European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
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A 33-year-old patient was hospitalized after a blunt chest trauma with a left flail chest. Six hours after admission to the intensive care unit the patient suddenly developed hypotension and tachycardia. ⋯ Immediate resuscitation and emergency sternotomy with left anterolateral extension was performed for pericardial tamponade secondary to left ventricular perforation due to a sharp rib fragment. Outcome was favourable and the patient was operated on for his flail chest by internal stabilization the next day.
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Surgical repair for aortic arch aneurysms is associated with considerable mortality and morbidity. Adequate brain protection is essential. Experience of aortic arch repair in six patients using a four-branched arch graft is described. ⋯ One hospital death occurred. No permanent neurological event occurred. The four-branched arch graft facilitates fashioning arch branch anastomoses and provides better brain protection.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Jan 2002
Surgical repair of congenital supravalvular aortic stenosis in children.
Supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS) is an uncommon congenital cardiac anomaly characterized by varying degrees of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction beginning distal to the aortic valve. ⋯ Good surgical outcome of congenital SVAS can be achieved with the appropriate method of treatment in patients with both localized and diffuse SVAS.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Jan 2002
Congenital Heart Surgery Nomenclature and Database Project: update and proposed data harvest.
In 1998, the first report of the Society of Thoracic Surgery (STS) National Congenital Heart Surgery Database reported the clinical features of 18 congenital heart categories. The report provided a significant amount of important information and also highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the existing database. ⋯ The first report of the International Congenital Heart Surgery Nomenclature Project was published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery in April 2000. The current report outlines modifications to the minimal dataset, as well as the diagnosis and procedure short lists.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Dec 2001
Comparative StudyThe clinical outcome of off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery in the elderly patients.
There has been a body of evidence showing that off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) may reduce morbidity and mortality in the elderly patients. We reviewed our experience, retrospectively, on elderly patients aged 75 years and older who were operated on using the OPCAB technique. We compared their outcome to a similar group of elderly patients who were operated on using conventional coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) during the same period of time. ⋯ Although the mean age of the OPCAB group was significantly higher than the CPB group, the OPCAB group showed a significant reduction in postoperative serious morbidity, ITU stay and mortality. We believe that such a conclusion may have some effect on the decision-making and cost-effectiveness when performing coronary bypass surgery on the elderly population.