title: Is there an association between bicuspid aortic valve and neuroblastoma?
abstract: An association has been reported between neuroblastoma and congenital heart disease, frequently bicuspid aortic valve [Holzer and Franklin. Arch Dis Child 2002;87:61-64; George et al. J Pediatr 2004;144:444-448; Friedman et al. Pediatr Cardiol 1998;19:480-481; Monte et al. Am J Pediatr Hematol Oncol 1985;7:109-116]. To evaluate this in a large patient group with neuroblastoma, we examined echocardiograms of patients with neuroblastoma from 1987 to January 2007 to determine if there was a higher incidence of bicuspid aortic valves compared to the general population without neuroblastoma. We found that only 0.7% of neuroblastoma patients had the congenital heart defect of bicuspid aortic valves compared with 1-2% in the general population [Braverman et al. Curr Prob Cardiol 2005;30:470-522]. Our data show that neuroblastoma is not associated with bicuspid aortic valves.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stefanski
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wedel
authors.forename: Courtney
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Haller
authors.forename: Mary Ella
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Pierpont
authors.forename: Joanna L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Perkins
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000002:abnormalities*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000150:complications*; D055815:Young Adult