No abstract available.
Acute Disease ; Aneurysm, Dissecting/complications/*diagnosis/physiopathology ; Aortic Aneurysm/complications/*diagnosis/physiopathology ; Aortic Valve Insufficiency/*diagnosis/etiology/physiopathology ; Fingers/*blood supply ; Humans ; Light/*diagnostic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Predictive Value of Tests ; *Pulse

No abstract available.
Mitral Valve Insufficiency

No abstract available.
Angioplasty* ; Hypertension, Pulmonary*

The number of women with congenital heart disease (CHD) at risk of pregnancy is growing because over 90% of them are grown-up into adulthood. The outcome of pregnancy and delivery is favorable in most of them provided that functional class and systemic ventricular function are good. Women with CHD such as pulmonary hypertension (Eisenmenger syndrome), severe left ventricular outflow stenosis, cyanotic CHD, aortopathy, Fontan procedure and systemic right ventricle (complete transposition of the great arteries [TGA] after atrial switch, congenitally corrected TGA) carry a high-risk. Most frequent complications during pregnancy and delivery are heart failure, arrhythmias, bleeding or thrombosis, and rarely maternal death. Complications of fetus are prematurity, low birth weight, abortion, and stillbirth. Risk stratification of pregnancy and delivery relates to functional status of the patient and is lesion specific. Medication during pregnancy and post-delivery (breast feeding) is a big concern. Especially prescribing medication with teratogenicity should be avoidable. Adequate care during pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum period requires a multidisciplinary team approach with cardiologists, obstetricians, anesthesiologists, neonatologists, nurses and other related disciplines. Caring for a baby is an important issue due to temporarily pregnancy-induced cardiac dysfunction, and therefore familial support is mandatory especially during peripartum and after delivery. Timely pre-pregnancy counseling should be offered to all women with CHD to prevent avoidable pregnancy-related risks. Successful pregnancy is feasible for most women with CHD at relatively low risk when appropriate counseling and optimal care are provided.
Adult ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Arteries ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Counseling ; Female ; Fetus ; Fontan Procedure ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Heart Failure ; Heart Ventricles ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Maternal Death ; Peripartum Period ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Stillbirth ; Thrombosis ; Ventricular Function

In adult congenital heart disease (ACHD), residua and sequellae after initial repair develop late complications such as cardiac failure, arrhythmias, thrombosis, aortopathy, pulmonary hypertension and others. Acquired lesions with aging such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity can be negative influence on original cardiovascular disease (CVD). Also, atherosclerosis may pose an additional health problem to ACHD when they grow older and reach the age at which atherosclerosis becomes clinically relevant. In spite of the theoretical risk of atherosclerosis in ACHD due to above mentioned factors, cyanotic ACHDs even after repair are noted to have minimal incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Acyanotic ACHD has similar prevalence of CAD as the general population. However, even in cyanotic ACHD, CAD can develop when they have several risk factors for CAD. The prevalence of risk factor is similar between ACHD and the general population. Risk of premature atherosclerotic CVD in ACHD is based, 3 principal mechanisms: lesions with coronary artery abnormalities, obstructive lesions of left ventricle and aorta such as coarctation of the aorta and aortopathy. Coronary artery abnormalities are directly affected or altered surgically, such as arterial switch in transposition patients, may confer greater risk for premature atherosclerotic CAD. Metabolic syndrome is more common among ACHD than in the general population, and possibly increases the incidence of atherosclerotic CAD even in ACHD in future. Thus, ACHD should be screened for metabolic syndrome and eliminating risk factors for atherosclerotic CAD.
Adult ; Aging ; Aorta ; Aortic Coarctation ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atherosclerosis ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Vessels ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Heart Failure ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; Incidence ; Obesity ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Thrombosis

The number of women with congenital heart disease (CHD) at risk of pregnancy is growing because over 90% of them are grown-up into adulthood. The outcome of pregnancy and delivery is favorable in most of them provided that functional class and systemic ventricular function are good. Women with CHD such as pulmonary hypertension (Eisenmenger syndrome), severe left ventricular outflow stenosis, cyanotic CHD, aortopathy, Fontan procedure and systemic right ventricle (complete transposition of the great arteries [TGA] after atrial switch, congenitally corrected TGA) carry a high-risk. Most frequent complications during pregnancy and delivery are heart failure, arrhythmias, bleeding or thrombosis, and rarely maternal death. Complications of fetus are prematurity, low birth weight, abortion, and stillbirth. Risk stratification of pregnancy and delivery relates to functional status of the patient and is lesion specific. Medication during pregnancy and post-delivery (breast feeding) is a big concern. Especially prescribing medication with teratogenicity should be avoidable. Adequate care during pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum period requires a multidisciplinary team approach with cardiologists, obstetricians, anesthesiologists, neonatologists, nurses and other related disciplines. Caring for a baby is an important issue due to temporarily pregnancy-induced cardiac dysfunction, and therefore familial support is mandatory especially during peripartum and after delivery. Timely pre-pregnancy counseling should be offered to all women with CHD to prevent avoidable pregnancy-related risks. Successful pregnancy is feasible for most women with CHD at relatively low risk when appropriate counseling and optimal care are provided.

In adult congenital heart disease (ACHD), residua and sequellae after initial repair develop late complications such as cardiac failure, arrhythmias, thrombosis, aortopathy, pulmonary hypertension and others. Acquired lesions with aging such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity can be negative influence on original cardiovascular disease (CVD). Also, atherosclerosis may pose an additional health problem to ACHD when they grow older and reach the age at which atherosclerosis becomes clinically relevant. In spite of the theoretical risk of atherosclerosis in ACHD due to above mentioned factors, cyanotic ACHDs even after repair are noted to have minimal incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Acyanotic ACHD has similar prevalence of CAD as the general population. However, even in cyanotic ACHD, CAD can develop when they have several risk factors for CAD. The prevalence of risk factor is similar between ACHD and the general population. Risk of premature atherosclerotic CVD in ACHD is based, 3 principal mechanisms: lesions with coronary artery abnormalities, obstructive lesions of left ventricle and aorta such as coarctation of the aorta and aortopathy. Coronary artery abnormalities are directly affected or altered surgically, such as arterial switch in transposition patients, may confer greater risk for premature atherosclerotic CAD. Metabolic syndrome is more common among ACHD than in the general population, and possibly increases the incidence of atherosclerotic CAD even in ACHD in future. Thus, ACHD should be screened for metabolic syndrome and eliminating risk factors for atherosclerotic CAD.

Bicuspid aortic valve and/or coarctation of the aorta are consistently associated with ascending aortic and para-coarctation medial abnormalities. Medial abnormalities in the ascending aorta are prevalent in other types of patients with a variety of forms congenital heart disease (CHD), such as single ventricle, persistent truncus arteriosus, transposition of the great arteries, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, tetralogy of Fallot. These abnormalities encompass a wide age range, and may predispose to dilatation, aneurysm, and rupture that necessitates aortic valve and root surgery. This dilatation can develop in CHD patients without stenotic region. These CHDs exhibit ongoing dilatation of the aortic root and reduced aortic elasticity and increased aortic stiffness that may relate to intrinsic properties of the aortic root. The concept of aortic dilatation is shifting a paradigm of aortic dilatation, as so called post stenotic dilatation, to primary intrinsic aortopahy. These aortic dilatation and increased stiffness can induce aortic aneurysm, rupture of the aorta and aortic regurgitation, but also provoke left ventricular hypertrophy, reduced coronary artery flow and left ventricular failure. We can recognize this association of aortic pathophysiological abnormality, aortic dilation and aorto-left ventricular interaction as a new clinical entity: "aortopathy".
Aneurysm ; Aorta ; Aortic Aneurysm ; Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic ; Aortic Coarctation ; Aortic Diseases ; Aortic Valve ; Aortic Valve Insufficiency ; Arteries ; Bicuspid ; Coronary Vessels ; Cysts ; Dilatation ; Elasticity ; Heart ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Valve Diseases ; Humans ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular ; Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome ; Polymethacrylic Acids ; Rupture ; Tetralogy of Fallot ; Truncus Arteriosus, Persistent ; Vascular Stiffness ; Ventricular Function, Left

A 36-year-old female with a high-grade fever and epigastric abdominal pain was prescribed antibiotics, but developed hypoxia and dyspnea. An echocardiography revealed diffuse hypokinesis and massive pericardial effusion, after which diagnostic cardiac catheterization and an endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) were peformed to reveal fibrosis and infiltration of inflammation cells composed primarily of neutrophils. Clinical manifestation of a spiking fever, leukocytosis, elevated ferritin levels, skin rash and EMB findings led to a diagnosis of adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) with acute myocarditis. Pulse therapy of intravenous methylprednisolone was performed for three days, followed by a daily dose of prednisone (60 mg). After a course of steroid therapy for fever and pericardial effusion, and conducting a left ventricular ejection fraction, the patient showed improvement and was discharged asymptomatic within 32 days of admission. This study is the first to report on a case of myocarditis in AOSD diagnosed by neutrophil infiltration in the myocardium.
Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Anoxia ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Biopsy* ; Cardiac Catheterization ; Cardiac Catheters ; Diagnosis ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Exanthema ; Female ; Ferritins ; Fever ; Fibrosis ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Leukocytosis ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Methylprednisolone ; Myocarditis* ; Myocardium ; Neutrophil Infiltration ; Neutrophils ; Pericardial Effusion ; Prednisone ; Still's Disease, Adult-Onset* ; Stroke Volume

Methods: The subjects were 473 volunteers. They were divided into two groups (activity and non-activity) according to participation or non-participation in sporting activities using a self-filled questionnaire. The evaluation items were height, weight, grip strength, bone density, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score, standing radiographic parameters, PRO (evaluated by EuroQol-5 dimension [EQ-5D], Oswestry Disability Index [ODI]), and NDI. Results: There were 101 males in the non-activity group and 69 in the activity group and 178 females in the non-activity group and 125 in the activity group. For the males, the evaluation items with significant influence were cervical lordosis (non-activity group:activity group, 17°:22°) and T1 slope minus cervical lordosis (10°:6°, p <0.05). For the females, the evaluation items with significant influence were sagittal vertical axis (28:14 mm), HADS (10.4:8.4), EQ-5D (0.79:0.86), ODI (17:12), and NDI (12:9, p <0.01). HADS and PRO in the females were significantly correlated with the EQ-5D (−0.40), ODI (0.43), and NDI (0.55). Conclusions Males who participated in sporting activities had better cervical spine alignment but no effect on PRO. Females with sporting activities had better spinal global alignment and less mental stress. It is suggested that sporting activity in females might be associated with PRO because HADS highly correlates with PRO.