Journal of cardiac surgery
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Minimally invasive perventricular closure is emerging as an alternative to conventional open surgery in treating traumatic ventricular septal defects (VSDs). We report a case of successful perventricular closure of a post-traumatic muscular VSD in a patient who sustained blunt chest trauma in a motor vehicle accident. A larger Amplatzer muscular VSD occluder (16 mm in diameter) was used to close the VSD near the apex.
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A 36-year-old intravenous drug abuser presented with an aortic root abscess and partial rupture of the posteromedial papillary muscle. Following aortic and mitral valve replacement, histological and microbiological analysis of the papillary muscle demonstrated methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus infection.
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Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation can be done through several cannulation sites. Axillary artery cannulation is commonly performed through a Dacron graft sutured in an end-to-side fashion to the axillary artery. Direct cannulation of the axillary artery appears a reliable technique with low rate of complications. We report our experience in 16 patients using the direct cannulation technique.
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Differential release kinetics of cardiac biomarkers including brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), Troponin-I, and CK-MB following valve replacement (VR) are not well characterized. ⋯ Release kinetics of cardiac biomarkers is significantly different following VR; BNP levels increase following an initial transient decline. Only BNP was a predictor of postoperative variables.