J Cardiovasc Surg
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The Authors report 5 cases of cardiac injury after blunt chest trauma: (a) one right atrial disruption with acute tamponade treated successfully; (b) two left ventricular perforations with rib fractures: one patient was exsanguinated and died, the other one presented a late subacute cardiac tamponade with successful operative repair; (c) one isolated traumatic tricuspid insufficiency which was well tolerated; (d) one atrio-inferior caval disruption with acute tamponade. Cardiac damage secondary to nonpenetrating chest trauma is uncommon but with the present modes of high speed transportation they are occurring with increasing frequency; correct management of cardiac ruptures depends upon rapid recognition of the injury and expeditious surgical repair. The occurrence of tricuspid valvular lesions alone as a result of nonpenetrating trauma is not common. Echocardiographic examination after blunt chest trauma is a useful diagnosis procedure.
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Paraplegia secondary to spinal cord ischemia is a too frequent devastating complication of thoracic aneurysm surgery. We examined the ability of veno-arterial bypass (VAB) to ensure adequate spinal cord blood flow during aortic cross-clamping by monitoring spinal cord function via somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP's) and postoperative motor function. Dogs were placed on VAB using a heparin-bonded roller pump circuit without systemic heparinization. ⋯ There were several transient hypotensive episodes (less than 5 min) which were accompanied by reversible loss of SEP's. None of the animals displayed any gait abnormalities post-op. These findings using this simple bypass technique suggest the following conclusions: (1) SEP's degenerate (increased latency and decreased amplitude) in response to hypoxia; (2) spinal cord function can be maintained for up to one hour during hypoxic conditions; (3) SEP's can be used to monitor sensory spinal cord function under these conditions; and (4) heparinless VAB can provide spinal cord protection while also allowing monitoring of SEP's to ensure adequate spinal cord perfusion.