Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T03:25:40.079Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A 74-year-old unoperated univentricular heart: the oldest reported survival

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 October 2015

Valentina Gesuete*
Affiliation:
Pediatric Cardiology Unit, S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Marianna Fabi
Affiliation:
Pediatric Cardiology Unit, S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Marco Bonvicini
Affiliation:
Pediatric Cardiology Unit, S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
*
Correspondence to: V. Gesuete, MD, Pediatric Cardiology Unit, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy. Tel: +39 051 636 3435; Fax: +39 051 636 3116; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Univentricular heart is a rare congenital heart malformation. Nowadays prognosis is considered to be strictly linked to surgical intervention, and survival into late adulthood is unusual.

In some patients native haemodynamic circulation balances pulmonary and systemic blood flow, allowing long-term survival without the need for surgery.

We report the case of a 74-year-old man with a univentricular heart in natural history, and we discuss the factors that might contribute to his extraordinary long-term survival.

Type
Brief Reports
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Steinberg, EH, Dantzker, DR. Single ventricle with severe pulmonary hypertension: natural survival into the third decade of life. Am Heart J 1993; 125: 14511453.Google Scholar
2. Gabbarini, F. A 61-year-old man with Holmes’ heart. Lancet 1999; 353: 646.Google Scholar
3. Samanek, M. Children with congenital heart disease: probability of natural survival. Pediatr Cardiol 1992; 13: 152158.Google Scholar
4. Moodie, DS, Ritter, DG, Tajik, AJ, O’Fallon, WM. Long-term follow-up in the unoperated univentricular heart. Am J Cardiol 1984; 53: 11241128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5. Hager, A, Kaemmerer, H, Eicken, A, Fratz, S, Hess, J. Long-term survival of patients with univentricular heart not treated surgically. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2002; 123: 12141217.Google Scholar
6. Dhillon, PS, Li, A, Gonna, H, Waed, DE. Intra-isthmus reentry associated with uncorrected double inlet left ventricle and transposition of the great arteries. Congenit Heart Dis 2013; 8: E56E60.Google Scholar
7. Goldberg, HL, Sniderman, K, Devereux, RB, Levin, A. Prolonged survival (62 years) with single ventricle. Am J Cardiol 1983; 52: 214215.Google Scholar
8. Oliver, JM, Fdez-de-Soria, R, Dominguez, FJ, Ramos, F, Calvo, L, Ros, J. Spontaneous long-term survival in single ventricle with pulmonary hypertension. Am Heart J 1990; 119: 201202.Google Scholar
9. Habeck, JO, Reinhardt, G, Findeisen, V. A case of double inlet left ventricle in a 59-year-old-man. Int J Cardiol 1991; 30: 119120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. Koito, H, Ohkubo, N, Suzuki, J, Iwasaka, T, Inada, M. Prolonged survival in a patient with a single ventricle without pulmonary stenosis. Chest 1994; 106: 971972.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Warner, KG, Payne, DD, Fulton, DR, et al. Excision of a pulmonary valve abscess in a 61-year-old woman with single ventricle. Ann Thorac Surg 1996; 61: 213215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Ammash, NM, Warnes, CA. Survival into adulthood of patients with unoperated single ventricle. Am J Cardiol 1996; 77: 542544.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13. Restaino, G, Dirksen, MS, de Ross, A. Long-term survival in a case of unoperated single ventricle. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 1994; 20: 221225.Google Scholar
14. Terada, M, Watanabe, H, Iino, K, Kakizaki, M, Takahashi, M, Ito, H. Adequate pulmonary stenosis allowed long-term survival in a patient with unoperated single ventricle. J Am Coll Cardiol 2012:59(13): e25.Google Scholar