Interactive cardiovascular and thoracic surgery
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Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Jun 2012
Case ReportsSuccessful use of a military haemostatic agent in patients undergoing extracorporeal circulatory assistance and delayed sternal closure.
We report the successful control of bleeding in two patients who underwent post-cardiotomy extracorporeal circulatory support (ECMO) and then developed life-threatening bleeding due to severe coagulopathy. After the failure of conventional techniques, bleeding control was achieved using Celox Gauze (MedTrade Products Ltd, Cheshire, UK) packed on the sternal edges and pericardial cavity.
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Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Jun 2012
Bicuspidy does not affect reoperation risk following aortic valve reimplantation.
Aortic valve reimplantation has been shown to be a safe procedure. However, evidences of durability in bicuspid aortic valves (BAVs) are limited in the literature. Between 2002 and 2011, 132 patients (mean age 61 ± 12 years) underwent aortic valve reimplantation. ⋯ Patients with valve cusp repair showed a higher rate of aortic valve reoperation; however, only postoperative aortic regurgitation >2+/4+ was significant risk factor for redo procedure at multivariate analysis. Aortic valve reimplantation in BAV without cusp repair provides excellent mid-term results. Further observations and longer follow-up are necessary to determine if BAV sparing, even in the presence of cusps alterations, could allow satisfying durability.
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Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Jun 2012
Survival impact of node zone classification in resected pathological N2 non-small cell lung cancer.
We assessed the prognostic value of the 'Zone-classification' which has been proposed by the Japanese Association for Lung Cancer (JALC) for mediastinal nodal metastases in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Among 357 NSCLC patients who underwent curative surgery, 46 patients with pathological (p) N2 disease were divided into two groups as follows: 32 patients in whom the nearer zone was involved were classified as the pN2a-1 group, and 14 patients in whom the further mediastinal node station was involved were classified as the pN2a-2 group. ⋯ A multivariate analysis confirmed that pN2a-2 sub-classification (hazard ratio 2.77; P = 0.03) and undergoing pneumonectomy (hazard ratio 4.86; P < 0.01) were independent and significant factors in predicting a poor prognosis. In pN2 NSCLC patients, the involved mediastinal zone according to the primary tumour site was important in prediction of survival.
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Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Jun 2012
Case ReportsCandidal mediastinitis successfully treated using vacuum-assisted closure following open-heart surgery.
Deep sternal wound infections (DSWIs) are an uncommon but serious complication after open-heart surgery. The reported incidence of DSWIs due to Candida albicans is 0.4%, but these infections have an extremely high mortality of 56%. ⋯ We treated her with negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). This is the rare case report that provides evidence that NPWT is a safe and suitable technique for the management of Candidal DSWIs.
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Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Jun 2012
Re-exploration for bleeding or tamponade after cardiac operation.
The aim of this study was to determine the outcome of patients who had a chest resternotomy and to identify risk factors for higher in-hospital mortality after re-exploration for bleeding and/or tamponade after cardiac operations. We present our experience of an acceptably low re-exploration rate after cardiac surgery, and the outcomes of those re-explored. This was a retrospective analysis of medical records of all patients who had a chest re-exploration for the control of bleeding and cardiac tamponade over a 7-year period (2000-06), at the Cardiothoracic Centre of the Hospital České Budějovice, Czech Republic. ⋯ An identifiable source of bleeding was found in 72.4% patients. Risk factors associated with higher in-hospital mortality after re-exploration for bleeding and tamponade include delayed resternotomy, higher levels of lactate and lower levels of haematocrit before revision and other well-known risk factors such as older age, more complex cardiac procedures, redo operations, longer cardiopulmonary bypass, renal failure and diabetes mellitus. Patients who need re-exploration are at a higher risk of complications, morbidity and mortality if the time until re-exploration is prolonged.