Asian cardiovascular & thoracic annals
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Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann · Mar 2002
Common causes of pleural effusion in referral hospital in Isfahan, Iran 1997-1998.
During a one-year period to September 1998, data were collected from all 213 patients referred with pleural effusion. There were 132 males and 81 females; their ages ranged from 18 to 85 years. The most common etiologies of effusion were congestive heart failure (39.4%), malignancy (27.2%), pneumonia (8%), empyema (5.2%), and tuberculosis (5.2%). Pleural effusions are frequent in Iran, and the causes are fairly similar to those reported by European authors, but with slightly more tuberculosis cases, mostly among Afghan refugees.
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Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann · Mar 2002
Case ReportsSpinal cord ischemia associated with cardiac arrest.
Ischemic spinal cord damage from cardiac arrest is rare. A 48-year-old man underwent a straightforward retroperitoneal aortofemoral bypass operation. The following day, he developed cardiac arrest and was resuscitated successfully, but permanent paraplegia was observed soon afterwards.
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Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann · Mar 2002
Transfusion for coagulopathy after heart surgery: efficacy of laboratory studies.
Limited information exists regarding transfusions specifically for coagulopathy following cardiac surgery and the value of pre- and postoperative coagulation tests. Procedures (86% coronary bypass, 7.5% valve, and 6.5% combined valve and bypass) on 478 patients were reviewed; 101 patients (21%) were transfused for postoperative coagulopathy. ⋯ Four postoperative tests showed significant differences between the groups: prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen level, and fibrin split products at 10 dilutions. Patient characteristics and pre- and postoperative testing can identify patients at high risk of transfusion specifically related to coagulopathy.