Evaluation of cardiac functions with Doppler echocardiography in children with Down syndrome and anatomically normal heart

• Published in: Cardiology in the young 2013-04, Vol.23 (2), p.174-180
• Main Authors: Al-Biltagi, Mohammed, Serag, Amany R., Hefidah, Mohammed M., Mabrouk, Maaly M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Case-Control Studies; Child; Diastole; Down Syndrome - diagnostic imaging; Down Syndrome - physiopathology; Echocardiography, Doppler; Echocardiography, Doppler, Color; Female; Heart - physiopathology; Heart Valves - physiopathology; Humans; Isometric Contraction - physiology; Male; Original Article; Pressure; Stroke Volume - physiology; Systole; Time Factors; Ventricular Function, Left - physiology
• ISSN: 1047-9511; 1467-1107
• DOI: 10.1017/S1047951112000613

To study the cardiac functions in Down syndrome children who did not have structural cardiac lesion by conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography. A total of 85 children with Down syndrome without anatomic heart disease and 50 normal control children were subjected to the assessment of right and left ventricular functions by both two-dimensional and tissue Doppler echocardiography. Children with Down syndrome had significantly higher left ventricular ejection fraction detected by two-dimensional echocardiography and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction detected by tissue Doppler than observed in the controls. In addition, children with Down syndrome also had right ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunctions. Children with Down syndrome had significantly higher pulmonary artery systolic pressure than the control children. There was no significant difference in the cardiac functions between children with non-disjunction Down syndrome and those with the translocation type. Despite an apparently normal heart, children with Down syndrome may have silent disturbed cardiac functions, which may be detected by two-dimensional or tissue Doppler echocardiography. This may have an important clinical implication, especially before involving Down syndrome children in surgery or strenuous exercise.