Mechanical Concepts Applied in Congenital Heart Disease and Cardiac Surgery

Assessment of the conjunctival microcirculation in adult patients with cyanotic congenital heart disease compared to healthy controls

PURPOSE

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common live birth defect and a proportion of these patients have chronic hypoxia. Chronic hypoxia leads to secondary erythrocytosis resulting in microvascular dysfunction and increased thrombosis risk. The conjunctival microcirculation is easily accessible for imaging and quantitative assessment. It has not previously been studied in adult CHD patients with cyanosis (CCHD).

METHODS

We assessed the conjunctival microcirculation and compared CCHD patients and matched healthy controls to determine if there were differences in measured microcirculatory parameters. We acquired images using an iPhone 6s and slit-lamp biomicroscope. Parameters measured included diameter, axial velocity, wall shear rate and blood volume flow. The axial velocity was estimated by applying the 1D + T continuous wavelet transform (CWT). Results are for all vessels as they were not sub-classified into arterioles or venules.

RESULTS

11 CCHD patients and 14 healthy controls were recruited to the study. CCHD patients were markedly more hypoxic compared to the healthy controls (84% vs 98%, p = 0.001). A total of 736 vessels (292 vs 444) were suitable for analysis. Mean microvessel diameter (D) did not significantly differ between the CCHD patients and controls (20.4 ± 2.7 μm vs 20.2 ± 2.6 μm, p = 0.86). Axial velocity (Va) was lower in the CCHD patients (0.47 ± 0.06 mm/s vs 0.53 ± 0.05 mm/s, p = 0.03). Blood volume flow (Q) was lower for CCHD patients (121 ± 30pl/s vs 145 ± 50pl/s, p = 0.65) with the greatest differences observed in vessels >22 μm diameter (216 ± 121pl/s vs 258 ± 154pl/s, p = 0.001). Wall shear rate (WSR) was significantly lower for the CCHD group (153 ± 27 s^-1 vs 174 ± 22 s^-1, p = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS

This iPhone and slit-lamp combination assessment of conjunctival vessels found lower axial velocity, wall shear rate and in the largest vessel group, lower blood volume flow in chronically hypoxic patients with congenital heart disease. With further study this assessment method may have utility in the evaluation of patients with chronic hypoxia.

Computational fluid dynamics: a primer for congenital heart disease clinicians

Computational fluid dynamics has become an important tool for studying blood flow dynamics. As an in-silico collection of methods, computational fluid dynamics is noninvasive and provides numerical values for the most important parameters of blood flow, such as velocity and pressure that are crucial in hemodynamic studies. In this primer, we briefly explain the basic theory and workflow of the two most commonly applied computational fluid dynamics techniques used in the congenital heart disease literature: the finite element method and the finite volume method. We define important terminology and include specific examples of how using these methods can answer important clinical questions in congenital cardiac surgery planning and perioperative patient management.

Congenital Aortic Insufficiency From an Abnormal Left Aortic Cusp Results in Acute Coronary Syndrome

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a rare presentation in children with isolated congenital aortic insufficiency (AI). We report the case of a six-week-old previously well male who presented with an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and was diagnosed with severe AI from a left aortic cusp anomaly resulting in ACS. The infant successfully underwent an emergent Ross operation.