The public defence will be held as a video conference over Zoom.
The defence will follow regular procedure as far as possible, hence it will be open to the public and the audience can ask ex auditorio questions when invited to do so.
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Due to copyright reasons, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. In order for the faculty to have time to process the order, it must be received by the faculty no later than 2 days prior to the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. Inquiries regarding the thesis after the public defence must be addressed to the candidate.
Digital Trial Lecture – time and place
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Assistant Professor Rafael Alonso-Gonzalez, Toronto General Hospital, Canada
- Second opponent: Senior Consultant Assami Rösner, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Associate Professor John-Peder Escobar Kvitting, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor Annetine Staff, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Consultant cardiologist Mette-Elise Estensen, University of Oslo
Summary
Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is the most common cyanotic congenital heart diseases. It consists of a combination of four cardiac defects: ventricular septal defect, right ventricular outflow obstruction, right ventricular hypertrophy and over-riding of the aorta. The surgical correction of the anatomical defects is performed within the first months of life.
Life expectancy and quality of life in patients operated for TOF have increased importantly. In female patients pregnancy is usually well tolerated. However, adults operated for TOF are subject to higher mortality rate than in the general population, and complications as ventricular arrhythmias (VA) and sudden cardiac death represent major concerns.
Despite yearly follow-up, it is not easy to identify patients with higher risk of complications, as well as it is not clear whether pregnancy have an influence on the long term.
We aimed to improve the identification of risk factors that contribute to complications in adult operated for TOF. Furthermore, we aimed to investigate the influence of pregnancy on the long term outcome in females.
We selected patients >18 years old diagnosed for TOF and with history of complete surgical correction. A subgroup of patients was investigated with echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance.
We showed that almost one out of four adults operated for TOF experience VA about thirty years after surgical repair. The incidence of VA was similar in males and females. Males had more left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle (RV) dysfunction compared to females, expressed by lower RV and LV global longitudinal strain values and lower LV ejection fraction values.
Experienced pregnancy was associated with higher prevalence of VA, being the increased risk expressed by higher RV mechanical dispersion and higher values of NT-proBNP, independently of age. Pregnancy seems not to cause alterations in RV and LV volumes, heart function, or grade of fibrosis.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.