Nadorlik Holly, Bowman Jessica L, Fitzgerald-Butt Sara, Mah May Ling, McBride Kim L, Kovalchin John P, Garg Vidu
The Heart Center, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, 43205, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43205, USA.
Pediatr Cardiol. 2017 Dec;38(8):1709-1715. doi: 10.1007/s00246-017-1740-4. Epub 2017 Sep 25.
Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common type of congenital heart defect (CHD) and is associated with clinically significant cardiovascular complications including valve calcification and ascending aortopathy (AscAo), predominantly occurring in adulthood. While a limited number of genetic etiologies for BAV have been defined, family members of affected individuals display BAV along with other left-sided CHD. This has led to guidelines from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology that recommend echocardiographic screening of first-degree relatives of affected adults. While potentially beneficial in adults, the yield of such screening in children is unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate a cohort of children with familial BAV to determine the frequency of development of AscAo, and to identify risk factors that contribute to abnormal aortic growth. Echocardiograms over a 10-year follow-up period were reviewed on 26 patients with familial BAV [22 male, 4 female; 22 with isolated BAV, 6 with BAV and aortic coarctation (CoA)]. All had a family history of CHD and were recruited from 2005 to 2010 as part of a genetics research study. Four aortic segments (annulus, root, sinotubular junction, ascending aorta) on parasternal long-axis echocardiographic images were measured by a single observer. The mean age at first echocardiogram was 7.1 ± 5.5 and that was 13.8 ± 6.2 years at the last echocardiogram. Only patients with > 2 echocardiograms in the 10-year period were included. Z score measurements of the aorta were plotted over time and based on these the cohort was divided into two groups: Group 1 (abnormal)-Z score for any segment > 2 or a change in Z score > 2 over follow-up; Group 2 (normal)-Z score < 2 throughout follow-up and change in Z score < 2. Nineteen out of 26 children displayed abnormal aortic growth or dilation of the aorta. BAV with right/left cusp fusion was more frequent in Group 1 (15/18) versus Group 2 (3/7) (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in gender, aortic valve dysfunction, presence of CoA, family history, cardiac function, presence of left ventricular hypertrophy, or medication use between the 2 groups. In our longitudinal study of children with familial BAV, the majority display evidence of abnormal growth of the ascending aorta during the follow-up period consistent with AscAo and support the extension of current adult guidelines to the pediatric population. While we find that right/left cusp fusion is a risk factor for abnormal aortic growth, additional studies are needed to identify other factors to better select children who require serial screening.
二叶式主动脉瓣(BAV)是最常见的先天性心脏缺陷(CHD)类型,与临床上显著的心血管并发症相关,包括瓣膜钙化和升主动脉病变(AscAo),主要发生在成年期。虽然已确定的BAV遗传病因数量有限,但受影响个体的家庭成员除了患有BAV外,还患有其他左侧CHD。这导致美国心脏协会和美国心脏病学会发布了相关指南,建议对受影响成年人的一级亲属进行超声心动图筛查。虽然这种筛查对成年人可能有益,但其在儿童中的筛查效果尚不清楚。本研究的目的是调查一组患有家族性BAV的儿童,以确定AscAo的发生频率,并识别导致主动脉异常生长的危险因素。对26例患有家族性BAV的患者[22例男性,4例女性;22例为孤立性BAV,6例为BAV合并主动脉缩窄(CoA)]进行了为期10年的随访超声心动图检查。所有患者均有CHD家族史,于2005年至2010年作为遗传学研究的一部分被招募。由一名观察者在胸骨旁长轴超声心动图图像上测量四个主动脉节段(瓣环、根部、窦管交界、升主动脉)。首次超声心动图检查时的平均年龄为7.1±5.5岁,最后一次超声心动图检查时为13.8±6.2岁。仅纳入在10年期间有超过2次超声心动图检查的患者。随时间绘制主动脉的Z评分测量值,并据此将队列分为两组:第1组(异常)——任何节段的Z评分>2或随访期间Z评分变化>2;第2组(正常)——随访期间Z评分<2且Z评分变化<2。26名儿童中有19名表现出主动脉异常生长或主动脉扩张。第1组(15/18)中右/左瓣叶融合的BAV比第2组(3/7)更常见(p<0.05)。两组在性别、主动脉瓣功能障碍、CoA的存在、家族史、心功能、左心室肥厚的存在或药物使用方面无显著差异。在我们对患有家族性BAV的儿童进行的纵向研究中,大多数儿童在随访期间表现出升主动脉异常生长的证据,与AscAo一致,并支持将当前成人指南扩展至儿科人群。虽然我们发现右/左瓣叶融合是主动脉异常生长的一个危险因素,但还需要进一步研究以识别其他因素,以便更好地选择需要进行系列筛查的儿童。