Browsing by Author "Tokel, N. Kursad"

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    Management of pediatric cardiac transplantation candidates with pulmonary hypertension and high pulmonary vascular resistance
    (2020) Yakut, Kahraman; Varan, Birgul; Erdogan, Ilkay; Cindik, Nimet; Gokdemir, Mahmut; Gumus, Ayten; Tokel, N. Kursad; Sezgin, Atilla; 0000-0002-6759-1795; 32558420
    Background and objectives. Right ventricular failure is an important cause of mortality and morbidity after orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT). The right ventricle of the donor may fail to accommodate to the high pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) of the recipient. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) due to chronic heart failure with PVRi > 4 Wood units.m(2), transpulmonary gradient > 15 mmHg adversely affect the outcome of OHT. In this study we aimed to evaluate management strategies in our pediatric cardiac transplantation candidates with PH and high PVR prior to OHT. Method. Twenty-six cardiac transplantation candidates (age: 10.2 +/- 4.6, 1-17 years) underwent cardiac catheterization for the determination of PVR and pulmonary arterial pressure. They were admitted to the hospital and received 1-3 days of intravenous (IV) vasodilator therapy; 0.5-3 mu g/kg/min nitroglyserin and/or 0.5-3 mu g/kg/min nitroprusside, 5-15 mu g/kg/min dobutamin and/or dopamin to keep systolic blood pressure above 80 mmHg. Results. Thirteen patients had dilated cardiomyopathy (CMP), 11 had restrictive CMP, one had hypertrophic CMP and one had congenital heart disease (CHD). Nineteen of the 26 patients underwent OHT. Mean pulmonary arterial pressure of the patients ranged between 11 and 82 mmHg (30.4 +/- 16 mmHg) and PVRi between 0.41-21.4 Wood units.m(2) (5.3 +/- 5.7). Nine patients had PVRi above 4 Wood units.m(2). Six of these patients had IV treatment for longer than three days and some received specific anti-PH treatment. Eventually they underwent a pulmonary vasoreactivity test with IV iloprost and six had PVRi <4 Wood units.m(2). Five of them underwent OHT. Conclusion. Cardiac transplantation candidates with PH and high PVR should be evaluated after conditioning with vasodilator and inotropic treatment. Specific treatment for PH and vasoreactivity testing may help selected patients reenter the transplantation list.
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    Neurologic Complications After Pediatric Heart Transplant: A Single-Center Experience
    (2022) Orgun, Ali; Erdogan, Ilkay; Varan, Birgul; Sezer, Taner; Tokel, N. Kursad; Ozkan, Murat; Sezgin, Atilla; 33797352
    Objectives: Neurologic complications that can lead to serious mortality and morbidity in pediatric heart transplant recipients have been reported to range from 23.6% to 45%. In this study, the frequency, time, cause, and characteristics of neurologic complications in pediatric heart transplant recipients were evaluated. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data of 37 pediatric heart transplant recipients aged <18 years who were seen at our hospital between 2007 and 2017. Medical records were reviewed to identify neurologic complications. Clinical features were compared between pediatric heart transplant patients with and without neurologic complications. Results: The rate of posttransplant neurologic complications in pediatric heart transplant was 27% (10/37). Median age of patients with neurologic complications was 12 years (range, 11-18 years). Median time for neurologic complications was 3 days (range, 2-46 days). Primary diagnoses of these 10 recipients were dilated cardiomyopathy (n = 7) and restrictive cardiomyopathy (n = 3). There were no significant differences between recipients with and without neurologic complications (P>.05). The etiologies of neurologic complications were posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in 3 patients (8.1%), stroke in 2 patients (5.4%), peripheral neuropathy in 2 patients (5.4%), hypertensive encephalopathy in 1 patient (2.7%), and drug encephalopathy in 1 patient (2.7%). Conclusions: Neurologic complications may lead to serious mortality and morbidity in pediatric heart transplant patients. Seizures, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, stroke, peripheral neuropathy, transient ischemic attack, and cerebral infections are the most common neurologic complications, which are seen in the perioperative period in particular. Careful follow-up of pediatric heart transplant patients, with detection and early treatment of neurologic findings, will contribute to lower rates of sequelae. To our knowledge, this is the largest study to show a detailed experience of neurologic complications in pediatric heart transplant patients from a single center in Turkey.
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    The results of interventional catheterization in infants weighing under 2,000 g
    (2019) Varan, Birgul; Tokel, N. Kursad; Yakut, Kahraman; Erdogan, Ilkay; Ozkan, Murat; 32082877
    Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the early and mid-term results of interventional cardiac catheterization and procedure-related complications in infants weighing <2,000 g. Methods: Between May 1998 and April 2017, 22 patients (14 males, 8 females; mean age 14 +/- 8.4 days; range, 1 to 30 days) weighing < 2,000 g who underwent a total of 23 interventional cardiac catheterization were retrospectively analyzed. Procedures were balloon coarctation angioplasty in 14, balloon atrial septostomy in five, balloon aortic valvuloplasty in one, balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty in one, patent ductus arteriosus closure in one, and stent placement in the ductus in one patient. Another patient underwent balloon coarctation angioplasty and balloon aortic valvuloplasty in the same session. Results: The overall success rate of the interventional procedures was 95.6%. The mean follow-up was 3.2 +/- 1.6 years (range, 1 to 5.5) for 18 patients with available records. The rate of serious complications was 18%. The most frequent complications in the early period were low hemoglobin levels requiring erythrocyte suspension transfusion (54.5%) and vascular injury (54.5%). Two patients required reintervention, one patient required surgery after the second intervention, and three patients required only surgery. Six patients underwent palliative interventional procedures, and interventional procedures led to definitive treatment in five patients. Conclusion: The mortality and morbidity rate of surgery is high in premature under 2,000 g infants and interventional heart catheterization can be life-saving in this patient group, although it is associated with significant complications in low birth weight newborns.