Ebsteins anomaly is a rare complex congenital heart disorder with malformation of the tricuspid valve and right ventricle associated to left shunt. Severity can range from asymptomatic severely debilitated. We have discussed case 12-year-old female patient for cerebral abscess drainage.

A modified Blalock-Taussig shunt (mBTS) is often employed to provide pulmonary blood flow in neonates that are born with cyanotic congenital heart defects. However, acute shunt thrombosis can occur in the postoperative period, resulting in profound cyanosis. In this case report, we describe the utility of computed tomographic angiography (CTA) in the management of a neonate with extreme cyanosi...

An asymptomatic 50-year-old Caucasian woman was referred to our echocardiography laboratory to monitor a Biostar septal occluder device inserted six months before in order to close a patent foramen ovale. On transthoracic echocardiography no residual shunt was observed but the device was not identifiable (Figure 1A); after injection of agitated saline solution in a vein of the right arm and the...

In a preceding paper of ours,1 it has been reported that the estimation of shunt magnitudes can be done by using a single earpiece dye-dilution curve with some correction of the build-up time in infants and children with the left-to-right shunt. The present report describes a new, simplified method devised for the calcula tion of the shunt values using a single earpiece dye-dilution curve, beca...

The case of a 19-year-old female with a neonatal diagnosis of Tetralogy of Fallot and complete atrioventricular (AV) septal defect is described. She had had a corrective surgery at the age of 6. She did well afterwards despite recent complain of fatigability with mild arterial hypoxaemia. Transoesophageal echocardiography depicted a 12 mm atrial septal defect (ASD) with a bidirectional shunt, w...

I thank Dr. Cole for focusing on a figure I recently published in CHEST (August 2004).1 However, I totally disagree with his comments. Dr. Cole claims that the time interval between the two peaks of the so-called camel transpulmonary thermodilution curve (with two humps) that was presented in my article is “much too short” to mimic a right-to-left intracardiac shunt. When the camel curve is due...

In right ventricular failure (RVF) a decrease of right ventricular afterload and improvement of left atrial filling could be achieved by a pulmonary artery-left atrial (PA)-shunt. To avoid cyanosis, artificial oxygenation is necessary. In 11 pigs a PA-shunt was created. An interventional lung assist device (ILA) was installed from the femoral artery to vein in 5 pigs (serial in relation to nati...

Eisenmenger syndrome is term used to describe a physiologic state that begins with the presence of a leftto-right shunt. This results in a net increase in pulmonary blood flow eventually leading to the development of pulmonary vascular disease and increased pulmonary vascular resistance. The increase in pulmonary vascular resistance results in a rise in pulmonary artery pressure. Pulmonary arte...

BACKGROUND Coronary shunts are widely used to prevent myocardial ischemia during off-pump coronary artery bypass graft (OPCAB) procedures. Although clinical effectiveness has been reported, actual perfusion flow has not been well assessed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate actual shunt flow and its pattern during passive coronary perfusion in clinical OPCAB. METHODS In 15 OPCAB cases,...

BACKGROUND Platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome is a rare syndrome characterized by dyspnea and hypoxia when the patient is sitting or standing. Here we report a case of platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome caused by a right hemidiaphragmatic elevation with giant liver cyst that triggered a right-to-left shunt through the patent foramen ovale. This case report is the first presentation of a case secondary ...