CASE PRESENTATION: A 37 year old Malaysian Chinese parturient was admitted at 25 weeks gestation following a scan which suggested intrauterine death and placenta accreta. She was diagnosed to have congenital complete heart block after her first delivery eight years previously but a pacemaker was never inserted. These medical conditions make her extremely likely to experience massive bleeding and haemodynamic instability. Among the measures taken to optimise her pre-operatively were the insertion of a temporary intravenous pacemaker and embolization of the uterine arteries to minimize peri-operative blood loss. She successfully underwent surgery under general anesthesia, which was relatively uneventful and was discharged well on the fourth post-operative day.
CONCLUSION: Congenital heart block in pregnancies in the presence of potential massive bleeding is best managed by a team, with meticulous pre-operative optimization. Suggested strategies would include insertion of a temporary pacemaker and embolization of the uterine arteries to reduce the risk of the patient getting into life threatening situations.
METHODS: It is a prospective, open-labeled, randomized controlled study conducted at National Heart Institute, Kuala Lumpur from July 2018 to July 2019. All patients with simple and complex congenital heart diseases (CHD) with good left ventricular function (left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] >50%) were included while those with LVEF <50% were excluded. A total of 100 patients were randomized into two groups of 50 each receiving either del Nido or BSTH cardioplegia. Primary end points were the spontaneous return of activity following aortic cross-clamp release and ventricular function between two groups. Secondary end point was myocardial injury as assessed by troponin T levels.
RESULTS: Cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamp time, return of spontaneous cardiac activity following the aortic cross-clamp release, the duration of mechanical ventilation, and intensive care unit stay were comparable between two groups. Statistically significant difference was seen in the amount and number of cardioplegia doses delivered (P < .001). The hemodilution was significantly less in the del Nido complex CHD group compared to BSTH cardioplegia (P = .001) but no difference in blood usage (P = .36). The myocardial injury was lesser (lower troponin T release) with del Nido compared to BSTH cardioplegia (P = .6).
CONCLUSION: Our study showed that both del Nido and BSTH cardioplegia are comparable in terms of myocardial protection. However, single, less frequent, and lesser volume of del Nido cardioplegia makes it more suitable for complex repair.
Setting and Design: Retrospective observational cohort study in the State of Johor, Malaysia.
Subjects and Methods: All infants born between January 2006 and December 2015 with a diagnosis of CCHD, defined as infants with duct-dependent lesions or cyanotic heart disease who may die without early intervention. The late diagnosis was defined as a diagnosis of CCHD after 3 days of age.
Results: Congenital heart disease was diagnosed in 3557 of 531,904 live-born infants and were critical in 668 (18.7%). Of 668, 347 (52%) had duct-dependent pulmonary circulation. The birth prevalence of CCHD was 1.26 (95% confidence interval: 1.16-1.35) per 1000 live births, with no significant increase over time. The median age of diagnosis was 4 days (Q1 1, Q3 26), with 61 (9.1%) detected prenatally, and 342 (51.2%) detected late. The highest rate of late diagnosis was observed in coarctation of the aorta with a rate of 74%. Trend analysis shows a statistically significant reduction of late diagnosis and a significant increase in prenatal detection. However, Cox regression analysis shows the timing of diagnosis does not affect the outcome of CCHD.
Conclusions: Due to limited resources in the MIC, the late diagnosis of CCHD is high but does not affect the outcome. Nevertheless, the timing of diagnosis has improved over time.