Acta Chir Belg
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Review
Perioperative cardiac risk stratification and modification in abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.
Cardiovascular complications are important causes of morbidity and mortality following vascular surgery. Adequate preoperative risk assessment and perioperative management may modify postoperative mortality and morbidity and improve long-term prognosis. The objective of this review is to examine the present day knowledge regarding the preoperative evaluation and perioperative management of patients undergoing noncardiac surgery, focusing specifically on abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. ⋯ Intermediate-risk and high-risk patients are referred for cardiac testing to exclude extensive stress induced myocardial ischemia, as beta-blockers provide insufficient myocardial protection in this case and preoperative coronary revascularization might be considered. Whether patients at intermediate risk without ischemic heart disease should be treated with statins and/or beta-blockers is still controversial. In high-risk patients, it is strongly advised to administer beta-blockers with heart rate determined dose adjustment, while the effects of preoperative revascularization remain subject to debate.
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Case Reports
An unusual case of blunt abdominal trauma: A bleeding and ruptured gall-bladder managed by laparoscopy.
An isolated gall-bladder injury after blunt abdominal trauma is rare. Intraluminal bleeding with a perforation and an intra-abdominal haemorrhage is even rarer. ⋯ Clinical suspicion, serial clinical examination and repeated imaging, can prevent mortality and morbidity. We present a case where laparoscopy was used to diagnose and treat an isolated gall-bladder lesion after blunt abdominal trauma.
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Comparative Study
Modification of the arterial anastomotic technique improves survival in porcine single lung transplant model.
Lung transplantation is a valuable therapeutic option for selected patients with end-stage pulmonary disease. However, this treatment is complicated by ischaemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) of the lung in 10-20% of the recipients. We developed an unilateral porcine lung transplant model to study IRI and describe our experience with two different arterial anastomotic techniques. ⋯ Single lung transplantation with exclusion of the contralateral native lung is a critical model. Arterial end-to-end anastomosis resulted in an increased right ventricular afterload. The use of a patch technique improved the compliance of the arterial anastomosis and decreased early mortality. This transplant model is currently used in our laboratory to assess new methods for pulmonary preservation.