Long-term survival in patients with univentricular heart: A nationwide, register-based cohort study

Background: Children with univentricular heart (UVH) have a limited life expectancy without early treatment. Long-term survival in UVH, in an unselected nationwide cohort, is unclear. Objectives: To determine long-term survival in patients with UVH including non-operated patients compared with a control population in Sweden. Methods: Patients with UVH born between 1970 and 2017 were identified from the National Registers and were matched for birth year and sex with 10 individuals without congenital heart disease. Follow-up was from birth until death, transplantation, or the end of study. Mortality risk was estimated by Cox proportional regression models and Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Results: We included 5075 patients with UVH including 758 (14.9%) patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), and 50,620 matched controls. Median follow-up time was 13.6 (IQR 0.7; 26.8) years. The hazard ratio for death in patients with UVH was 53.0 (95% confidence interval, 48.0–58.6), and for HLHS, 163.5 (95% CI, 124.3–215.2). In patients with HLHS, 84% of those who were born between 1982 and 1993 died or had transplantation during the first year of life compared with 29% born between 2006 and 2017. In patients with UVH without HLHS, death/transplantation in the first year of life declined from 36% in those born between 1970 and 1981 to 8.7% in those born between 2006 and 2017. Conclusions: The risk of mortality was >50 times higher in patients with UVH than in controls. The survival rate increased with a later decade of birth but was still <75% in patients born with HLHS

Castleman Disease: A Multicenter Case Series from Turkey.

Objective: Castleman disease (CD) is a rare disease also known as angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia. The two main histological subtypes are the hyaline vascular and plasma cell variants. It is further classified as unicentric CD (UCD) or multicentric CD (MCD) according to the anatomical distribution of the disease and the number of lymph nodes involved. The aim of this multicenter study was to evaluate all cases of CD identified to date in Turkey to set up a national registry to improve the early recognition, treatment, and follow-up of CD. Materials and Methods: Both adult (n=130) and pediatric (n=10) patients with lymph node or involved field biopsy results reported as CD were included in the study. Patients' demographic information, clinical and laboratory characteristics, imaging study results, treatment strategies, and clinical outcomes were evaluated retrospectively. Results: A total of 140 patients (69 male and 71 female) with a diagnosis of UCD (n=73) or MCD (n=67) were included. The mean age was 39 years in the UCD group and 47 years in the MCD group. Female patients were more common in the UCD group. The most common histological subtype was hyaline vascular for both UCD and MCD patients. Asymptomatic patients were more common in the UCD group. Anemia, elevations of acute phase reactants, and hypoalbuminemia were more common in the MCD group. The most commonly used treatment strategies for UCD were surgical excision, rituximab, and radiotherapy, respectively. All UCD patients were alive at a median of 19.5 months of follow-up. The most commonly used treatment strategies for MCD were methyl prednisolone, R-CHOP, R-CVP, and rituximab. Thirteen MCD patients had died at a median of 34 months of follow-up. Conclusion: This study is important in presenting the patient characteristics and treatment strategies for CD from Turkey, with the potential of increasing awareness about CD. Treatment data may help in making decisions, particularly in countries that do not have access to siltuximab. However, larger prospective studies are needed to make definitive conclusions