title: Aortic mineralisation in children with congenital cardiac disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Congenital cardiac diseases are the most frequent congenital malformations. In adult patients, the mineralisation of the aorta due to cardiovascular disease is very common, but vascular mineralisation in paediatric cardiopathies is a topic less studied. This study shows that children with a complex congenital cardiopathy show a high degree of vascular mineralisation in the ascending aorta. This can be part of the cardiac failure pathophysiology due to congenital cardiopathies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine the presence and degree of vascular mineralisation in samples of the ascending and descending aorta of children with complex congenital cardiopathies.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  We obtained 34 vascular tissues from the autopsies of 17 children with congenital cardiac disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a scanning electron microscope with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in order to analyse the vascular tissues.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The amount of minerals was two times higher in the ascending aorta than in the descending aorta of children with congenital cardiac disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study provides evidence that vascular mineralisation can start at an early age, and that it is higher in the ascending aorta than in the descending aorta.
authors: Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Grupo de Genética Intervencionista, Departamentos de Biología Molecular, Hemodinámica, Cardiología Pediátrica, Patología, México, DF, México.
authors: Manuel A
authors: MA
authors: Baños-González
authors: Juan
authors: J
authors: Calderón-Colmenero
authors: Alberto
authors: A
authors: Aranda-Fraustro
authors: Marco A
authors: MA
authors: Peña-Duque
authors: Marco A
authors: MA
authors: Martínez-Ríos
authors: Benjamín
authors: B
authors: Valente-Acosta
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Linares-López
authors: Hugo
authors: H
authors: Delgado-Granados
authors: Aurora
authors: A
authors: de la Peña-Díaz
mesh_terms: D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000737:chemistry*; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000151:congenital*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008903:Minerals / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D008903:Minerals