Paediatric cardiology-Hall of Fame : Arkalgud Sampath Kumar.

The oldest civilisation on the face of the Earth can be traced to India, home to the largest democracy of our times. Fast forward five millenia, a young nation at 78 places the aortic cross clamp most of others on a per diem basis. Somewhere in between, Donald Nixon Ross, who has been interred in this great Hall of Fame [1] opined that "it is rare to know of surgeons who can perform an operation better and often, seamless than its namesake, and among the few there are, Sampath Kumar is one".

Pediatric cardiac intensivists in low-middle-income countries - necessity or dispensable luxury?

Pediatric cardiac intensive care (PCIC) is now a well-recognized specialty in the well-resourced developed world, and its need and utilization in optimal delivery of care for congenital heart disease (CHD) especially congenital heart surgery (CHS) is well established. The delivery of CHD care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) continues to face numerous challenges, not the least of which is the availability of resources to develop and maintain PCIC units and the pediatric intensivists to man them. This article explores the question as to whether reliable PCIC is feasible in LMICs and remains a necessity, or if it is dispensable.

Type 2 cytokines act on enteric sensory neurons to regulate neuropeptide-driven host defense.

Enteric nervous system (ENS)-derived neuropeptides modulate immune cell function, yet our understanding of how inflammatory cues directly influence enteric neuron responses during infection is considerably lacking. Here, we characterized a primary enteric sensory neuron (PSN) subset producing the neuropeptides neuromedin U (NMU) and calcitonin gene-related peptide β (CGRPβ) and coexpressing receptors for the type 2 cytokines interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-13. Type 2 cytokines amplified NMU and CGRPβ expression in PSNs both in vitro and in vivo, and this was abrogated by PSN-specific deletion.

Repeat sternotomy for congenital heart surgery-impact of inadvertent cardiac injury.

Purpose: To assess the impact of complications resulting from inadvertent cardiac injury occurring during repeat sternotomy (RS) for congenital heart surgery and identify possible predisposing risk factors for this eventuality.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was initiated to investigate complications related to RS in congenital heart surgery. Hospital records of patients who underwent RS from January 2016 to December 2020 in the department of Paediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery were reviewed.

The infected right ventricular outflow tract in children and adults with congenital heart disease.

Unlabelled: Abnormalities of the right ventricular outflow tract are common within the spectrum of congenital heart disease. Reconstruction of this outflow with or without the use of prosthetic material forms an integral part of many surgical procedures. Consequently, this part of the heart constitutes an important locus for infective endocarditis.

Biallelic CRELD1 variants cause a multisystem syndrome, including neurodevelopmental phenotypes, cardiac dysrhythmias, and frequent infections.

Purpose: We sought to delineate a multisystem disorder caused by recessive cysteine-rich with epidermal growth factor-like domains 1 (CRELD1) gene variants.

Methods: The impact of CRELD1 variants was characterized through an international collaboration utilizing next-generation DNA sequencing, gene knockdown, and protein overexpression in Xenopus tropicalis, and in vitro analysis of patient immune cells.

Results: Biallelic variants in CRELD1 were found in 18 participants from 14 families.

Advocacy at the Eighth World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery.

The (WCPCCS) will be held in Washington DC, USA, from Saturday, 26 August, 2023 to Friday, 1 September, 2023, inclusive. The will be the largest and most comprehensive scientific meeting dedicated to paediatric and congenital cardiac care ever held. At the time of the writing of this manuscript, has 5,037 registered attendees (and rising) from 117 countries, a truly diverse and international faculty of over 925 individuals from 89 countries, over 2,000 individual abstracts and poster presenters from 101 countries, and a Best Abstract Competition featuring 153 oral abstracts from 34 countries.

Know your neighbors: microbial recognition at the intestinal barrier and its implications for gut homeostasis and inflammatory bowel disease.

Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) perform several physiological and metabolic functions at the epithelial barrier. IECs also play an important role in defining the overall immune functions at the mucosal region. Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) on the cell surface and in other cellular compartments enable them to sense the presence of microbes and microbial products in the intestinal lumen.

Alloimmunization following antigen-negative red blood cell transfusion.

Background: Red blood cell (RBC) alloimmunization can occur secondary to transfusion or pregnancy. It is observed most frequently among patients with hemoglobinopathies and myeloid neoplasms. Although previous antigen exposure is generally required for alloimmunization, some alloantibodies may develop naturally without prior exposure.

How effective are ionization state-based QSPKR models at predicting pharmacokinetic parameters in humans?

Optimizing the pharmacokinetics (PK) of a drug candidate to support oral dosing is a key challenge in drug development. PK parameters are usually estimated from the concentration-time profile following intravenous administration; however, traditional methods are time-consuming and expensive. In recent years, quantitative structure-pharmacokinetic relationship (QSPKR), an in silico tool that aims to develop a mathematical relationship between the structure of a molecule and its PK properties, has emerged as a useful alternative to experimental testing.

Prediction of QcrB Inhibition as a Measure of Antitubercular Activity with Machine Learning Protocols.

It has always been a challenge to develop interventional therapies for . Over the years, several attempts at developing such therapies have hit a dead-end owing to rapid mutation rates of the tubercular bacilli and their ability to lay dormant for years. Recently, cytochrome complex (QcrB) has shown some promise as a novel target against the tubercular bacilli, with Q203 being the first molecule acting on this target.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in tissue: the comparative roles of RT-qPCR, in situ RNA hybridization, and immunohistochemistry.

Introduction: The emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to a rapidly expanding arsenal of molecular diagnostic assays for the detection of viral material in tissue specimens.

Areas Covered: We review the value and shortcomings of available tissue-based assays for SARS-CoV-2 detection in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue, including immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). The validation, accuracy, and comparative utility of each method is discussed.

Unexpectedly low hemoglobin A1c in a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) assays are currently utilized to monitor patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM). These assays employ various methods, some of which are more prone to interference than others. Commonly recognized causes of interference include hemoglobin variants and conditions that result in reduced red blood cell survival such as hemolytic anemia and certain medications.

Identification of potential antileishmanial 1,3-disubstituted-4-hydroxy-6-methylpyridin-2(1H)-ones, in vitro metabolic stability, cytotoxicity and molecular modeling studies.

We report the synthesis and in vitro evaluation of 1,3-disubstituted-4-hydroxy-6-methylpyridin-2(1H)-one derivatives against Leishmania donovani. Amongst the compound library synthesized, molecules 3d, 3f, 3h, 3i, 3l, and 3m demonstrated substantial dose-dependent killing of the promastigotes. Their IC values range from 55.

Concomitant factor VIII inhibitor and lupus anticoagulant in an asymptomatic patient.

Acquired hemophilia A, caused by autoantibodies that bind to and neutralize the activity of coagulation factor VIII (FVIII), almost universally presents as a severe bleeding diathesis. Lupus anticoagulants (LAs), autoantibodies directed against phospholipids or protein-phospholipid complexes, manifest clinically with an increased risk of thrombosis. While these autoantibodies are uncommon, the distinctive clinical presentation in conjunction with the typical laboratory findings often enable straightforward identification of the underlying autoantibody.

The modified Senning operation - surgical aspects.

The advent of the arterial switch operation for the treatment of transposition of great arteries (TGA) made the atrial switch operation largely redundant and its use in the developed world is now confined to the atrial component of the double-switch operation for congenitally corrected TGA. In resource-limited countries, however, it remains relevant as a treatment option for patients presenting late with transposition and a regressed left ventricle. The operation is intricate with many potential pitfalls, and this "how I do it" article describes the operative steps in detail to enable surgeons to learn this procedure and make it a part of their surgical armamentarium.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric cardiac services in India.

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted pediatric cardiac services across the globe. Limited data are available on the impact of COVID.19 on pediatric cardiac care in India.

Evaluation of vanillin as a probe drug for aldehyde oxidase and phenotyping for its activity in a Western Indian Cohort.

Background: Aldehyde oxidase (AO), a molybdoflavoenzyme, is emerging as a key player in drug discovery and metabolism. Despite having several known substrates, there are no validated probes reported for studying the activity of AO in vivo. Vanillin (4-hydroxy 3-methoxy benzaldehyde) is an excellent substrate of AO, in vitro.

A systematic approach to epicardial echocardiography in pediatric cardiac surgery: An important but underutilized intraoperative tool.

Intraoperative echocardiography is an integral component of the peri-operative management of pediatric heart disease. It confirms the adequacy of surgery, identifies residual lesions, and can provide useful hemodynamic data. It, therefore, helps to decide on the need for revision of repair and guides the postoperative management strategy.