A 19-year-old girl was diagnosed as having primary pulmonary hypertension that was confirmed by right heart catheterization. Acute right heart failure was associated with syncope. Stabilization, while not achieved with intravenous epoprostenol (Prostacyclin) alone, was achieved with intravenous prostacyclin and nitroprusside.

OBJECTIVE Despite treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), the natural progression to coronary artery stenosis in Kawasaki disease is not well defined and remains a potential cause of long-term morbidity. We present a novel study, at a US tertiary paediatric care centre, identifying risk factors for stenosis. METHODS We reviewed charts of all children who underwent cardiac catheteris...

BACKGROUND Peripheral venous catheter-related inflammation (PVCRI) is a serious health and economic issue. It is mainly linked to peripheral venous catheter (PVC) duration and other risk factors. METHODS PVCRI was prospectively evaluated in a 3 month-study according to PVC duration. Other risk factors were also studied such as age, gender, diabetes, intravenous steroids and antibiotics. 221 p...

Thrombosis at the site of arterial puncture is a common and serious complication of percutaneous cardiac catheterization in children. A double-blind study was therefore designed to test the efficacy of heparin administered during catheterization in reducing this complication. One hundred and sixty-one unselected children over one year of age were studied. Prior to catheterization, the pulse amp...

Thrombosis at the site of arterial puncture is a common and serious complication of percutaneous cardiac catheterization in children. A double-blind study was therefore designed to test the efficacy of heparin administered during catheterization in reducing this complication. One hundred and sixty-one unselected children over one year of age were studied. Prior to catheterization, the pulse amp...

Introduction: Because establishing venous access in patients can be difficult and time consuming, the use of ultrasound to guide the insertion of peripheral intravenous catheters has become more common. Anecdotal evidence indicates ultrasound-guided catheter insertion may result in decreased catheter survival in the vein (dwell-time), but there is little evidence to support this observation. Th...

BACKGROUND The positioning of peripheral venous catheters (PVC) is an invasive procedure commonly performed in pediatrics hospital wards to obtain vascular access for the administration of fluids, medications and other intravenous (IV) therapies. Many studies exist about management of peripheral venous access in adults. On the contrary, scientific evidence on the management of this procedure in...

Background Central venous catheter (CVC) is used for measuring hemodynamic variables, transfusion of blood, fluids and medications when peripheral vascular lack sufficiency. Unfortunately CVC is associated with many complications ranging from anxiety and discomfort for the patient to severe mechanical side effects such as arterial lacerations, pleural and pericardial injury as well as infection...