Studies examine issues in pediatric cardiology

• Left aortic arch with aberrant right subclavian artery, or LAA/ASCA, which pushes the trachea and esophagus forward (n=992);
  
  
• Right aortic arch with left ligamentum, which forms a complete vascular ring and leads to airway compression (n=83);
  
  
• Pulmonary artery sling, in which the left pulmonary artery arises unusually from the right pulmonary artery and lies between the trachea and esophagus (n=11); and
  
  
• Double aortic arch, where the main aorta tube splits into large left and right branches before becoming one tube (n=8).

Patients with LAA/ASCA and pulmonary artery sling had less common and less severe clinical signs and symptoms than complete vascular ring, including recurrent respiratory infections, asthma, difficulty in swallowing, failure to thrive, exercise intolerance, seizure or mental retardation. Of the patients with a complete vascular ring, 66 (69 %) underwent surgical correction with no mortality or significant complications.

"Congenital cardiovascular diseases, especially congenital vascular ring and sling abnormalities, have a higher prevalence in school-aged children than indicated in previous literature,” said Shuping Ge, M.D., of Texas Children's Hospital and lead author on this study. “Such abnormalities are primarily undiagnosed and can cause significant morbidities, making awareness and cost-effective screening strategies necessary for timely diagnosis and treatment. Our study found that echocardiography appears to be a sensitive tool for screening of CVRSAs, and future tests will further validate a recommendation to use this across broad pediatric populations.”

Dr. Fong-Lin Chen will present this study on Sunday, March 25, at 10 a.m. in Hall H.

The American College of Cardiology (www.acc.org) represents the majority of board certified cardiovascular physicians in the United States. Its mission is to advocate for quality cardiovascular care through education, research, promotion, development and application of standards and guidelines- and to influence health care policy. ACC.07 and the i2 Summit is the largest cardiovascular meeting, bringing together cardiologists and cardiovascular specialists to share the newest discoveries in treatment and prevention, while helping the ACC achieve its mission to address and improve issues in cardiovascular medicine.