Life expectancy and end-of-life communication in adult patients with congenital heart disease, 40-53 years after surgery

Aims: Although survival of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) improved significantly over time, life expectancy is still not normal. We aimed to investigate how adult patients, their partners, and treating cardiologists estimated the individual life expectancy of CHD patients. Furthermore, preferences regarding end-of-life (EOL) communication were investigated. Methods and results: In this study, we included 202 patients (age: 50 ± 5) who were operated in childhood (&lt;15 years old) between 1968 and 1980 for one of the following diagnoses: atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, pulmonary stenosis, tetralogy of Fallot, or transposition of the great arteries. A specific questionnaire was administered to both the patients and their partners, exploring their perceived life expectancy and EOL wishes. Two cardiologists independently assessed the life expectancy of each patient. Most adults with CHD believed their life expectancy to be normal. However, significant differences were found between estimated life expectancy by the cardiologist and patients (female: P = 0.001, male: P = 0.002) with moderate/severe defects, as well as for males with mild defects (P = 0.011). Regarding EOL communication, 85.1% of the patients reported that they never discussed EOL with a healthcare professional. Compared with patients with mild CHD, significantly more patients with moderate/severe defect discussed EOL with a physician (P = 0.011). The wish to discuss EOL with the cardiologist was reported by 49.3% of the patients and 41.7% of their partners. Conclusion: Adult patients, especially with moderate/severe CHD, perceived their life expectancy as normal, whereas cardiologists had a more pessimistic view than their patients. Increased attention is warranted for discussions on life expectancy and EOL to improve patient-tailored care.</p

What endocrinologists can do to prevent cardiovascular complications in adults with Prader-Willi syndrome:Lessons from a case series

Context: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex rare genetic syndrome. Mortality in patients with PWS is 3% per year. In nearly half of the patients, the cause of death is of cardiopulmonary origin. Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular (CV) disease in PWS adults is complicated by the behavioral phenotype, reduced ability to express physical complaints, high pain threshold and obesity. Objective: To describe the challenges in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of CV disease in PWS adults, in order to increase awareness and improve medical care. Methods: Retrospective study of medical records of adults visiting the Dutch PWS reference center. Results: We describe the challenges encountered during diagnosis and treatment of four PWS adults with heart failure. All had pre-existent peripheral edema. CV risk factors in these patients were obesity (n=4), type 2 diabetes mellitus (n=2), hypertension (n=2), hypogonadism (n=3) and sleep apnea (n=2). Remarkably, all patients were younger than 40 years during their first cardiac decompensation. All patients presented with progressive shortness of breath and/or orthopnea and progressive pitting edema. In 117 controls with PWS without CV problems, 31% had leg edema. Conclusion: Diagnosing CV problems in PWS adults is challenging. Peripheral edema is common in PWS adults without CV morbidity, which makes edema in general a poor marker for heart failure. However, when edema is of the pitting kind and progressive, this is a strong predictor of cardiac decompensation. We provide practical recommendations for diagnosing and treating CV problems in this vulnerable patient population.</p

The Unnatural History of the Ventricular Septal Defect

BACKGROUND: Few prospective data are available regarding long-term outcomes after surgical closure of a ventricular septal defect (VSD). OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate clinical outcomes>30 years after surgical VSD closure. METHODS: Patients who underwent surgical VSD closure during childhood between 1968 and 1980 were reexamined every 10 years. In 2012, we invited eligible patients to undergo another examination, which included electrocardiography, Holter monitoring, echocardiography, bicycle ergometry, measurement of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, and subjective health assessment. RESULTS: Cumulative survival was 86% at 40 years. Causes of mortality were arrhythmia, heart failure, endocarditis, during valvular surgery, pulmonary hypertension, noncardiac causes, and unknown causes. Cumulative event-free survival after surgery was 72% at 40 years. Symptomatic arrhythmias occurred in 13% of patients and surgical or catheter-based reinterventions in 12%. Prevalence of impaired right ventricular systolic function increased from 1% in 2001 to 17% in 2012 (p=0.001). Left ventricular systolic function was impaired but stable in 21% of patients. Aortic regurgitation occurred more often in the last 20 years (p=0.039), and mean exercise capacity decreased (p=0.003). N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (median: 11.6 pmol/l [interquartile range: 7.0 to 19.8 pmol/l]) was elevated (>14 pmol/l) in 38% of patients. A concomitant cardiac lesion, for example, patent ductus arteriosus, and aortic cross-clamp time were determinants of late events (hazard ratio: 2.84 [95% confidence interval: 1.23 to 6.53] and hazard ratio: 1.47 per 10 min [95% confidence interval: 1.22 to 1.99], respectively). Patients rated their subjective health status significantly better than a reference population. CONCLUSIONS: Survival up to 40 years after successful surgical VSD closure is slightly lower than in the general Dutch population. Morbidity is not negligible, especially in patients with a concomitant cardiac lesion

Red cell distribution width in adults with congenital heart disease: A worldwide available and low-cost predictor of cardiovascular events

BACKGROUND: Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a standard component of the automated blood count, and is of prognostic value in heart failure and coronary heart disease. We investigated the association between RDW and cardiovascular events in patients with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD). METHODS AND RESULTS: In this prospective cohort study, 602 consecutive patients with ACHD who routinely visited the outpatient clinic were enrolled between 2011 and 2013. RDW was measured in fresh venous blood samples at inclusion in 592 patients (median age 33 [IQR 25-41] years, 58% male, 90% NYHA I) and at four annual follow-up visits. During 4.3 [IQR 3.8-4.7] years of follow-up, the primary endpoint (death, heart failure, hospitalization, arrhythmia, thromboembolic events, cardiac intervention) occurred in 196 patients (33%). Median RDW was 13.4 (12.8-14.1)% versus 12.9 (12.5-13.4)% in patients with and without the primary endpoint (P<0.001). RDW was significantly associated with the endpoint when adjusted for age, sex, clinical risk factors, CRP, and NT-proBNP (HR 1.20; 95% CI 1.06-1.35; P=0.003). The C-index of the model including RDW was slightly, but significantly (P=0.005) higher than the model without (0.74, 95% CI 0.70-0.78 versus 0.73, 95% CI 0.69-0.78). Analysis of repeated RDW measurements (n=2449) did not show an increase in RDW prior to the occurrence of the endpoint. CONCLUSIONS: RDW is associated with cardiovascular events in patients with ACHD, independently of age, sex, clinical risk factors, CRP, and NT-proBNP. This readily available biomarker could therefore be considered as an additive biomarker for risk stratification in these patients