ABSTRACT

The imbalance between the prooxidant and antioxidant reactions causes an enhancement in oxidative stress which may contribute to the pathogenesis of congenital heart defects with left-to-right shunting.

The healthy children and the children who have congenital heart defects with left-to-right shunt are statistically similar with respect to age, sex, height, weight and body mass index (p>0.05 for all). Both groups have statistically similar echocardiography findings including interventricular septum thickness, left ventricular internal diameter, left ventricular posterior wall, systolic volume, end diastolic volume, fractional shortening, ejection fraction and left ventricular mass values (p>0.05 for each). These groups are also statistically similar in aspect of myocardial performance index, E´, A´, S´, relaxation time and contraction time values that have been specified for left ventricle, interventricular septum and right ventricle (p>0.05 for each). The healthy children and the children with congenital heart defects have statistically similar blood count parameters as well as serum concentrations of vitamin D and brain natriuretic peptide. The children who have congenital heart defects with left-to-right shunt have significantly higher TOS and OSI values than those of the healthy children (respectively, 35.6±2.8 nmol H2O2 equiv/mg protein vs 16.1±4.6 nmol H2O2 equiv/mg protein, p=0.018 and 32.4±1.4 vs 11.5±3.2, p=0.022).

This is a prospective, randomized case-control study which reviews 40 healthy children and 40 children who have congenital heart defects with left-to-right shunt.

This study aims to investigate the role of oxidative stress congenital heart defects with left-to-right shunt by determining total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status and oxidative stress index (OSI) in affected children.