title: Is lung biopsy useful for surgical decision making in congenital heart disease?
abstract: Sixty patients with congenital heart disease (CHD), age range 3 months-45 years (median 2 years), underwent lung biopsy to exclude pulmonary vascular disease (PVD): 25 had an atrioventricular (AV) septal defect, 14 a ventricular septal defect (VSD), 7 a complete transposition of the great arteries (TGA) + VSD, 3 an atrial septal defect, and 2 a patent ductus arteriosus; 9 had other malformations. Scoring of histological section (0-4) according to a modified Heath-Edwards classification disclosed that 30 patients had severe "irreversible" PVD (greater than or equal to grade 3) (11 AV septal defect, 8 VSD, 6 TGA + VSD and 5 others); 8 patients were younger than 1 year. Pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) was calculated in 51 patients and exceeded 7 U/m2 in 1 of 2 patients with grade 0, in 9 of 18 with grade 1, in 1 of 4 with grade 2, in 11 of 18 with grade 3, and in 8 of 9 with grade 4. PVR was also calculated after 100% oxygen administration in 19 patients, 14 of whom had a resting PVR greater than or equal to 7 U/m2. PVR persisted greater than or equal to 7 U/m2 in 5 patients: 4 had PVD greater than or equal to grade 3 and died after surgery. PVR fell to under 7 U/m2 in 14 patients, 3 of whom had PVD greater than or equal to grade 3:1 patient with grade 4 was not operated upon and 2 with grade 3 were operated upon: all are alive. Follow-up in discharged living patients was 100%, with a mean of 50 months. Fifty-five patients underwent surgery with 10 early and 2 late deaths. Among the 12 subjects with a fatal outcome, 10 had irreversible lesions. The 5 non-operated patients all had irreversible lesions at biopsy, and are still alive.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Frescura
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thiene
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giulia Gagliardi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazzucco
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Pellegrino
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Daliento
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Biscaglia
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carminati
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gallucci
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008168:Lung / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation; D012307:Risk Factors; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology