Write a Scientific Paper (WASP): Past and anticipated trends in cardiology service requirements at Mater Dei Hospital, Malta

INTRODUCTION

The requirement for medical services fluctuates. This study was carried out in order to attempt to extrapolate the service requirements for various cardiology services at Mater Dei Hospital, Malta over the coming five years, based on service demands from previous years.

METHODS

Past annual data was obtained from hospital records for various services (to 2017). Linear regression was carried out using a bespoke Excel™ spreadsheet in order to extrapolate possible services requirements up to 2022.

RESULTS

All services are expected to increase, with forecasts ranging between 41 and 354%, depending on services being considered.

DISCUSSION

It is easy to "get on with it" and perform the work required at the workplace but this study has shown that it is equally important to anticipate demands lest lack of planning leads to long and important waiting lists for critical diagnostics and treatments. Health care provision requirements are increasing worldwide. Even using conservative estimates and in the absence of the creation of new services, the demands for extant services are likely to continue to grow. Unless medium term plans are made for hardware, software, physical space and staffing, and the funding thereof, waiting lists for investigations in this speciality are bound to rise. This may be mitigated by novel treatments but since these cannot be predicted, it would be safer and wiser to plan ahead lest we are overwhelmed. This paper has also shown how WASP (Write a Scientific Paper) precepts can be applied to elegantly study a problem and write up a paper.

The Impact of Maternal Congenital Heart Disease on Pregnancy Outcomes in Malta – a Retrospective Study

<p class="AbstractBody"><strong>Background:</strong> Most female patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) are becoming pregnant.  Maternal CHD can have a negative impact on mother and foetus. This is the first study investigating pregnancy outcomes in Maltese grown-up congenital heart disease (GUCH) patients and one of few to compare these with outcomes in women without heart disease.</p><p class="AbstractBody"><strong>Methods</strong><strong>:</strong> Known GUCH pregnancies for the period of 2007-2014 were extracted from our database (GUCH cohort) and cardiovascular outcomes retrieved from hospital notes.  A control cohort of 540 pregnancies in women without cardiovascular disease was generated through twenty-fold random matching based on subject age from among all pregnancies in Maltese nationals for the same 8-year period.  Obstetric and offspring outcomes were compared between the two cohorts.</p><p class="AbstractBody"><strong>Results</strong><strong>:</strong>  The GUCH cohort consisted of 27 pregnancies in 24 women.  Only 1/27 patients (3.7%) had cardiovascular complications.  Elective Caesarean sections were commoner (29.6% vs. 15.4%) and unassisted vaginal deliveries less frequent (51.9% vs. 64.6%) in the GUCH cohort (p=0.02).  Obstetric complication rates were similar.  GUCH women had smaller babies (median 3030g vs. 3230g; p=0.045) and showed a trend towards more small-for-gestational age babies (18.5% vs. 8.4%; p=0.08) and congenital malformations (7.4% vs. 2.4%; p=0.06).</p><p class="AbstractBody"><strong>Conclusions:  </strong>Despite the potential adverse effects of maternal CHD on mother and foetus, most pregnancies are uncomplicated and outcomes comparable to those in women without heart disease, particularly if baseline clinical status is good.  Based on our findings, it is being proposed that prospective mothers be counselled about the possibility of having smaller infants.</p>

The first case of the Reveal LINQ™ Insertable Cardiac Monitor implanted in a child in Malta

BACKGROUND

The Reveal LINQ™Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) or Implantable Loop recorder (ILR), is a miniaturized, subcutaneous, single lead, electrocardiographic monitoring device which has been extensively used in the differential diagnosis of unexplained syncope and palpitations in adults.

PATIENT DESCRIPTION

We describe an asymptomatic 20-month-old boy, noted to have incidental bradycardia on routine examination and in whom Holter monitoring revealed complete heart block (CHB). Over 1 year, the longest recorded pause lengthened from 1.8 seconds to 3.6 seconds.

RESULTS

The Reveal LINQ™ ICM was inserted for long-term monitoring of the CHB. The device will record the electrocardiogram (ECG) continuously for up to 3 years, freezing in its memory any significant arrhythmic events. This will enable the diagnosis of the longest pauses, confirm whether they are lengthening over time and assist with the decision of pacemaker implantation.

CONCLUSION

The Reveal LINQ™ ICM is much smaller than the conventional loop recorder and has been shown to be ideal for close monitoring of asymptomatic yet potentially dangerous arrhythmias in young children.

Preseptostomy myocardial infarction in a patient with complex transposition of the great arteries

In transposition of the great arteries, systemic venous return is preferentially routed to the aorta, and any spontaneous or iatrogenic emboli may therefore cause organ infarction. We present a patient with transposition of the great arteries who developed myocardial infarction prior to balloon septostomy and, also, was later documented to have sustained brain infarction despite adequate precautionary measures. Minimal handling of venous sites in these patients is crucial.

Normal adult echocardiography - apical views

Children with congenital heart disease will grow into adults who may also develop adult heart disease. This article is reviews the adult two and four chamber echocardiographic views, and is a continuation of the our previous article which dealt with the parasternal views.

Risk factors for QRS prolongation after repaired tetralogy of Fallot

INTRODUCTION

Repaired tetralogy of Fallot is usually conducive to a normal and unrestricted lifestyle. However, occasionally, late sudden death occurs due to ventricular tachycardia. This is thought to be due to a combination of factors, including both left and right ventricular dilation, which may be associated with valvular incompetence and residual right ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Several studies have shown that QRS duration > 180 ms is a predictor for life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We recalled our tetralogy population (n = 57) to identify risk factors for prolonged QRS duration on the resting ECG. Factors examined included history, demographics, symptoms, surgery, chest X-ray, ECG and echocardiography. Extensive analysis found only a significant positive correlation between QRS duration and degree of residual right ventricular outflow tract obstruction.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study suggests that residual right ventricular outflow tract gradients may be a very significant contributor to QRS prolongation. It will be interesting to see if future studies of larger cohorts confirm this finding.

Normal adult echocardiography - parasternal views

Children with congenital heart disease will grow into adults who may also develop adult heart disease. This article attempts to familiarise practitioners that usually deal with congenital heart disease with the conventional views that are obtained during adult echocardiography.

Normal adult coronary angiography

Children with congenital heart disease will grow into adults who may also develop coronary artery disease. This article attempts to familiarise practitioners that usually deal with congenital heart disease with the conventional views that are obtained during adult coronary angiography.

Aortic stenosis after uncomplicated surgical repair of tetralogy of Fallot

Tetralogy of Fallot is only rarely associated with aortic valvar disease. We present a child who had uncomplicated repair of tetralogy of Fallot at 16 months of age, and who developed mild aortic stenosis three years later, with mild to moderate aortic incompetence being seen two years subsequent to that event. No aortic valvar disease had been noted prior to surgery. No intervention is planned at this stage.

The prognostic value of blood glucose in diabetic patients with acute myocardial infarction

The aim of the study was to investigate prospectively the prognostic value of blood glucose on admission in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with an acute myocardial infarction. Three hundred and thirty-three diabetic and 565 non-diabetic patients were admitted with acute myocardial infarction during the study period of 3.5 years. There was a significant association between mortality and blood glucose on admission in diabetic patients (regression coefficient, r = 0.92, 0.5 < p < 0.02) but not in non-diabetic individuals (r = 0.69, 0.2 < p < 0.5). Age- and sex-standardized mortality was higher in the diabetic group (12.2% vs 7.4%, p < 0.03), but was identical if standardized also for blood glucose on admission. We conclude that a high blood glucose on admission is a bad prognostic indicator in a diabetic patient with an acute myocardial infarction. The excess mortality in diabetic patients with acute myocardial infarction can be attributed to the higher proportion with hyperglycaemia.

Abnormal intraventricular flow patterns in left ventricular dysfunction determined by color Doppler study

We examined the relation between left ventricular (LV) flow dynamics measured by color Doppler, and either global or regional LV function in 19 normal subjects (group 1), in 55 patients with old myocardial infarction (MI) (29 without [group 2] and 26 with LV aneurysm [group 3]), and in 16 with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (group 4). We calculated by M-mode color Doppler a flow persistence index (FPI) (duration of flow directed in systole toward the apex/LV ejection time). Contrast echocardiography was performed as a control method in 14 patients of the four groups. In normal subjects, rapid systolic inversion of flow toward the aorta was evident (FPI: 0.11 +/- 0.16). In all but one patient in group 2, a similar LV flow pattern was observed, but FPI was greater (0.32 +/- 0.26). In groups 3 and 4, a paradoxical antegrade LV flow pattern was evident during the entire period of systole (FPI: 1.13 +/- 0.42 and 1.28 +/- 0.36, respectively). LV flow patterns were reproduced in echo-contrast studies. FPI was related to LV end-diastolic volume (r = 0.77), end-systolic volume (r = 0.82), and ejection fraction (r = -0.84). However, when data were analyzed separately in the different groups, these correlations were significant only in groups 2 and 3. Paradoxical flow pattern is not peculiar to regional LV dysfunction; it also occurs in global LV dysfunction. This LV flow abnormality may develop after MI even in the absence of severe LV dyssynergy or dilation, and is quantitatively related to the degree of LV dysfunction.