The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Cold-induced urticaria (CIU) is a potentially life-threatening immunologic disorder characterized by swelling and edema of exposed tissue in response to a cold stimulus. We describe the successful management of a patient with a history of severe CIU who required coronary bypass and repair of an ascending aortic aneurysm using hypothermic circulatory arrest.
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The financial burden of postoperative morbidity after cardiac operations remains ill defined. This study evaluated the costs associated with the performance of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with and without aortic valve replacement (AVR) and determined the incremental costs associated with major postoperative complications. ⋯ Postoperative complications after CABG ± AVR are associated with significantly increased incremental costs. The most costly complications include newly instituted hemodialysis, infectious complications, and perioperative myocardial infarction. Identification of the most common and the most costly complications provides opportunities to target improvement in patient quality and the delivery of cost-effective care.