgical correction of tetralogy of Fallot, having undergone a palliative aortopulmonary shunt in eastern Europe seven years previously. Clinical examination …

Operative technique and results of angioplasty of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) for isolated LMCA disease are reported. Nine consecutive patients, six men and three women, were operated upon. Their ages varied from 46 to 69 years, mean 51 years. All had 50% to 90% stenosis of the LMCA and Class III angina. Cardiopulmonary bypass and a cold cardioplegic solution were used for all operations. There were no operative deaths or infarctions. Follow-up ranged from 0.5 to 4 years, mean 1.9 years. Except for the first patient, who has new stenosis of the proximal anterior descending artery, all patients are free of angina. Repeat angiography in five patients showed a widely patent LMCA with excellent runoff. Our preliminary results suggest that angioplasty of the LMCA can be carried out with low operative risks. The technique appears to be a promising alternative to coronary artery bypass grafting in isolated LMCA disease.

The ECGs of a 100 consecutive children who had surgical repair of their ventricular septal defects (VSDs) were analyzed for postoperative right bundle branch block (RBBB). Seventy of them had an atriotomy and the other 23 also a ventriculotomy. The ventriculotomy always consisted of a transverse incision a short distance below the pulmonary annulus. Of these children 93 had a perimembranous VSD and the other 7 a pure muscular defect. The ECG results of the 93 children with perimembranous VSDs were statistically analysed. The incidence of postoperative complete RBBB (CRBBB) in the ventriculotomy group was not higher than in the atriotimy group. Infants operated in the first half year of life were more prone to the development of CRBBB than the older children, probably because the VSDs were relatively larger in the younger than the older children. The risk of postoperative CRBBB was less in the children who had direct suture closure of the VSD compared with those who needed a Dacron patch to close the defect. The data in the literature generally indicate a higher incidence of CRBBB after a ventriculotomy than an atriotomy. The absence of this difference and the lower incidence of CRBBB after a ventriculotomy in our series compared with those of several other authors are suggested to be due to the type of ventriculotomy.

Guiding surgical therapy of ventricular tachycardia by preoperative endocardial catheter mapping necessitates improvement of the accuracy of localization of the arrhythmogenic site. We therefore used a new mathematical cineradiographic method during catheter mapping to compute the position of left ventricular arrhythmogenic sites relative to three anatomic reference points: the centers of aortic and mitral valve ostia and the left ventricular apex. To enable the surgeon to identify the position of the computed sites, a wire skeleton (one for each patient) representing a single or multiple arrhythmogenic site(s) relative to the anatomic reference points was constructed. This wire skeleton was inserted into the left ventricular cavity during surgery. Side branches of the device indicated preoperatively localized arrhythmogenic sites. Results in eight consecutive patients were compared with those of intraoperative simultaneous mapping of 64 endocardial sites. Sixteen morphologically distinct monomorphic ventricular tachycardias were mapped by catheter and 15 by intraoperative mapping. In 12 ventricular tachycardias an identical morphology was recorded during both techniques. The distance between arrhythmogenic sites localized with both methods was 1 cm or less in 11 of these 12 ventricular tachycardias and 2 cm in one ventricular tachycardia. These results indicate that endocardial catheter mapping combined with wire skeleton representation of computed positions of arrhythmogenic sites is reliable for guiding surgical therapy of ventricular tachycardia and since some of the ventricular tachycardias were inducible only during either preoperative or intraoperative mapping, both techniques have an additive value. In addition, the wire skeleton proved convenient during surgery by identifying the arrhythmogenic sites.

Angina pectoris has been reported to recur after initial revascularization at rates of 3.5%–7.2%/year [1, 3, 4, 9, 13, 14, 16, 19]. Fortunately the reported results from repeat coronary artery bypass grafting have been encouraging: mortality ranged from 0% to 12.5% [2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 16, 21] and less than 3% in a few reported series [10, 14]; perioperative myocardial infarction has been reported, depending on definition, in 5%–15% of cases [1, 5, 7–9, 12–14, 16, 19]; at 5 years 30%–55% of patients remained markedly improved [1, 2, 7, 10, 13, 14, 16, 21].

Histologic study of the persistent ductus arteriosus in case of a congenital rubella syndrome revealed that this persistency is probably due to an arrest in the development of the ductus. Histologically, it resembles a very immature ductus and not the most common type of persistent ductus arteriosus. The earlier finding, that in the human ductus arteriosus, the presence of an extensive subendothelial elastic lamina is incompatible with anatomic sealing, still holds.

Based on electrocardiographic criteria, coronary artery bypass grafting patients were divided into two groups, one with and one without perioperative myocardial infarction. Serial total-creatine kinase activity did not discriminate between the two groups; however, serial creatine kinase-MB activity showed a consistent difference. Patients with perioperative myocardial infarction showed an increase, whereas patients without perioperative myocardial infarction showed a decrease during the postoperative period. The creatine kinase-MB plots showed a sensitivity of 0.92 and a specificity of 0.98 as compared with the electrocardiograms.

Coronary arteriosclerosis is a progressive disease, and angina has been reported to recur in patients postoperatively at rates of 3.5% to 7.2% per year [1, 2]. Several studies have demonstrated that coronary reoperation can be performed with an acceptable mortality rate and with good late clinical results [3–10]. In large series the rate of reoperation has been as high as 5% and appears to be increasing [3, 10].

A case of gastrobronchial fistula complicating thoraco-abdominal trauma is presented. Possible pathogenesis is discussed and a further cause for failure of a fistula to close is suggested.