Update of Pediatric Heart Failure

Pulmonary artery banding for cardiomyopathy in young children: First trial in China

AIMS

Heritable dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) or DCM associated with congenital or acquired left ventricular diseases carries a significant mortality risk. Pulmonary artery banding (PAB) has been proposed as an alternative to heart transplantation. This study aimed to delineate the clinical development, ventricular reverse remodelling, and functional regeneration of the dilated left ventricle, presenting as a pioneering approach in China.

METHODS AND RESULTS

This prospective study was initiated in November 2021, involving paediatric patients with a significant dilated left ventricle and preserved right ventricle who underwent surgical PAB. The baseline characteristics and clinical information during follow-up were collected. Seven patients (five boys) with a median age of 240 (148, 1028) days have been included thus far. No procedural or follow-up mortality was observed. The modified Ross functional class improved from treatment to follow-up of 348 (200, 629) days, and the median left ventricular ejection fraction increased from 27.0 (15.0, 34.0) % before surgery to 61.0 (52.0, 68.0) % (P < 0.05); the median left ventricular end-diastolic diameter and corresponding Z-scores decreased from 43.0 (40.0, 55.0) mm [+9.4 (+7.7, +11.7)] to 33.0 (29.0, 39.0) mm [+1.8 (+1.3, +3.8)] (P < 0.05). Functional regeneration of the left ventricle was observed in five patients. Three of them underwent balloon dilation of the PAB to relieve excessively elevated right ventricular pressures.

CONCLUSIONS

The application of PAB should adhere to strict criteria. Initial results are promising for infants and even toddlers with a dilated left ventricle and limited probability of spontaneous recovery. PAB can be an alternative when there is a shortage of donor transplants and assist devices, especially for low- and middle-income countries.

Current status and future directions in pediatric ventricular assist device

A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a form of mechanical circulatory support that uses a mechanical pump to partially or fully take over the function of a failed heart. In recent decades, the VAD has become a crucial option in the treatment of end-stage heart failure in adult patients. However, due to the lack of suitable devices and more complicated patient profiles, this therapeutic approach is still not widely used for pediatric populations. This article reviews the clinically available devices, adverse events, and future directions of design and implementation in pediatric VADs.

Family management experience of parents of children with chronic heart failure: A qualitative study

PURPOSE

To explore the experience of family management among parents of children with chronic heart failure.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Qualitative descriptive phenomenology was used as the research design. The sample included 16 parents. For data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted. Colaizzi's seven-step analysis method was used for data analysis. Themes were encoded and created with Nvivo 12.0 Plus software.

RESULTS

Three themes and ten sub-themes were identified: (1) weakened family socialization (diminished parental role in social education and insufficient socialization of children), (2) experience of five psychological stages (resistance, self-blame, worry, exhaustion, acceptance), and (3) family management dilemmas (low social awareness of the disease, heavy economic burden, and limited coping style).

CONCLUSION

The experience of parents of children with chronic heart failure is complex. The children have low socialization and face public prejudice. Parents are stressed by social education, economics, and the five psychological stages they have experienced. Families face difficulties such as heavy economic burdens and limited coping styles.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

To address these complexities, pediatric nursing staff should take steps to improve family management and, as a result, children's quality of life. Our study provides a resource for pediatric nursing staff when implementing family management interventions.

Genetic Contribution to End-Stage Cardiomyopathy Requiring Heart Transplantation

BACKGROUND

Many cardiovascular disorders propel the development of advanced heart failure that necessitates cardiac transplantation. When treatable causes are excluded, studies to define causes are often abandoned, resulting in a diagnosis of end-stage idiopathic cardiomyopathy. We studied whether DNA sequence analyses could identify unrecognized causes of end-stage nonischemic cardiomyopathy requiring heart transplantation and whether the prevalence of genetic causes differed from ambulatory cardiomyopathy cases.

METHODS

We performed whole exome and genome sequencing of 122 explanted hearts from 101 adult and 21 pediatric patients with idiopathic cardiomyopathy from a single center. Data were analyzed for pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants in nuclear and mitochondrial genomes and assessed for nonhuman microbial sequences. The frequency of damaging genetic variants was compared among cardiomyopathy cohorts with different clinical severity.

RESULTS

Fifty-four samples (44.3%) had pathogenic/likely pathogenic cardiomyopathy gene variants. The frequency of pathogenic variants was similar in pediatric (42.9%) and adult (43.6%) samples, but the distribution of mutated genes differed (P=8.30×10-4). The prevalence of causal genetic variants was significantly higher in end-stage than in previously reported ambulatory adult dilated cardiomyopathy cases (P<0.001). Among remaining samples with unexplained causes, no damaging mitochondrial variants were identified, but 28 samples contained parvovirus genome sequences, including 2 samples with 6- to 9-fold higher levels than the overall mean levels in other samples.

CONCLUSIONS

Pathogenic variants and viral myocarditis were identified in 45.9% of patients with unexplained end-stage cardiomyopathy. Damaging gene variants are significantly more frequent among transplant compared with patients with ambulatory cardiomyopathy. Genetic analyses can help define cause of end-stage cardiomyopathy to guide management and risk stratification of patients and family members.

Comparison of two echocardiography-based methods for evaluating pediatric left ventricular diastolic dysfunction

Objectives

To investigate the consistency between the 2016 America Society of Echocardiography (ASE)/European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI) guideline-based recommendations and the body surface area (BSA)-transformed Z value-based cut-off for the assessment of left ventricular diastolic function (LVDF) in children.

Methods

Clinical data of children with heart failure (HF) and those with a high risk of HF and a low risk of HF were collected from the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between March 2021 and October 2022. The mitral annular e' velocity, lateral E/e' ratio, left atrial volume index, and peak tricuspid regurgitation velocity were detected by Echocardiography. The cut-off values recommended by the 2016 ASE/EACVI guidelines and the cut-off value based on the BSA-transformed Z value were used to evaluate LVDF. The consistencies and differences of the two criteria were compared.

Results

A total of 132 children with HF, 189 with a high risk of HF, and 231 with a low risk of HF, were enrolled. The consistency of the two criteria in evaluating LVDF in children with HF and with high risk of HF was moderate, with weighted kappa coefficients of 0.566 and 0.468, respectively (P < 0.001). The positivity rate of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) with Z value-based criteria (HF group, 23.5%; high-risk group, 8.5%) was higher than that with guideline-based criteria (HF group, 15.6%; high-risk group, 3.2%). In children with a low risk of HF, no case with LVDD was found. The consistency between the two criteria for grading the degree of LVDD was moderate, with a kappa coefficient of 0.522 (P = 0.001). The degree of LVDD according to the Z value-based criteria was higher than that of the guideline-based criteria (P = 0.004).

Conclusions

The Z value-based criteria used to evaluate LVDD in children with HF and high risk of HF may be more conducive to the early identification of LVDD, thereby permitting the possibility of early treatment intervention.

Mechanical Circulatory Assistance in Children: Clinical Outcome

BACKGROUND

In countries where organ donation is scarce, mortality in the pediatric heart transplant waiting list is high, and ventricular assist devices (VADs) are therapeutic alternatives in these situations. Berlin Heart EXCOR is currently 1 of the few VADs specific for children.

METHODS

This retrospective study includes pediatric patients who underwent Berlin Heart EXCOR placement in a Brazilian hospital between 2012 and 2021. Clinical and laboratory data at the time of VAD implantation and the occurrence of complications and outcomes (success as a bridge to transplant or death) were analyzed.

RESULTS

Eight patients, from 8 months to 15 years, were included: 6 with cardiomyopathy and 2 with congenital heart disease. Six were on Intermacs 1 and 2 on Intermacs 2. The most common complications observed were stroke and right ventricular dysfunction. Six were transplanted, and 2 died. Those submitted to transplant had a higher mean weight than those who died, with no statistically significant difference. The underlying disease had no impact on the outcome. The group undergoing transplant had lower brain natriuretic peptide and lactate values, but no laboratory variable showed a statistically significant difference in the outcome.

CONCLUSION

A VAD is an invasive treatment with potentially serious adverse effects and is still poorly available in Brazil. However, as a bridge to transplant, it is a useful treatment for children in progressive clinical decline. In this study, we did not observe any clinical or laboratory factor at the time of VAD implantation that implied better outcomes.

Establishing the international research priorities for pediatric emergency medicine point-of-care ultrasound: A modified Delphi study

BACKGROUND

The Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) Point-of-care Ultrasound (POCUS) Network (P2Network) was established in 2014 to provide a platform for international collaboration among experts, including multicenter research. The objective of this study was to use expert consensus to identify and prioritize PEM POCUS topics, to inform future collaborative multicenter research.

METHODS

Online surveys were administered in a two-stage, modified Delphi study. A steering committee of 16 PEM POCUS experts was identified within the P2Network, with representation from the United States, Canada, Italy, and Australia. We solicited the participation of international PEM POCUS experts through professional society mailing lists, research networks, social media, and "word of mouth." After each round, responses were refined by the steering committee before being reissued to participants to determine the ranking of all the research questions based on means and to identify the high-level consensus topics. The final stage was a modified Hanlon process of prioritization round (HPP), which emphasized relevance, impact, and feasibility.

RESULTS

Fifty-four eligible participants (16.6%) provided 191 items to Survey 1 (Round 1). These were refined and consolidated into 52 research questions by the steering committee. These were issued for rating in Survey 2 (Round 2), which had 45 participants. At the completion of Round 2, all questions were ranked with six research questions reaching high-level consensus. Thirty-one research questions with mean ratings above neutral were selected for the HPP round. Highly ranked topics included clinical applications of POCUS to evaluate and manage children with shock, cardiac arrest, thoracoabdominal trauma, suspected cardiac failure, atraumatic limp, and intussusception.

CONCLUSIONS

This consensus study has established a research agenda to inform future international multicenter PEM POCUS trials. This study has highlighted the ongoing need for high-quality evidence for PEM POCUS applications to guide clinical practice.

Novel Biomarkers of Heart Failure in Pediatrics

Novel biomarkers of heart failure are the subject of numerous studies. Biomarkers of heart failure can be determined in the blood and in the urine. Seven groups of biomarkers of heart failure based on pathophysiological mechanisms are presented in this review, namely biomarkers of myocardial stretch, myocyte injury, myocardial remodeling, biomarkers of inflammation, renal dysfunction, neurohumoral activation, and oxidative stress. Studies of biomarkers in the pediatric population are scarce, therefore, further investigation is needed for reliable prognostic and therapeutic implications. The future of biomarker use is in multimarker panels that include a combination of biomarkers with different pathophysiological mechanisms in order to improve their diagnostic and prognostic predictive value.