The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
-
J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Feb 1990
Primary mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumors. Results of a multimodality approach.
Before cisplatin-based chemotherapy, long-term survival after resection of primary mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumors was unusual. We reviewed the case histories of 48 patients who underwent multimodality treatment for mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumor between 1976 and 1988. Twenty-eight patients received initial therapy at Indiana University and 20 were referred after having had unsuccessful initial therapy elsewhere. ⋯ Only one patient survived after this treatment. There was no significant treatment morbidity or mortality. A multimodality approach to primary mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumor with intensive cisplatin-based chemotherapy, emphasis on normalizing serum tumor markers, and aggressive resection of residual disease now offers survival to a significant number of patients.
-
J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Feb 1990
Is protection of ischemic neonatal myocardium by cardioplegia species dependent?
Hypothermia combined with pharmacologic cardioplegia protects the globally ischemic adult heart, but this benefit may not extend to children, resulting in poor postischemic recovery of function and increased mortality. The relative susceptibilities to ischemia modified by hypothermia alone and by hypothermia plus cardioplegia were assessed in isolated perfused neonatal (3- to 4-day-old) rabbit and pig hearts. Hearts were perfused aerobically with Krebs buffer solution in the working mode for 30 minutes and aortic flow was recorded. ⋯ We conclude that the neonatal pig heart is more susceptible to ischemia modified by hypothermia alone than the neonatal rabbit and that St. Thomas' Hospital solution No. 2 improves postischemic recovery of function in the neonatal pig but decreases it in the neonatal rabbit. This species-dependent protection of the neonatal heart may be related to differences in the extent of myocardial maturity at the time of study.