The anatomy of a collection.

An old collection of 81 congenitally malformed hearts was examined in detail using the system of sequential segmental analysis. The specimens were almost entirely from infants and young children who had died during the two decades between 1954 and 1973. There had been surgical intervention in 26 cases, and most of these patients died during or shortly after the operation. The various anomalies are listed, and the pattern of prevalence is contrasted to that of present-day collections. Among the many interesting specimens there was a fine example of one of the rarest of cardiac anomalies, a criss-cross arrangement of atrioventricular connections. The collection, as an entity, gives an interesting historical insight of the state of congenital heart disease during the early years of the development of cardiac surgery.     

A systematic review of trends and patterns of congenital heart disease in children in Nigeria from 1964–2015

BackgroundCongenital heart diseases cause significant childhood morbidity and mortality. Several restricted studies have been conducted on the epidemiology in Nigeria. No truly nationwide data on patterns of congenital heart disease exists.ObjectivesTo determine the patterns of congenital heart disease in children in Nigeria and examine trends in the occurrence of individual defects across 5 decades.MethodWe searched PubMed database, Google scholar, TRIP database, World Health Organisation libraries and reference lists of selected articles for studies on patterns of congenital heart disease among children in Nigeria between 1964 and 2015. Two researchers reviewed the papers independently and extracted the data. Seventeen studies were selected that included 2,953 children with congenital heart disease.ResultsThe commonest congenital heart diseases in Nigeria are ventricular septal defect (40.6%), patent ductus arteriosus (18.4%), atrial septal defect (11.3%) and tetralogy of Fallot (11.8%). There has been a 6% increase in the burden of VSD in every decade for the 5 decades studied and a decline in the occurrence of pulmonary stenosis. Studies conducted in Northern Nigeria demonstrated higher proportions of atrial septal defects than patent ductus arteriosus.ConclusionsVentricular septal defects are the commonest congenital heart diseases in Nigeria with a rising burden.     

882例出生缺陷监测尸检病理分析的临床与优生意义

本文对882例出生缺陷病例进行了病理尸检,以正确识别先天畸形。方法采用全国病理统一表格,登记、观察及其他辅助检查。结果:尸检率占出生缺陷死亡儿的26.66％,男:女为1:1.02;死亡原因中先天畸形占首位56.91％,缺氧、颅内出血占第二位25.06％,母儿合并症占第三位11.57％。尸检中,检查出的内脏先天畸形占尸检的23.81％,占各种畸形的41.83％;内脏畸形中心血管畸形占首位33.81％,胃、肠次之。体表畸形合并内脏畸形以NTD合并肾畸形占首位,26.97％,肺、心次之。单纯体表畸形以NTD为首占64.29％。文中还统计了各系统畸形的出现次数,最后讨论了防治方法。     

Congenital heart defects. Frequency at autopsy

Autopsies were performed on 3,071 stillborns and decreased children up to the age of 16 years at the Institute of Pathology of the Charité from 1969 to 1983. Congenital heart disease (CHD) was found in 814, i.e. 26.5% of the autopsies. Results of re-examination of 642 hearts with CHD are discussed. The most common malformations are ventricular septal defects, d-transpositions of the great vessels, tetralogy of Fallot and aortic coarctations. CHD was more frequently found in boys than in girls (1.5 : 1). The majority of the deaths occurred during the first year of life (78.8%). 20.1% of these took place during the perinatal period and 47.2% within the first 6 months of life. Additional cardiac anomalies were associated with the main defect in 81.8% of cases. The most common such associated defects were atrial and ventricular septal defects, aortic coarctations and other aortic arch anomalies. The frequency of extracardiac malformations in CHD was 7.2%. The most common anomalies were of the central nervous system, the gastrointestinal tract and the urinary system. Malformation syndromes were identified in 5.6% of the CHD cases, including Down's syndrome in 1.4%.     

Cardiac troponin T is necessary for normal development in the embryonic chick heart

The heart is the first functioning organ to develop during embryogenesis. The formation of the heart is a tightly regulated and complex process, and alterations to its development can result in congenital heart defects. Mutations in sarcomeric proteins, such as alpha myosin heavy chain and cardiac alpha actin, have now been associated with congenital heart defects in humans, often with atrial septal defects. However, cardiac troponin T (cTNT encoded by gene TNNT2) has not. Using gene‐specific antisense oligonucleotides, we have investigated the role of cTNT in chick cardiogenesis. TNNT2 is expressed throughout heart development and in the postnatal heart. TNNT2‐morpholino treatment resulted in abnormal atrial septal growth and a reduction in the number of trabeculae in the developing primitive ventricular chamber. External analysis revealed the development of diverticula from the ventricular myocardial wall which showed no evidence of fibrosis and still retained a myocardial phenotype. Sarcomeric assembly appeared normal in these treated hearts. In humans, congenital ventricular diverticulum is a rare condition, which has not yet been genetically associated. However, abnormal haemodynamics is known to cause structural defects in the heart. Further, structural defects, including atrial septal defects and congenital diverticula, have previously been associated with conduction anomalies. Therefore, to provide mechanistic insights into the effect that cTNT knockdown has on the developing heart, quantitative PCR was performed to determine the expression of the shear stress responsive gene NOS3 and the conduction gene TBX3. Both genes were differentially expressed compared to controls. Therefore, a reduction in cTNT in the developing heart results in abnormal atrial septal formation and aberrant ventricular morphogenesis. We hypothesize that alterations to the haemodynamics, indicated by differential NOS3 expression, causes these abnormalities in growth in cTNT knockdown hearts. In addition, the muscular diverticula reported here suggest a novel role for mutations of structural sarcomeric proteins in the pathogenesis of congenital cardiac diverticula. From these studies, we suggest TNNT2 is a gene worthy of screening for those with a congenital heart defect, particularly atrial septal defects and ventricular diverticula.     

Congenital heart disease in supernumerary der(22), t(11;22) syndrome

Congenital heart disease occurred in 62% of the reported cases of supernumerary der(22) syndrome. These were most commonly acyanotic lesions such as atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect or patent ductus arteriosus. Heart disease did not, however, appear to be a major determinant of survival.     

Aspects of paediatric cardiovascular pathology

Examination of the malformed heart requires sequential segmental analysis in which the three paired segments of the heart (atria, ventricles, great arteries) are recognized by their most constant feature. Their connections to each other are established with certainty and associated abnormalities are described. The basic anatomy of the commonest congenital heart defect - ventricular septal defect is described in detail. A knowledge of the normal anatomy of the interventricular septum makes understanding the variation in the morphology of ventricular septal defect easier to understand. The paediatric aspects of cardiomyopathy are described with particular emphasis on those conditions that have a particular relevance to childhood: histiocytoid cardiomyopathy, mitogenic cardiomyopathy, mitochondrial cardiomyopathy, ventricular non-compaction and cardiomyopathy associated with muscular dystrophy and Friedreichs ataxia.     

Cytokeratins as a marker for epicardial formation in the quail embryo

Several techniques have been used to visualize the migration pattern of the epicardial cells from the proepicardial organ over the myocardial surface. As the epicardial cells contain keratin tonofilament bundles, we have incubated 92 whole-mount quail hearts with an anti-keratin antibody. This immunohistochemical method showed that the complete epicardial covering of the embryonic heart is preceded by the formation of three epicardial rings. The epicardial rings are formed on the outer myocardial surface in the grooves that separate the cardiac segments from each other. We have also documented timing and patterning of isolated epicardial islands. They are not encountered at random over the myocardial surface, but only along the edge of the advancing epicardial front border and in two defined future epicardial ring areas on the ventral side of the outflow tract. The epicardial islands suggest that in the quail free-floating parts of epicardium can attach to the myocardium. Characteristics of the surface of the myocardium at the transitional zones between the cardiac segments, as well as the three-dimensional remodelling of the heart during cardiac morphogenesis seem to play a role in the pattern in which the epicardium eventually completely ensheaths the myocardial surface. Congenital heart defects are often related to malpositioned transitional zones that dictate the pattern of epicardial outgrowth. As the embryonic position of the epicardial rings is mirrored in the pattern of the main arterial stems, the coronary vascularization pattern might be altered in congenitally malformed hearts as well.     

牛心包补片修复心脏间隔缺损的应用

背景：心脏涤纶补片因其质地薄、质量轻、生物相容性好等优点常规用于心脏手术,但最近几年发现,用心脏涤纶补片对心室间隔缺损修补后,一旦发生术后残余漏,较易引起溶血、细菌或真菌感染。 目的：探讨应用牛心包补片修复心脏间隔缺损的疗效。 方法：采用戊二醛固定的牛心包补片修补152例心脏间隔缺损患者,其中房间隔缺损56例,室间隔缺损78例,部分房室间隔缺损18例。术后复查心电图、胸片、心脏超声,观察其术后早期病情、血流动力学和心脏功能。 结果与结论：152例患者均完成修补手术,术后无早期死亡,患者随访2-6个月,牛心包补片在使用过程中及术后早期均未发现漏血、溶血、血栓、感染、排斥反应等并发症。1例患者因合并肺动脉高压,术后第1天出现高血压危象,经过抢救后好转。复查心电图、胸片、心脏超声可见心脏间隔缺损修补完全,无残余分流;肺动脉压力明显下降;活瓣已关闭无分流;心脏功能正常。证实牛心包补片可以有效修复心脏间隔缺损,改善患者的血流动力学和心功能,近期效果满意,是一种良好的心脏间隔缺损修补材料。     

Knockdown of alpha myosin heavy chain disrupts the cytoskeleton and leads to multiple defects during chick cardiogenesis

Atrial septal defects are a common congenital heart defect in humans. Although mutations in different genes are now frequently being described, little is known about the processes and mechanisms behind the early stages of atrial septal development. By utilizing morpholino-induced knockdown in the chick we have analysed the role of alpha myosin heavy chain during early cardiogenesis in a temporal manner. Upon knockdown of alpha myosin heavy chain, three different phenotypes of the atrial septum were observed: (1) the atrial septum failed to initiate, (2) the septum was initiated but was growth restricted, or (3) incorrect specification occurred resulting in multiple septa forming. In addition, at a lower frequency, decreased alpha myosin heavy chain was found to give rise to an abnormally looped heart or an enlarged heart. Staining of the actin cytoskeleton indicated that many of the myofibrils in the knockdown hearts were not as mature as those observed in the controls, suggesting a mechanism for the defects seen. Therefore, these data suggest a role for alpha myosin heavy chain in modelling of the early heart and the range of defects to the atrial septum suggest roles in its initiation, specification and growth during development.     

先天性心脏病封堵器治疗随访过程中彩色多普勒超声的应用

背景：目前先天性心脏病(先心病)房间隔缺损、室间隔缺损、动脉导管未闭的封堵器治疗替代了传统的外科手术,彩色多普勒超声(彩超)在封堵治疗随访中得到广泛应用。 目的：评价彩超在先心病封堵器治疗随访过程中的应用价值。 方法：由第一作者采用电子检索的方式,在万方数据库(http://www.wanfangdata.com.cn/)中检索1999-01/2009-12有关先心病封堵器随访过程中彩超作用的文章,关键词为“彩超,先心病,房间隔缺损,室间隔缺损,动脉导管未闭,封堵器”。经检索共查到相关文献50余篇。经阅读标题、摘要、全文后,排除内容重复、普通综述、Meta分析类文章后筛选纳入24篇文献进行评价。 结果与结论：封堵器选择根据超声心动图和左心室造影测量的缺损大小、距主动脉右冠瓣的距离,选择合适的类型和大小,选择较符合适应证的病例是封堵成功的关键。由记忆镍钛超弹性合金编织而成的Amplatzer先心病封堵器置入人体后,具有良好的生物相容性及安全性,封堵后3~5年内用彩超进行跟踪随访,患者未出现明显不良反应,封堵器位置固定,无移位。于封堵前行彩超检查确定先心病封堵的适应证;封堵过程中指导临床医生选择封堵器的大小,观察封堵器的位置,以及缺损部位有无残余分流;封堵后随访治疗效果。在先心病封堵器治疗过程中,彩超在封堵前检查、封堵过程中监测以及封堵后随访中均具有重要的应用价值。     

Left ventricular noncompaction: a pathological study of 14 cases

Left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) has been recently proposed as a specific form of cardiomyopathy. There have been few pathological series describing gross and microscopic findings of this entity, especially in children. We present findings of 14 hearts (13 autopsy and 1 explant) with LVNC (isolated and associated with congenital heart disease), defined by poorly developed left ventricular (LV) papillary muscles and a noncompact inner LV myocardial layer comprising more than 50% of the LV thickness. The mean age at death/explant was 3.6 years (median, 2.5 months); there were 6 boys and 8 girls. The symptoms were sudden unexpected death (10) and heart failure (4). The diagnosis was suspected before death in only 1 of 13 autopsy cases. Right ventricular involvement (> 75% ventricular thickness comprised of noncompacted area with recess adjacent to tricuspid valve) was seen in 6 of 14 hearts. One patient had a sibling with pulmonary stenosis, but there was no other known familial cardiomyopathy. Endocardial fibroelastosis was a characteristic histological feature, as well as anastomosing or polypoid endocardial trabeculations, which resulted in staghorn-shaped, endocardial-lined recesses. There was a high rate of other cardiac anomalies, which often coexisted and were not clearly related to the LVNC, present in 8 cases (nonisolated LVNC): ventricular septal defect (4/14), anomalous venous pulmonary veins (1/14), coronary ostial stenosis (1/14), histiocytoid cardiomyopathy (1/14), polyvalvar dysplasia (2/14), and pulmonary stenosis (2/14). In the 6 isolated LVNC, there were 2 malformed atrioventricular valves (1 mitral and 1 tricuspid), which appeared part of the ventricular maldevelopment. There were no differences in histological or gross patterns of the noncompacted regions between the isolated and nonisolated LVNC. LVNC is frequently associated with other cardiac defects, especially when causing sudden death in infants and children. A clear-cut morphological distinction between "isolated" and "secondary" LVNC was not apparent. The pathologist should be aware of the entity because the diagnosis is often first established at autopsy.     

Atrial arrhythmia after surgical closure of atrial septal defects in adults

BACKGROUND: Atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation are causes of morbidity in adults with an atrial septal defect. In this study, we attempted to identify risk factors for atrial flutter and fibrillation both before and after the surgical closure of an atrial septal defect. METHODS: We searched for preoperative and postoperative atrial flutter or fibrillation in 213 adult patients (82 men and 131 women) who underwent surgical closure of atrial septal defects because of symptoms, a substantial left-to-right shunt (ratio of pulmonary to systemic blood flow, >1.5:1), or both at Toronto Hospital between 1986 and 1997. RESULTS: Forty patients (19 percent) had sustained atrial flutter or fibrillation before surgery. As compared with the patients who did not have atrial flutter or fibrillation before surgery, those who did were older (59+/-11 vs. 37+/-13 years, P<0.001) and had higher mean pulmonary arterial pressures (25.0+/-9.7 vs. 19.7+/-8.2 mm Hg, P=0.001). There were no perioperative deaths. After a mean follow-up period of 3.8+/-2.5 years, 24 of the 40 patients (60 percent) continued to have atrial flutter or fibrillation. The mean age of these patients was greater than that of the 16 who converted to sinus rhythm (P=0.02). New-onset atrial flutter or atrial fibrillation was more likely to have developed at follow-up in patients who were older than 40 years at the time of surgery than in those who were 40 or younger (5 of 67 vs. 0 of 106, P=0.008). Late events (those occurring more than one month after surgery) included stroke in six patients (all but one with atrial flutter or fibrillation, one of whom died) and death from noncardiac causes in two patients. Multivariate analysis showed that older age (>40 years) at the time of surgery (P=0.001), the presence of preoperative atrial flutter or fibrillation (P<0.001), and the presence of postoperative atrial flutter or fibrillation or junctional rhythm (P=0.02) were predictive of late postoperative atrial flutter or fibrillation. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of atrial flutter or atrial fibrillation in adults with atrial septal defects is related to the age at the time of surgical repair and the pulmonary arterial pressure. To reduce the morbidity associated with atrial flutter and fibrillation, the timely closure of atrial septal defects is warranted.     

Holt-Oram syndrome: a clinical genetic study.

A clinical and genetic study of the Holt-Oram syndrome (HOS) has been carried out in the United Kingdom involving 55 cases designated Holt-Oram syndrome, together with their parents and sibs. Data from the clinical assessment of both familial and isolated cases were used to define the HOS phenotype and to outline the spectrum of abnormalities, especially factors affecting severity. Skeletal defects affected the upper limbs exclusively and were bilateral and asymmetrical. They ranged from minor signs such as clinodactyly, limited supination, and sloping shoulders to severe reduction deformities of the upper arm (4.5%). The radial ray was predominantly affected than the right. All affected cases showed evidence of upper limb involvement. Cardiac defects were seen in 95% of familial cases and included both atrial septal defect (ASD, 34%) and ventricular septal defect (VSD, 25%); 39% had only ECG changes. Cardiac involvement ranged from asymptomatic conduction disturbances to multiple structural defects requiring surgery in infancy. Sudden death could be caused by heart block. Inheritance was autosomal dominant with 100% penetrance and no evidence of reduced fitness. Increasing severity occurred in succeeding generations consistent with anticipation.     

Congenital heart anomalies in the trisomy 18 syndrome,with reference to congenital polyvalvular disease

Congenital polyvalvular disease (CPVD) is seen in trisorny 18 and other aneuploidy syndromes. However, its extent and nature have not been studied. Gross pathologic and histologic aspects of the heart were studied in 15 autopsied cases of trisomy 18. All had CPVD; other congenital defects included membranous ventricular septal defect (87%), patent ductus arteriosus (73%), and high takeoff of the right coronary ostium (80%). With a scoring system, histologic findings of the valves of all trisomy 18 cases were compared with those of 30 normal hearts of comparable age in order to determine the degree of morphologic abnormality. This included the presence of blood cysts, derangement of the spongiosa and fibrosa, vascular degeneration of the spongiosa, and defective elastic fibers. There were distinct differences between the changes seen in CPVD with trisomy 18 syndrome and those seen in the normal individuals. The most severe changes were present in the tricuspid and mitral valves with derangement of the spongiosa and fibrosa and defective elastic fibers. The valve tissue had a similar histologic appearance and structure to that of low birth weight infants (gestational age, 25 weeks). The valvular changes observed therefore are of fetal type and represent errors in tissue differentiation occurring as last as the third trimester.     

Collagen type VI expression during cardiac development and in human fetuses with trisomy 21

The role played by specific extracellular matrix molecules in normal endocardial cushion differentiation into valves and septa remains to be established. In this respect, type collagen VI is of particular interest because genes encoding the alpha1 and alpha2 chains are located on chromosome 21, and defects involving the atrioventricular (AV) cushions are frequent in trisomy 21. Collagen VI expression was studied in normal human embryonic and fetal hearts (5-18 weeks of development) and compared by immunohistochemistry with results from fetuses (10-16 weeks of development) with trisomy 21. During normal endocardial cushion differentiation (5-8 weeks) there was marked collagen VI expression in the AV cushions, whereas only minor expression was seen in the outflow tract cushions. In the normal fetuses (10-18 weeks), collagen VI in the AV cushions had condensed into a marked zone on the atrial side of the leaflets, as well as subendocardially in other regions of high shear stress. Morphological defects involving the endocardial cushion-derived structures were present in all trisomy 21 cases. An abnormally large membranous septum was observed in three cases. An AV septal defect (AVSD) was present in two, while one had a ventricular septal defect (VSD). Two cases presented with a secondary atrial septal defect (ASDII), and one had an AVSD. Mild to moderate valve dysmorphia was found in all cases. Collagen VI staining in trisomy 21 was more intense than in the normal subjects; however, there were no differences in the spatial expression patterns. We conclude that collagen VI is expressed in the AV cushions and persists during valve differentiation. Collagen VI is more prominent in fetal trisomy 21 hearts than in normal hearts. We hypothesise that collagen VI has a role in the development of heart defects involving endocardial cushion differentiation-specifically in the AV canal, the most common site of malformations affecting children with trisomy 21.     

Consanguinity and congenital heart disease in Saudi Arabia

First-cousin marriage may be a significant risk factor for specific types of congenital heart disease in a consanguineous population. Inbreeding studies suggest an autosomal recessive component in the cause of some congenital heart defects. We studied a large sample of patients with structural congenital heart defects (CHD) identified through the Congenital Heart Disease Registry at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After exclusions of chromosome abnormalities and non-participation, data were collected on 891 consecutive patients who were registered between January and August, 1998. Data on first-cousin consanguinity and type of CHD diagnosis were collected. A z test of proportions was used to determine the association between consanguinity and subtypes of CHD. Data indicate that the proportion of first cousins in the CHD sample is higher than the proportion in the general population, supporting a hypothesis of autosomal recessive gene involvement in congenital heart disease. When subgroups of CHD were analyzed, first-cousin consanguinity was significantly associated with ventricular septal defect (VSD), atrial septal defect (ASD), atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD), pulmonary stenosis (PS), and pulmonary atresia (PA). There was no relationship between consanguinity and tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), tricuspid atresia (TA), aortic stenosis (AS), co-arctation of the aorta (CoA), and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Thus, in a population with a high degree of inbreeding, consanguinity may exacerbate underlying genetic risk factors, particularly in the offspring of first cousins. There may be a recessive component in the causation of some cardiac defects. Copyright Wiley-Liss. Inc.