Pretriscuspid shunt and Eisenmenger syndrome: a deadly combination

Introduction

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a common comorbidity in congenital heart disease (CHD) and significantly affects prognosis. Our aim was to investigate how the location of the shunt influences the outcome of these patients.

Methods

The REHAP registry is a Spanish multicentre voluntary registry of patients over 14 years of age, which includes patients with congenital heart disease and PAH, starting in 2007. Baseline characteristics, functional class, right catheterization data, treatment and survival were compared. We performed a cox regression model for assessing the impact of the type of shunt on prognosis, after looking for confusing and effect modifying variables.

Results

664 patients were analyzed, their characteristics are detailed in the table. Mean follow up time was 10 years. We performed a survival analysis adjusted for the confounding variables: age (Hazard ratio (HR) 1.02 p<0.001), functional class (HR 2.45 p 0.001) and clinical group. The clinical group was also an effect-modifying variable, which means there is no unique effect (HR) of the type of shunt, instead it depends on the clinical group. We did a multiple regression analysis, adjusting for the confounding variables, to calculate the HR for each clinical group: in patients with Eisenmenger syndrome, the HR is 0.27 (p<0.001) for simple posttricuspid shunt and HR 0.38 (p<0.001) for complex posttricuspid shunt (reference group: pretricuspid shunt). In the others clinical groups, the type of shunt did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusion

The type of shunt significantly affects prognosis in Eisenmenger patients, with a much worse outcome for those with pretricuspid shunts. Functional class and clinical group are also closely related to outcome.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: Private grant(s) and/or Sponsorship. Main funding source(s): MSD, GSK

[Neonatal endocarditis due to staphylococcus aureus as a complication of neonatal sepsis]

We present the case of a newborn with bacterial endocarditis with mitral valve involvement as a complication of late-onset sepsis due to Staphylococcus aureus with associated pyelonephritis and meningitis. The diagnosis was confirmed by echocardiogram and blood culture with growth of S. aureus. Treatment was medical and surgical. Neonatal bacterial endocarditis is extremely difficult to diagnose. The signs and symptoms are usually nonspecific and cannot be distinguished from those of sepsis or congenital heart disease. Consequently, a high degree of suspicion is needed for the early diagnosis of this condition. Echocardiography should be performed in children who present sepsis and heart murmur and even in those with staphylococcemia (sepsis due to S. aureus) without associated heart murmur. This investigation enables an early diagnosis of endocarditis to be made and appropriate treatment to be given without having to wait for the development of signs and symptoms that frequently go undetected.

[Effectiveness of exercise echocardiography in the diagnosis of left bundle branch block. A case report]

A left bundle branch block is very often suggestive of cardiac diseases. Left bundle branch block is also present with angina in patients with normal coronary arteries. We report a case of a man with a left bundle branch block in which the most effective, rapid and economic method of diagnosis was exercise echocardiography. Different diagnostic techniques are discussed and compared.