Interactive cardiovascular and thoracic surgery
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Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Mar 2011
Case ReportsRight pulmonary artery agenesis and coronary-to-bronchial artery aneurysm.
Isolated unilateral pulmonary artery agenesis is a rare congenital anomaly that may be complicated with hemoptysis, recurrent pulmonary infections or pulmonary hypertension. To our knowledge the occurrence of a coronary syndrome associated with a coronary-to-bronchial artery saccular aneurysmal collateralization has never been described before. A 44-year-old female presented a congenital right pulmonary artery agenesis associated with a hypotrophic and multicystic right lung complicated with recurrent bronchitis. ⋯ We first performed an embolization of those two aneurysms in order to decrease the risk of hemorrhage and coronary steal, before performing a right pneumonectomy. In this case, the surgery was indicated because of the pathological lung and the risk of postembolization ischaemia. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was doing well six months later.
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Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Mar 2011
Valve-sparing aortic root replacement in children: intermediate-term results.
Valve-sparing root replacement (VSRR) is an attractive option for aortic aneurysm in children with low-operative risk, but mid- and late-term results are not yet known. Between 1997 and 2009, 56 children (mean age 11.5 years) underwent VSRR at our institution. Twenty-six (46.4%) had Marfan syndrome and 24 (42.8%) had Loeys-Dietz syndrome. ⋯ No patient developed >2+ AI after reimplantation. VSRR in children is a safe alternative to aortic root replacement with mechanical or biological prostheses. In this particular group of patients with connective tissue disorders and proclivity toward annular dilation and late AI, reimplantation is superior to remodeling.
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Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Mar 2011
ReviewIs lung volume reduction surgery effective in the treatment of advanced emphysema?
A best evidence topic in thoracic surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was whether lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) might be superior to medical treatment in the management of patients with severe emphysema. Overall 497 papers were found using the reported search, of which 12 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. ⋯ Five studies compared LVRS to MTA using data independent from the NETT trial. They found greater six-minute walking distances (433 vs. 300 m, P<0.002), improved total lung capacity (18.8 vs. 7.9% predicted, P<0.02) and quality of life scores (47 vs. 23.2, P<0.05) with LVRS compared to MTA. Even though LVRS has a much greater cost per person over five years ($137,000 vs. $100,200, P<0.001), its improved lung function, greater exercise capacity and better quality of life scores make it a preferable treatment option to MTA, with particular indications for patients with upper-lobe-predominant disease and low exercise capacity.
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Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Mar 2011
Candidemia after cardiac surgery in the intensive care unit: an observational study.
Candidemia is a well-recognized complication of hospital stay, especially in critically ill patients. There is not a general consensus that predictors for candidemia in cardiosurgical intensive care unit (cICU) are different from a general ICU and it has been reported that cardiopulmonary bypass time is a specific risk factor in the cICU. We performed a prospective study to evaluate the main predictors for candidemia in patients admitted to the cICU. ⋯ Only 26 patients (1.3%) had candidemia after an ICU-LOS of 20 days (inter-quartile range, IQR 8-49 days). Total parenteral nutrition [odds ratio (OR)=9.56; confidence interval (CI)=1.741-52.534], severe sepsis (OR=4.20; CI=1.292-13.667), simplified acute physiology score II (OR=1.16; CI=1.052-1.278) and ICU-LOS >20 days (OR=6.38; CI=1.971-20.660) were independent predictors of candidemia. Patients undergoing cardiac surgery developed candidemia late after cICU admission and the independent predictors were similar to the general ICU.