BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence, origins and courses of coronary artery anomalies using a combination of angiographic and surgical methods in Turkish children with tetralogy of Fallot (ToF). METHODS Seventy-seven patients in whom coronary artery anomalies had been identified by angiography and/or at operation out of 549 ToF and 58 Fallot-type double outlet ri...

Background—Patients after repair of tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) frequently have right ventricular (RV) dysfunction and prolonged QRS duration (QRSd) and thus could be candidates for cardiac resynchronization therapy. We aimed to assess the relationship between QRSd and the timing of RV wall motion, including the RV outflow tract (RVOT), in these patients. Methods and Results—Sixty-seven repaired ...

AIMS The contribution of the systolic function of the right ventricular (RV) outflow tract (RVOT) and of longitudinal shortening of the body of the right ventricle to global RV systolic function and exercise capacity in patients after tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) repair is unclear. Our aim was to characterize the functional role of the RVOT and to identify the most suitable method of assessing RV ...

BACKGROUND Patients after repair of tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) frequently have right ventricular (RV) dysfunction and prolonged QRS duration (QRSd) and thus could be candidates for cardiac resynchronization therapy. We aimed to assess the relationship between QRSd and the timing of RV wall motion, including the RV outflow tract (RVOT), in these patients. METHODS AND RESULTS Sixty-seven repaire...

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is the most common cyanotic congenital heart disease [1], with only a few patients reaching adulthood without surgical correction; ten percent may survive to their 30s but only 3% reach their 40s or older [2] and survival beyond the seventh decade of life is even rarer [3]. TOF comprises obstruction to right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT; pulmonary stenosis [PS]), ve...

BACKGROUND Because efferent autonomic pathways to the right ventricle (RV) differ from the efferent autonomic projections to the left ventricle (LV), we assessed the effects of RV infarction on this innervation. METHODS AND RESULTS We measured the ventricular effective refractory period (ERP) shortening in response to bilateral ansae subclaviae stimulation and ERP lengthening induced by bilat...

Echocardiography plays a major role in assessing cardiac function in animal models. We investigated use of a modified parasternal mid right-ventricular (MRV) and right ventricle (RV) outflow (RVOT) view, in assessing RV size and function, and the suitability of advanced 2D-strain analysis. 15 WKY rats were examined using transthoracic echocardiography. The left heart was assessed using standard...

BACKGROUND Optimal right ventricular (RV) pacing site in patients referred for permanent cardiac pacing remains controversial. A prospective randomized trial was done to compare long-term effect of permanent RV apex (RVA) vs RV outflow tract (RVOT) pacing on the all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 122 consecutive patients (70 men, 69 +/-11 years), with stand...

BACKGROUND The presence of osmotic gradients in the development of cerebral edema and the effectiveness of osmotherapy are well recognized. A modification of ventriculostomy catheters described in this article provides a method of osmotherapy that is not currently available. The reductive ventricular osmotherapy (RVOT) catheter removes free water from ventricular cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by in...

OBJECTIVES The objectives were to determine in patients with Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) and abnormal coronary artery (ACA): the long-term outcomes of different surgical strategies; the risk factors for right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) obstruction, reoperation, heart failure and mortality. To date, the surgical strategies and prognostic factors for repair of ToF with an ACA, crossing the RV...