Long-term follow-up of homograft function after pulmonary valve replacement in patients with tetralogy of Fallot.

AIMS: To analyse the long-term outcomes after pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) in patients with a previous correction for tetralogy of Fallot. METHODS AND RESULTS: In a retrospective study, 158 adult patients with a diagnosis of tetralogy of Fallot, who had undergone a PVR after initial total correction in childhood, were identified from the CONCOR (CONgenital CORvitia) registry. All patients underwent 175 PVRs between June 1986 and June 2005. To analyse the predictors for homograft dysfunction and adverse events (death, reoperations, balloon angioplasty), Cox-regression analysis was performed. Overall freedom from significant homograft dysfunction was 66% after 5 years and 47% after 10 years. We could not identify predictors for combined homograft dysfunction. Event-free survival was 78% at 10 years and 68% at 15 years after PVR. Both early significant pulmonary regurgitation (PR) (HR 6.8, P = 0.017) and pulmonary stenosis (PS) (HR 4.0, P = 0.037) after surgery were associated with adverse events. When analysing direct post-operative PR or PS, we observed that in patients with severe, pre-operative PR, right ventricular aneurysm/patch resection resulted in a lower post-operative PR (mean difference grade 0.38 +/- 0.14, P = 0.01). Less significant post-operative PS was associated with a higher diameter of the homograft (HR 0.37, P = 0.006). CONCLUSION: While 47% of the patients in our study were free from homograft dysfunction at 10 years after PVR, event-free survival after PVR remained fairly good (78%). Significant residual lesions directly after surgery influenced event-free survival. A smaller diameter of the pulmonary homograft and severe pre-surgical PR were related to early homograft dysfunction after surgery.     

Long‐term high‐physiological‐dose growth hormone reduces intra‐abdominal fat in HIV‐infected patients with a neutral effect on glucose metabolism

Objectives

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of long‐term high‐physiological‐dose recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy on fat distribution and glucose metabolism in HIV‐infected patients.

Methods

Forty‐six HIV‐infected Caucasian men on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), with an age range of 21–60 years and no significant comorbidity, were included in this randomized, placebo‐controlled, double‐blind, single‐centre trial. Twenty‐eight subjects were randomized to 0.7 mg/day rhGH, and 18 subjects to placebo, administered as daily subcutaneous injections between 1 and 3 pm for 40 weeks. Endpoints included changes in visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), limb fat mass, percentage of limb fat, plasma lipids, insulin resistance and glucose tolerance.

Results

VAT and trunk fat mass decreased significantly in the GH group compared with the placebo group [−19 cm² (−11%) vs. 12 cm² (6%), P=0.03, and −548 g (−9%) vs. 353 g (6%), P<0.01, respectively]. The beneficial fat redistribution in the GH group occurred without concomitant changes in subcutaneous fat at the abdomen or extremities. rhGH therapy was well tolerated. Insulin resistance, glucose tolerance, and total plasma cholesterol and triglycerides did not significantly change during intervention.

Conclusions

Daily 0.7 mg rhGH treatment for 40 weeks reduced abdominal visceral fat and trunk fat mass in HIV‐infected patients. This treatment appeared to be safe with respect to glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity.

     

Comparison of diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice computed tomography coronary angiography in women versus men with angina pectoris

We compared the diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice computed tomographic (CT) coronary angiography to detect significant coronary artery disease (CAD) in women and men. The 64-slice CT coronary angiography was performed in 402 symptomatic patients, 123 women and 279 men, with CAD prevalence of 51% and 68%, respectively. Significant CAD, defined as > or =50% coronary stenosis on quantitative coronary angiography, was evaluated on a patient, vessel, and segment level. The sensitivity and negative predictive value to detect significant CAD was very good, both for women and men (100% vs 99%, p = NS; 100% vs 98%, p = NS), whereas diagnostic accuracy (88% vs 96%; p <0.01), specificity (75% vs 90%, p <0.05), and positive predictive value (81% vs 95%, p <0.001) were lower in women. The per-segment analysis demonstrated lower sensitivity in women compared with men (82% vs 93%, p <0.001). The sensitivity in women did not show a difference in proximal and midsegments, but was significantly lower in distal segments (56% vs 85%, p <0.05) and side branches (54% vs 89%, p <0.001). In conclusion, CT coronary angiography reliably rules out the presence of obstructive CAD in both men and women. Specificity and positive predictive value of CT coronary angiography were lower in women. The sensitivity to detect stenosis in small coronary branches was lower in women compared with men.     

Diastolic function in repaired tetralogy of Fallot at rest and during stress: assessment with MR imaging

PURPOSE: To prospectively assess, with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, right ventricular (RV) diastolic function after repair of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) at rest and during pharmacologic stress and to study relationship between main pulmonary artery end-diastolic forward flow (EDFF) (indicative of restrictive RV physiology) and clinical status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional medical ethics committee approval and patient or parent informed consent were obtained. Patients with TOF corrected through the transatrial-transpulmonary approach underwent MR imaging at rest and during dobutamine stress and maximal exercise testing. Two-dimensional (2D) cine volumetric data were acquired. Flow measurements were performed with a standard 2D flow-sensitized sequence. MR imaging flow curves for tricuspid and pulmonary valves were combined into RV time-volume change curves, from which indexes of RV filling were derived. Patient results were compared with published data in control subjects. Student t tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, analysis of covariance, and paired and one-sample t tests were used. RESULTS: Thirty-six patients (mean age at repair, 0.9 year +/- 0.5 [standard deviation]; median age at study inclusion, 17 years [range, 7-23 years]; 26 male and 10 female patients) were included. Abnormalities in RV filling included impaired relaxation (prolonged deceleration time, P = .002; smaller early filling fraction, P = .02) in the entire group compared with published data in healthy control subjects and signs of restriction to RV filling (smaller atrial filling fraction and higher early filling/atrial filling peak ratio, P < .05 for both) in patients with EDFF (n = 24) compared with patients without EDFF (n = 12). Stress response was abnormal in patients with EDFF, who developed impaired RV relaxation not appreciated at rest. Patients with EDFF had more severe pulmonary regurgitation (P < .05) and poorer exercise performance (P < .001). CONCLUSION: In patients with TOF corrected with currently widely accepted surgical strategies, pulmonary artery EDFF relates to worse clinical state at mid- to long-term follow-up. Dobutamine stress imaging may unmask abnormalities in RV diastolic filling not appreciated with rest imaging alone.