Interactive cardiovascular and thoracic surgery
-
Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Sep 2010
Case ReportsAzygous vein laceration secondary to blunt thoraco-abdominal trauma.
Less than 25 cases of azygous vein lacerations secondary to blunt trauma have been published in the medical literature, most of these injuries were resulting from motor vehicle accidents, but have been described due to falls or assaults. These lesions should be considered as thoracic great vessels injuries and if not recognized promptly carry a high morbidity and mortality. We report a case of a young male involved in a high-speed car collision, admitted to the emergency room in an unstable condition secondary to hypovolemic shock due to azygous vein injury. ⋯ Laparotomy and splenectomy were also required, the abdomen was closed. The thoracic cavity was left packed and closure was delayed for 48 h. The patient survived and was transferred to another hospital seven days later.
-
Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Sep 2010
Case ReportsChallenging pacemaker implantation in a patient with acquired dextrocardia after pneumonectomy, skoliosis and complete heart block.
Pacemaker implantation after pneumonectomy is rare and there have been no previously reported cases of acquired dextrocardia after implantation. The authors report the case of a pacemaker implantation in a patient with complete heart block, impaired left ventricular function, sclerosis of heart valves and radiation induced vasculopathy resulting in ostial stenosis of the right coronary artery 30 years after radiochemotherapy in childhood. Acquired dextrocardia after right pneumonectomy for mucoepidermoid carcinoma made implantation a challenge due to and poor fluoroscopic visualization of the heart and increased radio-opacity of the right chest when compared to congenital dextrocardia.