European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Jul 2007
Artificial chordae for pediatric mitral and tricuspid valve repair.
To evaluate pediatric atrioventricular valve repair with artificial chordae. ⋯ Mitral and tricuspid valve repair with artificial chordae in children demonstrated acceptable results. Despite patient growth, valvular restriction by the artificial chordae was not observed ad mid-term follow-up.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Jul 2007
Surgical treatment of right-sided active infective endocarditis with or without involvement of the left heart: 20-year single center experience.
The aim of this paper is to review the 20-year experience of surgical treatment of right-sided infective endocarditis at our institution, and in particular to compare the outcome of isolated right-sided endocarditis to right-sided endocarditis with involvement of the left heart. ⋯ Our surgical strategy for right-sided infective endocarditis is based on three principles: (1) debridement of the infected area or vegetectomy; (2) valve repair whenever possible, avoiding artificial material; (3) if valve replacement is unavoidable, use of a biological substitute without any artificial material that might become infected. Following these strategies surgery of right-sided infective endocarditis with or without left-side involvement can be performed with good early, mid-term and long-term results. Patients with involvement of the left side showed not only worse preoperative conditions but also a significantly poorer clinical outcome than those with isolated right-sided infective endocarditis.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Jul 2007
Allograft aortic root replacement in complex prosthetic endocarditis.
To evaluate perioperative and long-term results of complex prosthetic valve endocarditis treated by allograft aortic root replacement. ⋯ Allograft aortic root replacement in prosthetic endocarditis complicated by abscess and/or periprosthetic leakage carries low morbidity and mortality and, in this series, no recurrence of infection. In our experience, these results are superior to those obtained with other valvular substitutes.