Ventriculo-coronary Arterial Communications Research Articles

Natural history of pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (PAIVS) and critical pulmonary stenosis (CPS) and prediction of outcome

ObjectivesTo analyse prenatal parameters predicting biventricular (BV) outcome in pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum/critical pulmonary stenosis (PAIVS/CPS).MethodsWe evaluated 82 foetuses from 01/08 to 10/18 in 3 centres in intervals 1 (< 24 weeks), 2 (24–30 weeks) and 3 (> 30 weeks).Results61/82 (74.4%) were livebirths, 5 (8.2%) lost for follow-up, 3 (4.9%) had compassionate care leaving 53 (64.6% of the whole cohort and 86.9% of livebirths) with intention to treat. 9 died, 44/53 (83.0%) survived. 24/38 (63.2%) with information on postnatal outcome had BV outcome, 14 (36.8%) non-BV outcome (2 × 1.5 circulation). One with BV outcome had prenatal valvuloplasty. Best single parameter for BV outcome was tricuspid/mitral valve (TV/MV) ratio (AUC 0.93) in intervals 2 and 3 (AUC 0.92). Ventriculo-coronary-arterial communications (VCAC) were present in 11 (78.6%) in non-BV outcome group vs. 2 (8.3%) in BV outcome group (p < 0.001). Tricuspid insufficiency (TI)-Vmax > 2.5 m/s was present in BV outcome group in75.0% (18/24) vs. 14.3% (2/14) in non-BV outcome group. Including the most predictive markers (VCAC presence, TI- Vmax < 2.5 m/s, TV/MV ratio < cutoff) to a score, non-BV outcome was correctly predicted when > 1 criterion was fulfilled in all cases. After recently published criteria for foetal intervention, only 4/9 (44.4%) and 5/14 (35.7%) in our interval 2 + 3 with predicted non-BV outcome would have been candidates for intervention. Two (1 × intrauterine intervention) in interval 2, two in interval 3 reached BV outcome and one 1.5 circulation without intervention.ConclusionTV/MV ratio as simple parameter has high predictive value. After our score, non-BV outcome was correctly predicted in all cases. Criteria for foetal intervention must further be evaluated.

Survival With Respect to Morphology in Pulmonary Atresia and Intact Ventricular Septum in Sweden

Patients born with pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum represent a challenge to pediatric cardiologists. Our objective was to study changes in survival with respect to morphology in all children born with pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum in Sweden during 36 years. A retrospective, descriptive study based on medical reports and echocardiographic examinations consisting of those born between 1980 and 1998 (early group) and those born between 1999 and 2016 (late group). The cohort consists of 171 patients (early group, n = 86 and late group, n = 85) yielding an incidence of 4.35 and 4.46 per 100,000 live births, respectively. One-year survival in the early group was 76% compared to 92% in the late group (P = .0004). For patients with membranous atresia, one-year survival increased from 78% to 98%, and for muscular pulmonary atresia, from 68% to 85%. In patients with muscular pulmonary atresia and ventriculocoronary arterial communications, there was no significant increase in survival. Risk factors for death were being born in the early time period hazard ratio (HR), 6; 95% CI (2.33-14.28) P = .0002, low birth weight HR, 1.26; 95% CI (1.14-1.4) P < .0001 and having muscular pulmonary atresia HR, 3.74; 95% CI (1.71-8.19) P = .0010. The incidence of pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum remained unchanged during the study period. Survival has improved, especially for patients with membranous pulmonary atresia, while being born with muscular pulmonary atresia is still a risk factor for death. To further improve survival, greater focus on patients with muscular pulmonary atresia and ventriculocoronary arterial communications is required.

Pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum: a multicenter analysis of 21 prenatal diagnosis cases

A retrospective analysis of 21 cases of prenatal diagnosed of pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (PA-IVS) is presented. In the study of the four chambers view of the fetal heart the right ventricle was hypoplastic in 16 (76.1 %), normal in 5 (23.8 %) cases. Tricuspid atresia identified in 8 (38 %) cases. The dysplasia of the tricuspid valve identified in 5 (23.8 %) cases. In 2 (8.7 %) cases PA-IVS were in combination with atrioventricular defects. The changes of the tricuspid valve were not identified in 6 (28.5 %) cases. In 100 % cases reduced pulmonary artery with retrograde flow in the pulmonary valve was registrated. Hydrops fetal is detected in 2 (9.5 %) cases. The left aortic arch was in 17 (80.9 %) cases and right aortic arch – 4 (19.1 %). The average gestational age at prenatal diagnosis was 22,6 weeks (range 11–32 weeks). Early diagnosis is represented by one case in 11 weeks. Cardiac defects were registered in 6 (28.5 %) cases and extracardiac defects in 5 (23.8 %) cases. Ventriculocoronary arterial communications were found in 2 (9.5 %) cases of PA-IVS. In 3 (13 %) cases were in combination with heterotaxy syndrome. In 2 (8.7 %) cases PA-IVS were in combination with left atrial isomerism and 1 (4.8 %) with right atrial isomerism. Outcomes in fetuses with PA-IVC: termination of pregnancy — 13 (61.9 %), fetal death — 2 (9.5 %), neonatal death — 5 (23.8 %) cases, only 1 (4.8 %) survivor.

Pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum: Second heart field derived myocardial and epicardial developmental clues

Pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum is a severe cardiac malformation that is ductus dependent and needs immediate postnatal care. The phenotype is characterized by three levels of pathology that are considered important for diagnosis and the choice of cardiac surgery. The pathology concerns an hypoplasia and hypertrophy of the right ventricle in which there is a variation in the involvement of the inlet, trabecular and outflow part of the right ventricle. There is also a variable degree of tricuspid valve pathology including hypoplasia and stenosis. The pulmonary valve is atretic which may have been preceded, in the fetal stage, by pulmonary stenosis. This latter phenomenon may be triggered by the severe coronary anomalies that are found in about 30% of the patients. This coronary anomaly is characterized by ventriculo-coronary arterial communications which is accompanied by sometimes severe main coronary artery pathology including interruptions of the main branches. In the latter situation the coronary myocardial perfusion becomes right ventricular dependent. Current cardiac developmental data show that the right ventricular myocardium is derived from the second heart field. Its anterior part contributes this myocardium to the outflow tract and is also employed by the neural crest cells to enter the heart. The posterior second heart field provides the epicardium derived cells (EPDC) that are important for myocardial wall compaction and formation of the coronary vasculature. We hypothesize that pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum without ventriculo-coronary arterial communications is primarily based on anterior SHF directed outflow tract septation anomalies, while pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum with ventriculo-coronary arterial communications has an additional major problem related to epicardium derived contribution. Developmentally they can therefore be considered as two different diseases that might need separate treatment protocols.

The long-term consequences of the coronary artery lesions in pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum

The outcome for all children born in Sweden between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 2008 with ventriculo-coronary arterial communications (VCACs) and pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (PAIVS) was assessed. Fifty-one subjects, 42%, of all 125 children born with PAIVS had identifiable VCACs. Cumulative survival after surgery was 67%, as compared with 73% for all subjects born with PAIVS (n.s.). Survival improved over time, and there was no late death after 3 years of age. Median follow-up time was 12 years (range 1–28 years). At follow-up, 33 subjects were alive (12 female/21 male) with the following repairs: six had a biventricular repair, one had 1.5 ventricle repair, 25 were palliated with a single ventricle repair (final stage in 20), and one had a heart transplantation. Notably after decompression ( n = 9 survivors), the disease in the coronary arteries did not progress, although four subjects in this group had large VCACs. In the group of subjects with single ventricle repair and large VCACs, eleven were found to have stenoses in the coronary arteries. The disease in the coronary arteries in this group, however, often progressed with an adverse effect on myocardial perfusion. Four of the survivors had documented myocardial infarctions.

Exercise Performance After Surgery for Pulmonary Atresia and Intact Ventricular Septum

The objective of this study was to assess exercise performance in subjects born in Sweden between 1980 and 1995 and undergoing surgery for pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum and to identify determinants of exercise performance. Twenty-seven subjects, 16 with biventricular repair and 11 with univentricular palliation, and 28 age- and sex-matched controls completed cardiopulmonary exercise and lung function testing. Peak oxygen uptake was determined using a symptom-limited ramp bicycle exercise protocol. Regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of peak oxygen uptake (V'O(2)), The index group had lower peak V'O(2) (1.4 [median 0.8; range 2.5] l/min) than controls (1.9 [0.7; 3.1]; p < 0.05). Subjects without ventriculocoronary arterial communications (VCAC), corrected to biventricular circulation, had higher peak V'O(2), than the remaining index subjects. Decreased total lung capacity, low minute ventilation, and high physiologic dead space measured at peak exercise were all independent determinants of low peak V'O(2) Exercise capacity is generally decreased in subjects with pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum, although there are marked interindividual differences. Good exercise capacity was found in subjects without VCAC who had undergone biventricular repair. Decreased lung function was an unfavourable predictor of exercise capacity.

Abnormalities in myocardial perfusion after surgical correction of pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum

We describe the results of myocardial perfusion scintigraphy performed 4 to 15 years after surgery in 12 patients with pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum. We used single photon emission computed tomography after injection of technetium Tc-99m tetrofosmin at submaximal exercise test. The patients, 7 girls and 5 boys, with a mean age of 11 years, and a range from 6 to 19 years, had either undergone biventricular repair, in 5 cases, or univentricular palliation in the remaining 7. This second group included 4 patients with ventriculo-coronary arterial communications. Of the children, 3 with biventricular repair and 6 with univentricular palliation had perfusion defects. Children with biventricular repair had perfusion defects in the ventricular septum, while those having univentricular palliation also had defects located to the left ventricular free wall. All children with ventriculo-coronary arterial communications had perfusion defects both in the ventricular septum and in the left ventricular free wall.

Prenatal Diagnosis of Ventriculocoronary Arterial Communication in Fetuses With Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

The purpose of this series was to describe the fetal echocardiographic findings in hypoplastic left heart syndrome with aortic atresia and ventriculocoronary arterial communication and implications of these findings. We describe 2 fetuses with hypoplastic left heart syndrome with ventriculocoronary arterial communication diagnosed at 29 and 20 weeks' gestation, respectively. The underlying cardiac anatomy consisted of a hypoplastic left heart and mitral stenosis with aortic atresia. We used color Doppler and pulsed Doppler sonography on the surface of the myocardium to specifically look for coronary arterial flow. By color Doppler sonography, ventriculocoronary arterial communication was shown between the left ventricular cavity and the left coronary artery with characteristic bidirectional flow on pulsed Doppler examination. There was no mitral regurgitation. The left ventricular myocardium was substantially hypertrophied. The first patient underwent surgical Norwood palliation and died after a prolonged postoperative course. The second patient underwent stenting of the arterial duct and bilateral pulmonary artery banding in the catheterization laboratory but died after a few weeks. Implications of ventriculocoronary arterial communication in association with hypoplastic left heart syndrome are discussed. It is possible to accurately diagnose ventriculocoronary arterial communication on fetal echocardiography. The presence of ventriculocoronary arterial communication is seen exclusively in a subgroup of patients with an aortic atresia and mitral stenosis variant of hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The prognosis is poor in this subgroup of patients.

Development of the coronary vasculature and its implications for coronary abnormalities in general and specifically in pulmonary atresia without ventricular septal defect

Coronary vascular anomalies are an important factor in congenital heart disease in the neonate. However, our knowledge of the pathomorphogenesis is still defective. (1) Study of coronary anomaly variations in congenital heart disease using specimens and (2) study of the role of epicardium-derived cells (EPDC) and neural crest cells in coronary vascular formation using quail-chicken chimeras. The clinical and pathological data revealed the existence of ventriculo-coronary arterial communications during fetal life before pulmonary atresia was established. This supported a primary coronary developmental anomaly as the origin of some cases of pulmonary atresia as opposed to other cases in which the pulmonary orifice atresia was the primary anomaly. Our experimental work showed the high relevance of the development of the epicardium and epicardium-derived cells for the formation of the coronary vasculature, and showed the coronary vascular ingrowth into the myocardium and subsequently into the aorta and the right atrium. The absence of epicardium-derived cells leads to embryonic death, while delayed outgrowth could result in the absence of the main coronary arteries to pinpoint orifice formation. In these cases, the circulation was maintained through ventriculo-coronary arterial communications. Neural crest cells were important for the patterning of the coronary vasculature. We have extended this knowledge to a number of other heart malformations. Coronary vascular anomalies are highly linked to the development of extracardiac contributors like the epicardium and the neural crest. A proper interaction between these cell types and the myocardium and aortic arterial wall are important for normal vascular development.

Ventriculo coronary arterial communications (VCAC) and myocardial sinusoids in hearts with pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum: two different diseases

Pulmonary atresia with intact septum is a cardiac malformation with a variable phenotype. Those cases that present with abnormal perfusion of the myocardium of the hypoplastic right ventricle can be distinguished in cases with myocardial sinusoids and cases with ventriculo coronary arterial communications. The first group most probably develops on the basis of atresia of the pulmonary orifice, a high pressure in the right ventricle with subsequent dilatation of the intertrabecular myocardial spaces and development of endocardial fibroelastosis. There is evidence that in cases with ventriculo coronary arterial communications the primary problem is formed by the coronary vasculature that connects abnormally to the ventricular lumen and in some cases also to the aortic orifice. This is exemplified in single and sometimes even completely absent coronary orifices. The altered haemodynamic circumstances with preferential flow through the communications lead to serious coronary vascular wall pathology with severe intimal thickening and partial obliteration of the subepicardial arteries. These anomalies are already present in the second trimester of pregnancy. Prenatal diagnosis supports furthermore, that the actual atresia of the pulmonary orifice may in some cases be secondary to the coronary abnormalities. Overall the anomaly primarily remains a right heart problem with myocardial, valvular and coronary vascular exponents.

Embryology of congenital ventriculo-coronary communications: a study on quail-chick chimeras.

Ventriculo-coronary arterial communications are rare congenital heart defects which have been explained traditionally on the basis of abnormal persistence of such communications found in the normal developing heart. Recent studies, however, have suggested that these embryonic communications might be an incidental finding rather than a normal feature. Thus, it has been suggested that congenital ventriculo-coronary communications do not represent remnants of normal embryonic vessels, but rather represent acquired lesions. In the present study, hearts were constructed in embryonic chicks in which the coronary vasculature was almost completely derived from a quail-donor. After immunohistochemical staining of the quail-derived coronary endothelium, chimeric hearts were analysed with respect to the presence of embryonic ventriculo-coronary communications, and with respect to the origin of these structures from either coronary arteries or endocardium. The results demonstrate the normal presence of ventriculo-coronary communications in avian embryonic hearts. They show, furthermore, that these structures are of coronary endothelial origin. The findings are in accord with the traditional view on the pathogenesis of congenital ventriculo-coronary communications. The roles of elevated ventricular pressure, abnormal remodelling of the developing myocardium, and of abnormal growth of the coronary vasculature are discussed relative to the pathogenesis of congenital ventriculo-coronary communications.

Prenatal diagnosis of ventriculocoronary arterial communications combined with pulmonary atresia

Prenatal diagnosis of ventriculocoronary arterial communications combined with pulmonary atresia

Capillary Distribution in the Ventricles of Hearts With Pulmonary Atresia and Intact Ventricular Septum

Pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum (PA-IVS) can be complicated by the presence of a severely hypoplastic thick-walled right ventricle with or without ventriculo-coronary arterial communications. A variable amount of myocardial pathology has been described in these hearts, probably the result of ischemic conditions and a high pressure in the right ventricle. We studied whether the capillary network is still intact, allowing a sufficient perfusion of the myocardium, which will be important for the success of palliative surgery. We studied the distribution of capillaries in the myocardium of hearts with PA-IVS and compared the results with normal hearts. The capillaries were detected by immunohistochemistry using a monoclonal antibody (408) against endothelium. Remarkable abnormalities in capillary distribution were found in the right ventricle of hearts with PA-IVS and reflect the arrangement of the myocytes. Thus, disorganization of capillaries, which is found to be the most common pattern, always paralleled the myocardial disarray. A low density of capillaries is always found in areas with a low density of myocytes, ie, with hypertrophied myocytes, compact fibrotic tissue, or diffuse fibrosis. Disarray and other disturbances in orientation of capillaries and myocytes are present in hearts with PA-IVS, a hypoplastic right ventricle, and ventriculo-coronary arterial communications. These disturbances are more extensive when interruptions of the coronary arteries are also present. In hearts with PA-IVS and a hypoplastic right ventricle only, extensive regions with low capillary densities and severe myocyte pathology are observed. On the contrary, hearts with PA-IVS and a normal-size right ventricle show minor abnormalities in capillary and myocyte organization. In hearts with PA-IVS, various abnormal capillary distribution patterns are found. Our findings correlate well with clinical data that reported the best surgical results in hearts in which the major part of the myocardium showed a normal capillary distribution and myocyte morphology. This suggests that the capillary distribution may be an important parameter for the function of the heart. Because the distribution of the capillaries is found to be a good reflection of the arrangement of the myocytes, antibody 408 is also a useful tool in detecting abnormalities of the myocardium in a fast and easy way.

Coronary angiography of pulmonary atresia, hypoplastic right ventricle, and ventriculocoronary communications.

A retrospective study was undertaken to determine the spectrum of angiographic abnormalities of the coronary arteries in infants and children with pulmonary atresia, hypoplastic right ventricle, and right ventriculocoronary arterial communications. Twenty-nine patients with 67 angiographic examinations were reviewed; findings in seven patients were compared with those at autopsy. Twenty-seven (93%) of 29 patients had caliber abnormalities of the involved coronary arteries, including obstructive lesions in 20 (69%) of 29 and segmental dilatation in 16 (55%) of 29. Nine patients had interruption of the anterior descending artery and one had absent connection between the coronary arteries and the aorta. A single coronary artery was found in four of 29 patients. There was excellent correlation between clinical angiography and autopsy findings in seven patients. This study confirms the ability of high-quality clinical angiography to show significant abnormalities of the coronary arteries in infants and children with pulmonary atresia and ventriculocoronary communications.

Competition of coronary arteries and ventriculo-coronary arterial communications in pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum

Pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum can be complicated by the presence of large ventriculo-coronary arterial communications with disturb normal myocardial perfusion. In the selection of patients for surgery the presence of these communications provides an additional problem. On the basis of previous cineangio-cardiographic study, we performed a histopathological study of 16 cases. Twelve presented with ventriculo-coronary arterial communications and four only showed myocardial sinusoids. A tripartite right ventricle was seen in the latter group but not exclusively. It is shown that subepicardial coronary arterial pathology is exclusively present in cases with ventriculo-coronary arterial communications although not solely at a connection site between a communication and an artery. The affected coronary artery is itself focally abnormal and hypoplastic and can be blocked or even absent. The interruption of such an artery can also occur after birth and not neccessarily at a site of connection with a communication. This implies that infants with communications either already have a coronary circulation partly or completely dependent on ventriculo-coronary arterial communications at birth or can develop such a condition in time. This hazard to myocardial perfusion, often compromised by a large “steal” from the aorta to the right ventricle, limits the choice of surgical procedures.