Tuberous sclerosis complex is a genetic condition with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance, with an incidence of approximately 1:10,000, and 1:6,800 in the paediatric population, caused by a mutation of either
Tuberous sclerosis complex is a genetic condition with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance, with an incidence of approximately 1:10,000, and 1:6,800 in the paediatric population, caused by a mutation of either of two genes: TSC1 on chromosome 9 (9q34) or TSC2 on chromosome 16 (16p13.3). Detailed American guidelines for cardiologists published in 2014 emphasize the vast assortment of phenotypes that may be found on tuberous sclerosis complex spectrum. The condition may manifest either very early, with foetal cardiac rhabdomyomas, observed as early as at 15 weeks of gestation, or with cardiovascular symptoms (aberrant cardiac conduction in particular) in adult tuberous sclerosis complex patients with no previous history of any such symptoms. Cardiovascular manifestations in tuberous sclerosis complex patients, apart from rhabdomyomas, arrhythmia and conduction disorders, include also rarer symptoms, such as coarctation of the aorta, thoracic or abdominal aortic aneurysms, rhabdomyositis (a rare form of cardiomyopathy), and hypertension. Echocardiography is the method of choice in the diagnosis of cardiac involvement in the course of tuberous sclerosis complex. Rhabdomyomas tend to occur between 20 and 30 weeks of foetal life. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging can be used an alternative, and sometimes as a useful adjunct to echocardiography in the diagnostic workup of tuberous sclerosis complex. In the past 5 years, there have been some reports regarding the use of everolimus to induce prompt regression of rhabdomyomas in cases of heart failure resistant to conventional pharmacotherapy. The natural history of a vast majority of rhabdomyomas, however, is spontaneous regression within the child’s first year of life. In isolated cases, cardiac surgery is required to excise the tumours causing refractory heart failure.
Cystic fibrosis is a congenital genetically determined disorder caused by pathogenic mutations in both alleles of the CFTR protein gene. Due to its common occurrence in the European population as well as severe and chronic course, all neonates in Poland have been screened for this disease since 2009. This enables early diagnosis and specialist care over patients. The introduction of newborn screening has also resulted in distinguishing a new category of patients with the following diagnosis: cystic fibrosis screen positive, inconclusive diagnosis or CFTR-related metabolic syndrome. This group includes children with positive newborn screen results who do not present clinical symptoms suggestive of cystic fibrosis and in whom a mutation of unknown clinical consequences is detected and/or borderline sweat test results arrive in the course of further diagnosis. The prognosis in these patients is uncertain since some of them may develop symptoms of cystic fibrosis or CFTR-related metabolic syndrome at some point in the future while other may remain fully healthy. Patients with an inconclusive diagnosis of cystic fibrosis require specialist care, which enables their further observation, diagnosis or possible verification of the diagnosis and implementation of proper treatment. This strategy gradually supplements the knowledge on mutations that have uncertain clinical consequences. It is also significant that the patient’s family understand possible consequences of a cystic fibrosis screen positive, inconclusive diagnosis (CFSPID).
Assessment of the entire surface of the mucosa of the diagnosed area is one of the key factors for high quality endoscopy. This is not obtainable without special preparation for endoscopy. Nationwide educational actions dedicated to informing patients how to prepare the bowel for colonoscopy have resulted in increased rate of detected pathological structures, clinically silent precancerous lesions in particular. Special pharmacological products for adequate colon preparation are available. Endoscopists are required to assess how well the colon was prepared for the procedure and include this information in their endoscopy repo