The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Oct 2008
Comparative StudyShould lung transplantation be performed using donation after cardiac death? The United States experience.
We compared 1) survival after lung transplantation of recipients of donation after cardiac death (DCD) versus brain death donor organs in the United States and 2) recipient characteristics. ⋯ Concern about organ quality and ischemia-reperfusion injury has limited the application of lung DCD. However, DCD as practiced in the United States results in survival at least equivalent to that after brain death donation. It also demonstrates selection bias, particularly in performing double lung transplantation, making generalization regarding survival difficult. Nevertheless, the data support the expanded use of DCD.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Oct 2008
Mitral valve replacement in infants and children 5 years of age or younger: evolution in practice and outcome over three decades with a focus on supra-annular prosthesis implantation.
Successful mitral valve replacement in young children is limited by the lack of small prosthetic valves. Supra-annular prosthesis implantation can facilitate mitral valve replacement with a larger prosthesis in children with a small annulus, but little is known about its effect on the outcomes of mitral valve replacement in young children. ⋯ Supra-annular mitral valve replacement was associated with worse survival than annular mitral valve replacement in our recent experience. Patients with supra-annular mitral valve replacement were less likely to have operative complete heart block but remained at risk when the prosthesis was subsequently replaced.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Oct 2008
Comparative StudyInteraction between two predictors of functional outcome after revascularization in ischemic cardiomyopathy: left ventricular volume and amount of viable myocardium.
In patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and substantial amounts of dysfunctional but viable myocardium, revascularization cannot always improve the left ventricular ejection fraction. We sought to investigate the interaction between the left ventricular volume and the amount of viable myocardium to predict the left ventricular ejection fraction increase after revascularization. ⋯ The extent of left ventricular remodeling determines the rate of functional improvement after coronary artery bypass grafting. Patients with a high left ventricular end-systolic volume and fewer than 6 viable segments have a lower likelihood of improvement.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Oct 2008
Comparative StudyVascular adaptation of the internal thoracic artery graft early and late after bypass surgery.
Flow mismatch between the supplying artery and the myocardial perfusion region has been observed in patients with internal thoracic artery grafts. Thus coronary flow changes of arterial (internal thoracic artery grafts) and saphenous (saphenous vein grafts) bypass grafts were studied early and late after coronary artery bypass grafting. ⋯ Bypass flow of the internal thoracic artery graft is significantly reduced intraoperatively when compared with that of the saphenous vein graft. However, 3 and 10 months after the operation, flow of the internal thoracic artery graft increases significantly and is similar to saphenous vein graft flow. This finding can be explained by an early flow mismatch of the native internal thoracic artery in the presence of a large perfusion territory. During follow-up, there is vascular remodeling of the internal thoracic artery, probably because of endothelium-mediated mechanisms.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Oct 2008
Survival after extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation in infants and children with heart disease.
We investigated survival and predictors of mortality for infants and children with heart disease treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as an aid to cardiopulmonary resuscitation. ⋯ Use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as an adjunct to cardiopulmonary resuscitation resulted in hospital survival in 42% of infants and children with heart disease. Underlying cardiac physiology and associated cardiac surgical procedures influenced mortality, as did pre-extracorporeal resuscitation status and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation-associated complications.