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Background: In patients following complete repair of the tetralogy of Fallot, the duration of the QRS complex is associated with the size and mechanical function of the right ventricle, which are contemporarily assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Methods: 38 patients aged 18.0–54.9 years (median age 24.9 years) who had undergone complete repair of the tetralogy of Fallot were examined using CMR and concomitant 24 h ambulatory electrocardiography monitoring. We used statistical analysis to investigate the correlations between electrocardiographic parameters (heart rate, HR; PQ interval, PQ; QRS duration, QRS; and corrected QT interval, QTc) and CMR results (right ventricular ejection fraction, RVEF; right ventricular end-diastolic volume index, RVEDVI; and right ventricular end-systolic volume index, RVESVI) for patients after early and late repair. Results: The ECG-based parameters were not correlated with time since repair. There were significant correlations between QRS duration and RVEF (r = −0.61), RVEDVI (r = 0.56), and RVESVI (r = 0.54) for early operated patients but not for late-operated patients. No other substantial correlations were reported. Conclusion: Despite its role in screening for arrhythmias, electrocardiography has a limited role as a predictor of morphology and function of the right ventricle in patients after repair of the tetralogy of Fallot.

Background: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is associated with better health in children.Aim: The study was conducted to analyze the trajectory of RSA in 10-year-olds.Methods: A follow-up study on 120 healthy children (62 boys) aged 10.7 ± 0.5 years consisted of a standard 12-lead electrocardiogram, measurements of height, weight and blood pressure. The protocol was repeated after 3 years. Assessment of RSA based on semi-automatic measurements of RR intervals included: the difference between the longest and shortest RR interval duration (pvRSA), the root mean square of differences between successive RR intervals (RMSSD), the standard deviation of the RR interval length (SDNN) and their equivalents corrected for heart rate (RMSSDc and SDNNc).Results: A the first visit 61.7% of children presented with RSA; 51.7% 3 years later. 23.3% of them had RSA only on the first examination; 13.3% only on the second one. The pvRSA, RMSSD, and SDNN measured in 2019 did not differ significantly from their 2016 equivalents (p > 0.05). The decline in RSA defined by RMSSD was noted in 52.5% of children and in 54.2% when defined by SDNN. The corrected values decreased in 68.3 and 64.2% of the participants for RMSSDc and SDNNc, respectively. The students with RSA at both visits had lower heart rate (p < 0.001) and systolic blood pressure (p = 0.010) compared to those with rhythmic electrocardiograms.Conclusions: RSA in children is changeable, though its measurable indices should be adjusted to heart rate.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has become an important branch of healthcare worldwide. Apart from their undeniable advantages, the virtual visits lack physical examination, which can lead to important diagnostic mistakes. We hereby present a case of a pediatric patient whose weight gain, initially attributed to a sedentary lifestyle was, in fact, due to sub-acute right heart failure in the context of a ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm. The condition was not diagnosed until the patient presented at the emergency. The boy was successfully treated with two percutaneous interventions and returned to his previous stature.

Pericarditis is a rare, but severe cause of chest pain in children that can easily be overlooked during routine diagnostics. Fibrinous pericarditis was recognized in a 5-year old patient who presented with fever and chest pain. Despite thorough diagnostics, no evident etiological factor was found. Furthermore, the disease was unresponsive to broad-spectrum antibiotics and NSAIDs, however oral prednisone was found to cause rapid improvement in the patients' condition. It was presumed that the patient's condition was caused by a blunt trauma to the chest experienced 3 days prior to the onset of symptoms. In an 8-month follow-up the patient remains in good overall condition and no recurrences were observed.