The Thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon
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In 1986 development, testing and improvement of a multi-center based quality assurance procedure has been started by the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery supplied by a research fund of the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology. Initially five cardiac surgery units took part in defining quality related items, collecting associated data and establishing a common data base. ⋯ Preoperative clinical state, intraoperative actions and postoperative results including unexpected events sum up to an average record length of 300 items per procedure. Evaluation and representation of quality related data ist done in two ways: an overall quality profile consisting of 17 so called quality indicators accompanied by six patient-mix indicators enables each cardiac surgeon to get a quick global reference within the multicentrical data context, and several problem oriented profiles assist building and testing of special quality-related hypotheses towards improvement of procedure standards and performance.
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Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Apr 1988
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialThe role of the priming fluid in the metabolic response to cardiopulmonary bypass in children of less than 15 kg body weight undergoing open-heart surgery.
The major metabolic response to open-heart surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass has been shown in adults to be modified by the components of the pump priming fluid. This effect is likely to be more significant in children. Data on 29 children less than 15 kg body weight are presented. ⋯ In addition, CPD stored blood and the sodium bicarbonate buffer increased the sodium concentration of the prime to hypernatraemic levels in both the H and P groups which caused an increase in sodium concentration during bypass. Therefore important changes during bypass occur as a direct result of the individual components of the priming fluid. These changes may result in osmolal flux, hyperglycaemia and hyperlactataemia, all of which have been reported to be potentially harmful.
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Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Apr 1988
[Effect of tricuspid annuloplasty in mitral/aortic valve replacement on the clinical aspects and global function of the right heart chamber].
The clinical improvement after mitral or aortic valve surgery is primarily due to the correction of the aortic/mitral valve function and the subsequent decrease of pulmonary artery pressure. The hemodynamic effect of an additional tricuspid annuloplasty, however, is still unclear. To assess the influence of a tricuspid annuloplasty using DeVega- or Carpentier-technique on the clinical outcome, hemodynamics, and right ventricular function in patients with moderate to severe tricuspid insufficiency, 38 patients were studied pre- and 11 +/- 4 months postoperatively. ⋯ I, from 1.4 +/- 1.1 to 0.6 +/- 0.7 in gr. II, and from 1.7 +/- 1.0 to 0.8 +/- 0.8 in gr. III (p less than 0.02).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Oct 1987
Comparative StudySequential or single pulse defibrillation? Investigations towards energy reduction in experimental animals.
With introduction of the automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator for treatment of medically refractory ventricular arrhythmias, many investigations are focussing on possibilities of reducing the energy necessary for defibrillating the heart to obtain a more adequate size and a longer durability of the generator. Several studies favour the sequential pulse delivery, using three electrodes, either endocardial, epicardial or subcutaneous plates, to improve defibrillation performance of low energy shocks. However, the validity of this conclusion remains equivocal since two different electrode configurations were used for single and sequential defibrillation. ⋯ Therefore, we have to discuss a different electrophysiological mechanism for sequential defibrillation than for single shocks with an extended current distribution over the heart using four electrodes. Possibly the action potential of the single cell of the fibrillating heart is of interest in reflecting the efficiency of sequential pulse defibrillation. By influencing the action potential pharmacologically in some animals, the optimal time interval for double shocks could be extended up to 7 msec.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Aug 1987
Preliminary results with amrinone in perioperative low cardiac output syndrome.
The hemodynamic parameters of 24 cardiosurgical patients with low cardiac output syndrome (LCOS) after weaning from bypass were evaluated retrospectively. These patients were additionally treated with amrinone if the conventional therapy with catecholamines and vasodilators did not reach satisfying hemodynamic results. 14 patients underwent aorto-coronary bypass surgery, 10 patients underwent valve repair. Their disability by NYHA class was III and IV. ⋯ The platelet count dropped from nearly 100,000/mm3 in mean (first measurement post-op.) to 58,000 in mean (the lowest value during 48 hours on intensive care). 2 patients showed a decrease to 11,000 and 15,000/mm3 with petechial bleedings. These findings indicate that on the one hand amrinone seems to be a promising drug in cases of severe LCOS when conventional therapy fails, but on the other hand a marked decrease of the platelets can occur. Therefore a frequent control of platelet count has to be performed when using amrinone.