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Is there an association between bicuspid aortic valve and neuroblastoma?
Heather Stefanski1, Lauren Wedel, Courtney Haller
1Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Insights
Neuroblastoma is not associated with bicuspid aortic valves, a congenital heart defect. This study found a lower incidence in neuroblastoma patients compared to the general population.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric oncology
- Cardiology
- Genetics
Background:
- Previous reports suggested an association between neuroblastoma and congenital heart disease, specifically bicuspid aortic valves.
- This potential link warrants further investigation in larger patient cohorts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the incidence of bicuspid aortic valves in a large cohort of patients diagnosed with neuroblastoma.
- To compare the prevalence of bicuspid aortic valves in neuroblastoma patients with that of the general population.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of echocardiogram data from neuroblastoma patients.
- Data collection spanned from 1987 to January 2007.
- Comparison of bicuspid aortic valve incidence against established population data.
Main Results:
- Only 0.7% of neuroblastoma patients exhibited bicuspid aortic valves.
- The incidence of bicuspid aortic valves in the general population is estimated to be 1-2%.
- The observed rate in neuroblastoma patients was lower than in the general population.
Conclusions:
- Neuroblastoma is not associated with an increased incidence of bicuspid aortic valves.
- The findings contradict previous suggestions of a positive association.
- This study indicates no link between neuroblastoma and this specific congenital heart defect.
Abstract:
An association has been reported between neuroblastoma and congenital heart disease, frequently bicuspid aortic valve [Holzer and Franklin. Arch Dis Child 2002;87:61-64; George et al. J Pediatr 2004;144:444-448; Friedman et al. Pediatr Cardiol 1998;19:480-481; Monte et al. Am J Pediatr Hematol Oncol 1985;7:109-116]. To evaluate this in a large patient group with neuroblastoma, we examined echocardiograms of patients with neuroblastoma from 1987 to January 2007 to determine if there was a higher incidence of bicuspid aortic valves compared to the general population without neuroblastoma. We found that only 0.7% of neuroblastoma patients had the congenital heart defect of bicuspid aortic valves compared with 1-2% in the general population [Braverman et al. Curr Prob Cardiol 2005;30:470-522]. Our data show that neuroblastoma is not associated with bicuspid aortic valves.