title: Spontaneous endogenous microbubbles in a child with Berlin heart ventricular assist device.
abstract: We report the case of an 11-year-old boy with familial dilated cardiomyopathy on biventricular assist devices (Berlin Heart EXCOR) who was found to have spontaneous endogenous microbubbles in the left ventricular (LV) cavity on routine echocardiogram. Although no major sequelae resulted from the presence of these microbubbles, it did however lead to several noninvasive investigations. To our knowledge, this is a novel observation of spontaneous endogenous microbubbles in a patient with a Berlin Heart. The unknown clinical significance of this phenomenon highlights the need for further studies.
authors: Division of Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Stollery Children's Hospital, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. santydhillon@yahoo.ca
authors: Santokh S
authors: SS
authors: Dhillon
authors: Nee Scze
authors: NS
authors: Khoo
authors: Luis
authors: L
authors: Quinonez
authors: Holger
authors: H
authors: Buchholz
mesh_terms: D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D004618:Embolism, Air / Q000209:etiology*; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male