From an innocent heart murmur to pulmonary arterial hypertension

Background

The detection of congenital heart disease in newborns, based on a heart murmur or cyanosis is not effective. Critical congenital heart diseases, such as truncus arteriosus (TA), cause most of neonatal deaths due to congenital malformations. The screening for pulse oximetry in newborns detects up to 70% of these heart diseases. TA presents high mortality in the first year of life.

Case report

A 4-year-old female patient with a heart murmur, palpitations, dyspnea, and perioral cyanosis was diagnosed with an innocent heart murmur at birth. TA was detected by echocardiography. Pulmonary vascular resistances were evaluated through right cardiac catheterization, and pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary vasoreactivity were diagnosed as well. Surgical correction was performed. Currently, pulmonary arterial hypertension persists, for which Bosentan^® (Actelion, USA) has been implemented as a long-term treatment.

Conclusions

In newborns, the pulse oximetry screening after 24 hours of life is an effective method for suitable diagnosis of critical congenital heart disease before the signs of cardiovascular collapse. Therefore, it has become an essential diagnostic tool to reduce morbidity and mortality. Although the surgical correction of congenital heart disease with pulmonary arterial hypertension is feasible in some patients, its subsequent management is complex and has an adverse impact on the quality of life.

[Heart murmur in children less than 2 years-old: looking for a safe and effective referral strategy]

INTRODUCTION

Current guidelines in Spain recommend performing transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in all children under 2 years of age with a heart murmur. In 2014, the American Paediatric Association published the first appropriate use criteria (AUC) for outpatient paediatric transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to promote its cost-efficient use. The aim of this article is to analyse the AUC and other clinical factors as predictors of congenital heart disease (CHD) in children less than 2 years of age with a heart murmur, and to develop a safe and efficient referral strategy.

PATIENTS AND METHOD

Case-control study conducted with children less than 2 years of age, referred from Paediatric Primary Care to Paediatric Cardiology during a 4-year study. A predictive model for CHD was determined using multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 688 patients were included, with 129 (19%) cases of CHD. An age less than 3 months (adjusted odds ratio [ORa] 3.8 [1.5-8.4], p=.030) and fulfilling AUC (ORa 16.3 [9.4-28.3], p<.001) were predictors of CHD. Concurrent infection (ORa 0.6 [0.2-0.8], p<.001) and a negative neonatal screening with pulse oximetry (ORa 0.1 [0.05-0.4], p=.001) decreased the risk of CHD. The referral strategy that included these criteria had a 98% sensitivity, 39% specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of 27% and 99%, respectively. It could not diagnose 2% of CHD (all mild), and showed a 32% TTE reduction rate compared to our current strategy.

CONCLUSION

To refer children less than 3 months old, fulfilling AUC, without a concurrent infection, or without negative neonatal pulse oximetry screening, is a safe and efficient strategy for the management of heart murmur in children under 2 years of age.