The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Improvement of quality of life by minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum (MIRPE) has been demonstrated only for the period with implanted pectus bar. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effects of MIRPE on psychosocial and physical well-being after removal of the pectus bar. ⋯ The positive impact of MIRPE on psychosocial and physical well-being in children and adolescents persists after bar removal. Thus we consider MIRPE to be justified for cosmetic reasons.
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We describe 3 patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, hospital-acquired pneumonia who demonstrated a microbiological and clinical failure with vancomycin despite adequate trough levels. All 3 patients were cured with linezolid.
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Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) measured after heart surgery has been associated with operative mortality. We sought to determine whether measuring cTnI after heart surgery provides additional prognostic information beyond that provided by validated preoperative risk scores, the Veterans Affairs (VA) risk score and the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE). ⋯ Postoperative cTnI measured 24 hours after heart surgery is independently associated with operative death and perioperative myocardial infarction and improves the ability to predict operative mortality in comparison with preoperative risk scores alone.