Texas Heart Institute journal
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Anomalous origin of the coronary artery from the opposite sinus of Valsalva and a course of that artery between the ascending aorta and the pulmonary artery is a rare congenital anomaly. It can cause myocardial ischemia, syncope, and sudden cardiac death in young people. Herein, we report the case of a 24-year-old man who was brought to our hospital after cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation. ⋯ Postoperatively, repeat coronary angiography with provocation testing for coronary spasm revealed no myocardial ischemic change. The patient recovered uneventfully. We found that cardiac multidetector computed tomography was useful in evaluating the cause of the sudden cardiac arrest, identifying the anomalous coronary artery, and helping to guide the surgical decisions.
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We reviewed our department's experience with the perioperative features and surgical treatment of isolated right-sided infective endocarditis. From January 2000 through July 2010, 35 patients underwent surgery for isolated right-sided infective endocarditis in our department. The mean pathologic course was 3.6 months. ⋯ Of the patients who underwent tricuspid valvuloplasty, 23 had no valvular incompetence and 11 had mild or moderate regurgitation before discharge from the hospital. During follow-up, no patient needed reoperation because of reinfection, and 1 underwent reoperation for severe tricuspid regurgitation. We conclude that surgery can yield satisfactory immediate and midterm results in the treatment of isolated right-sided infective endocarditis.
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In this study, we reviewed a 15-year experience with the treatment of a severe sequela of cardiac surgery: post-sternotomy mediastinitis. We compared the outcomes of conventional treatment with those of negative-pressure wound therapy, focusing on mortality rate, sternal reinfection, and length of hospital stay. We reviewed data on 157 consecutive patients who were treated at our institution from 1995 through 2010 for post-sternotomy mediastinitis after cardiac surgery. ⋯ Significantly shorter hospital stays were also observed with negative pressure in comparison with conventional treatment (mean durations, 27.3 ± 9 vs 30.5 ± 3 d; P = 0.02), consequent to the accelerated process of wound healing with negative-pressure therapy. Lower mortality and reinfection rates and shorter hospital stays can result from using negative pressure rather than conventional treatment. Therefore, negative-pressure wound therapy is advisable as first-choice therapy for deep sternal wound infection after cardiac surgery.
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Case Reports
Pulmonary valve leaflet extension with bovine pericardium: for treatment of pulmonary insufficiency.
Using a homograft in a pulmonic area is sometimes inadvisable due to the lack of optimal graft materials. We report a case of pulmonary valve insufficiency that we treated by leaflet extension using the commercially available E-Leafcon template and bovine pericardium. We suggest that this method can be an acceptable alternative for treating pulmonary valve insufficiency because the pulmonary valve area is similar to that of the aortic valve (for which application the template was designed). Further, the durability of bovine pericardium is comparable to that of a homograft or a xenograft.