Bicuspid aortic valve and its ascending aortopathy

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To synthesize and critically assess recent clinical and research advancements in pediatric bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and its associated aortopathy.

RECENT FINDINGS

In pediatric patients with BAV, progressive aortic dilation (i.e. bicuspid aortopathy) is commonly present and associated with increased risk for aortic aneurysm, dissection, and surgery in adulthood. Ongoing research explores the cause, incidence, and progression of bicuspid aortopathy to promote earlier diagnosis and improve preventive management. Recent findings include: high familial incidence and need for improved familial screening; safety of recreational physical activity in most affected children; potential for medical management to slow aortic growth; feasibility of pediatric registries to evaluate longitudinal outcomes; and potential genetic and hemodynamic biomarkers for disease risk stratification.

SUMMARY

Pediatric bicuspid aortopathy is an important area for investigation and preventive management to improve long-term cardiovascular outcomes. Recent literature promotes familial screening, recreational exercise, medical prophylaxis, registry-based longitudinal evaluation, and continued scientific inquiry.

Ventilatory and Orthostatic Challenges Reveal Biomarkers for Neurocognition in Children and Young Adults With Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome

BACKGROUND

Children and young adults with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) are at risk of cognitive deficits. They experience autonomic dysfunction and chemoreceptor insensitivity measured during ventilatory and orthostatic challenges, but relationships between these features are undefined.

RESEARCH QUESTION

Can a biomarker be identified from physiologic responses to ventilatory and orthostatic challenges that is related to neurocognitive outcomes in CCHS?

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

This retrospective study included 25 children and young adults with CCHS tested over an inpatient stay. Relationships between physiologic measurements during hypercarbic and hypoxic ventilatory challenges, hypoxic ventilatory challenges, and orthostatic challenges and neurocognitive outcomes (by Wechsler intelligence indexes) were examined. Independent variable inclusion was determined by significant associations in Pearson's analyses. Multivariate linear regressions were used to assess relationships between measured physiologic responses to challenges and neurocognitive scores.

RESULTS

Significant relationships were identified between areas of fluid intelligence and measures of oxygen saturation (SpO2) and heart rate (HR) during challenges. Specifically, perceptual reasoning was related to HR (adjusted regression [β] coefficient, -0.68; 95% CI, 1.24 to -0.12; P = .02) during orthostasis. Working memory was related to change in HR (β, -1.33; 95% CI, -2.61 to -0.05; P = .042) during the hypoxic ventilatory challenge. Processing speed was related to HR (β, -1.19; 95% CI, -1.93 to -0.46; P = .003) during orthostasis, to baseline SpO2 (hypercarbic and hypoxic β, 8.57 [95% CI, 1.63-15.51]; hypoxic β, 8.37 [95% CI, 3.65-13.11]; P = .002 for both) during the ventilatory challenges, and to intrachallenge SpO2 (β, 5.89; 95% CI, 0.71-11.07; P = .028) during the hypoxic ventilatory challenge.

INTERPRETATION

In children and young adults with CCHS, SpO2 and HR-or change in HR-at rest and as a response to hypoxia and orthostasis are related to cognitive outcomes in domains of known risk, particularly fluid reasoning. These findings can guide additional research on the usefulness of these as biomarkers in understanding the impact of daily physical stressors on neurodevelopment in this high-risk group.

Cerebral Autoregulation During Orthostatic Challenge in Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome

RATIONALE

Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome (CCHS) is a rare autonomic disorder with altered regulation of breathing, heart rate (HR), and blood pressure (BP). Aberrant cerebral oxygenation in response to hypercapnia/hypoxia in CCHS raises concern that altered cerebral autoregulation may contribute to CCHS-related, variably impaired neurodevelopment.

OBJECTIVES

Evaluate cerebral autoregulation in response to orthostatic challenge in CCHS cases vs. controls.

METHODS

CCHS and age- and sex-matched control subjects were studied with head-up tilt (HUT) testing to induce orthostatic stress. 50 CCHS and 100 control HUT recordings were included. HR, BP, and cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2) were continuously monitored. Cerebral oximetry index (COx), a real-time measure of cerebral autoregulation based on these measures, was calculated.

MAIN RESULTS

HUT resulted in greater mean BP decrease from baseline in CCHS vs. controls (11% vs. 6%; p<0.05) and a diminished increase in HR in CCHS vs. controls (11% vs. 18%; p<0.01) in the 5 minutes after tilt-up. Despite a similar COx at baseline, orthostatic provocation within 5 minutes of tilt-up caused a 50% greater increase in COx (p<0.01) and a 29% increase in minutes of impaired autoregulation (p<0.02) in CCHS vs. controls (4.0 vs. 3.1 min).

CONCLUSIONS

Cerebral autoregulatory mechanisms appear intact in CCHS, but the greater hypotension observed in CCHS consequent to orthostatic provocation is associated with greater values of COx/impaired autoregulation when BP is below lower limits of autoregulation. Effects of repeated orthostatic challenges in everyday living in CCHS necessitate further study to determine their influence on neurodevelopmental disease burden.

Wireless, Skin-Interfaced Devices for Pediatric Critical Care: Application to Continuous, Noninvasive Blood Pressure Monitoring

Indwelling arterial lines, the clinical gold standard for continuous blood pressure (BP) monitoring in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), have significant drawbacks due to their invasive nature, ischemic risk, and impediment to natural body movement. A noninvasive, wireless, and accurate alternative would greatly improve the quality of patient care. Recently introduced classes of wireless, skin-interfaced devices offer capabilities in continuous, precise monitoring of physiologic waveforms and vital signs in pediatric and neonatal patients, but have not yet been employed for continuous tracking of systolic and diastolic BP-critical for guiding clinical decision-making in the PICU. The results presented here focus on materials and mechanics that optimize the system-level properties of these devices to enhance their reliable use in this context, achieving full compatibility with the range of body sizes, skin types, and sterilization schemes typically encountered in the PICU. Systematic analysis of the data from these devices on 23 pediatric patients, yields derived, noninvasive BP values that can be quantitatively validated against direct recordings from arterial lines. The results from this diverse cohort, including those under pharmacological protocols, suggest that wireless, skin-interfaced devices can, in certain circumstances of practical utility, accurately and continuously monitor BP in the PICU patient population.

Endovascular Release of a 50-Year-Old Adams-Deweese IVC Clip to Facilitate Percutaneous Repair of Mitral Valve Regurgitation

Percutaneous mitral valve (MV) repair using MitraClip requires large-caliber venous access. We describe a patient with a ligated inferior vena cava due to an Adams-DeWeese clip placed 50 years prior, who had progressive shortness of breath and lower extremity symptoms secondary to severe mitral regurgitation and chronic iliocaval deep venous thrombosis. Due to comorbidities, MitraClip was recommended over surgery for MV repair. Caval luminal gain was required to facilitate endovascular access for the MitraClip system. Stent-mediated release of the inferior vena cava clip allowed successful passage of the delivery sheath from the common femoral vein to MV and subsequent valve repair.

Upgrade rates and outcomes of screen-detected atypical intraductal epithelial proliferation (AIDEP) diagnosed on core needle biopsy

INTRODUCTION

Atypical intraductal epithelial proliferation (AIDEP) is a breast lesion categorised as "indeterminate" if identified on core needle biopsy (CNB). The rate at which these lesions are upgraded following diagnostic excision varies in the literature. Women diagnosed with AIDEP are thought to be at increased risk of breast cancer. Our aim was to identify the rate of upgrade to invasive or in situ carcinoma in a group of patients diagnosed with AIDEP on screening mammography and to quantify their risk of subsequent breast cancer.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database containing all patients diagnosed with AIDEP on CNB between 2005 and 2012 in an Irish breast screening centre. Basic demographic data was collected along with details of the original CNB result, rate of upgrade to carcinoma and details of any subsequent cancer diagnoses.

RESULTS

In total 113 patients were diagnosed with AIDEP on CNB during the study period. The upgrade rate on diagnostic excision was 28.3% (n = 32). 6.2% (n = 7) were upgraded to invasive cancer and 22.1% (n = 25) to DCIS. 81 patients were not upgraded on diagnostic excision and were offered 5 years of annual mammographic surveillance. 9.88% (8/81) of these patients went on to receive a subsequent diagnosis of malignancy. The mean time to diagnosis of these subsequent cancers was 65.41 months (range 20.18-145.21).

CONCLUSION

Our data showing an upgrade rate of 28% to carcinoma reflects recently published data and we believe it supports the continued practice of excising AIDEP to exclude co-existing carcinoma.

Kangaroo father care: A pilot feasibility study of physiologic, biologic, and psychosocial measures to capture the effects of father-infant and mother-infant skin-to-skin contact in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Robust literature supports the positive effects of kangaroo mother care (KMC) on infant physiologic stability and parent-infant bonding in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Comparatively little is known about kangaroo father care (KFC) in the NICU, and KFC implementation has been limited. Our pilot feasibility study objective was to examine KFC effects on premature infants and fathers as compared to KMC. Parents of preterm NICU infants independently completed a 90-min Kangaroo Care (KC) session on consecutive days. Infant heart rate variability (HRV) and apnea/periodicity measures were compared (pre-KC to KC; KFC to KMC). Additionally, we assessed the feasibility of administering three psychosocial questionnaires to fathers and mothers in the NICU and after discharge. Ten preterm infants completed 20 KC sessions (33^4/7 -37^4/7  weeks post-menstrual age). Results demonstrated similar infant physiologic responses between KMC and KFC, including significant differences in measures of HRV (p < .05) between KC and non-KC periods. Eighty-eight percentage of questionnaires administered were completed, supporting the utilization of these instruments in future research of this population. If confirmed, these preliminary results identify an opportunity to objectively assess KFC effects, supporting the development of empirically based KFC programs benefitting NICU families.

Lobular intraepithelial neoplasia: Outcomes and optimal management

INTRODUCTION

Lobular neoplasia is a term encompassing both atypical lobular hyperplasia and lobular carcinoma in situ. These pathological findings are of uncertain malignant potential and predispose to a higher lifetime risk of breast cancer. Debate surrounds the management of such lesions, with the rationale for diagnostic excision based on the possibility of upgrading to malignancy. In this study, we report the upgrade rate of these lesions and risk of subsequent development of breast cancer.

METHODS

This is a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained data base of all biopsies of breast screening-detected abnormalities in a single Irish breast-screening unit. We included all patients with lobular neoplasia on core needle biopsy who underwent diagnostic excision from 2005 to 2012. We excluded those who had concurrent high-risk lesions on biopsy. End points included upgrade rate and subsequent diagnosis of malignancy on follow-up.

RESULTS

During the study period, 66 patients met criteria for inclusion, with a mean age of 53.74 years. Upgrade rate following excision was 13.64% (n = 9/66). Of those not upgraded, 7.02% (n = 4/57) were subsequently diagnosed with malignancy. Median time to diagnosis was 59.61 months (range = 10.5-124.4).

CONCLUSION

There is a significant rate of upgrade following diagnostic excision of lobular neoplasia, supporting the practice of diagnostic excision. There is an increased lifetime risk of breast cancer for women with a diagnosis of lobular neoplasia, with many of these cancers occurring outside the standard five-year monitoring period, suggesting a potential benefit in extending surveillance.

Skin-interfaced biosensors for advanced wireless physiological monitoring in neonatal and pediatric intensive-care units

Standard of care management in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units (NICUs and PICUs) involve continuous monitoring of vital signs with hard-wired devices that adhere to the skin and, in certain instances, include catheter-loaded pressure sensors that insert into the arteries. These protocols involve risks for complications and impediments to clinical care and skin-to-skin contact between parent and child. Here we present a wireless, non-invasive technology that not only offers measurement equivalency to these management standards but also supports a range of important additional features (without limitations or shortcomings of existing approaches), supported by data from pilot clinical studies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and pediatric ICU (PICU). The combined capabilities of these platforms extend beyond clinical quality measurements of vital signs (heart rate, respiration rate, temperature and blood oxygenation) to include novel modalities for (1) tracking movements and changes in body orientation, (2) quantifying the physiological benefits of skin-to-skin care (e.g. Kangaroo care) for neonates, (3) capturing acoustic signatures of cardiac activity by directly measuring mechanical vibrations generated through the skin on the chest, (4) recording vocal biomarkers associated with tonality and temporal characteristics of crying impervious to confounding ambient noise, and (5) monitoring a reliable surrogate for systolic blood pressure. The results have potential to significantly enhance the quality of neonatal and pediatric critical care.