title: Assessment of cardiac function by M-mode echocardiography in selenium-deficient phenylketonuric children.
abstract: Selenium (Se) deficiency is associated with cardiac and skeletal muscle dysfunction. Twenty well children aged 2-16 years (10 male) attending the Phenylketonuria (PKU) Clinic at the Royal Children's Hospital, Brisbane, had low Se levels (mean 0.29 +/- 0.02 s.e.m. mumol/L; normal range 0.56-1.16 mumol/L). Their myocardial function was assessed at rest and after exercise provocation by M-mode echocardiography in order to exclude occult left ventricular dysfunction. At rest, fractional shortening (FS) was normal (mean 38.1 +/- 1.1 s.e.m. %, n = 20). After exercise, FS increased significantly (P less than 0.001) from 37.6 +/- 1.4% to 44.3 +/- 1.2%, n = 12). This was associated with a significant rise (P less than 0.001) in heart rate (HR) from 77.3 +/- 3.1 beats/min to 125.8 +/- 5.2 beats/min (n = 12). The normal resting FS and normal increase in FS and HR with exercise is evidence against significant cardiac impairment in this group of Se-deficient children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Royal Children's Hospital, Herston, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Latham
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Spink
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Galbraith
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003677:Deficiency Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods; D005080:Exercise Test; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010661:Phenylketonurias / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012643:Selenium / Q000172:deficiency*
chemical_list: D012643:Selenium