The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Thoracic surgeons typically perform fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) before thoracotomy, usually on the day of the operation after intubation with a single-lumen endotracheal tube (ETT) and before insertion of a double-lumen ETT. This routine requires two laryngoscopies and two intubations. The laryngeal mask airway (LMA) is an airway device developed in England and approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1991 for clinical use in the United States. It requires neither mask ventilation nor laryngoscopy and allows FOB visualization of the epiglottis, larynx, and entire trachea. We assessed the LMA as an alternative to a single-lumen ETT for FOB before thoracotomy. ⋯ Insertion of the LMA causes minimal hemodynamic response. From the time of induction of general anesthesia, insertion of the LMA is quick, simple, and safe and eliminates the need for endotracheal intubation with a single-lumen ETT before double-lumen tube insertion. The LMA, in contrast to the ETT, allows a complete survey of the larynx and trachea. The LMA is autoclavable, reusable, and cost effective. Therefore, in patients who require FOB immediately before thoracotomy, LMA use should be the standard for airway evaluation.
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Four experimental protocols were carried out to assess the ability of esmolol to induce and maintain reversible cardiac arrest under continuous normothermic (37 degrees C) perfusion. ⋯ Esmolol hydrochloride can be used as effectively as potassium for inducing and maintaining predictable and reversible cardiac arrest during normothermic cardiac operations.
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Patients with hypoplasia of the right ventricle and tricuspid valve have historically undergone a total cavopulmonary connection or a two-ventricle repair with atrial fenestration. ⋯ Bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis with intracardiac repair may avoid the long-term complications associated with the Fontan modifications and eliminates the need of atrial fenestration in most instances. This operation should be considered for select patients with hypoplasia of the right ventricle and tricuspid valve.
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Myocardial revascularization had its beginnings in the early 1900s with extracardiac operations, such as sympathetic denervation and thyroid ablation. From there it evolved through neovascularization via pericardial poudrage and cardiopexy in the 1930s to 1950s, to mammary artery myocardial implantation in the 1940s and endarterectomy in the 1950s, to saphenous vein- and mammary artery-coronary artery bypass grafting in the 1960s. The history of the surgical treatment of myocardial ischemia is presented here in chronologic sequence to highlight the prescient thinking and the persistence of efforts, as well as the false starts and the rediscovery of old ideas, that have marked the development of this treatment.