Partial pericardiectomy for refractory acute tuberculous pericarditis: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that usually manifests in the lungs but can also affect other organs, including the cardiovascular system. In this article, we present a rare case of purulent pericarditis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 67-year-old man was admitted to the emergency department with a large pericardial effusion with evidence of cardiac tamponade caused by acute pericarditis. The patient underwent surgical pericardial drainage, and a total volume of 500 mL of purulent fluid was collected with a positive culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Despite antituberculous drugs, the patient presented with clinical worsening and recurrence of large pericardial effusion. Therefore, he was submitted to a second intervention by full median sternotomy to drain the pericardial effusion and perform a surgical pericardial debridement associated with a partial pericardiectomy. After the procedure, he improved clinically and was discharged after 24 days of hospitalization. DISCUSSION: Pericardiectomy is recommended for patients with refractory tuberculous pericarditis after four to eight weeks of antituberculous treatment. We decided not to wait that long to perform an open surgical partial pericardiectomy and debridement with a median sternotomy approach. We believe that this more aggressive surgical approach would be more efficient to combat the infection, which was causing progressive deterioration of patient's clinical condition and early recurrence of significant pericardial effusion. CONCLUSION: Open partial pericardiectomy with surgical debridement could be an efficient approach for treatment of a refractory acute tuberculous pericarditis.

Redo aortic valve surgery in a case of dextrocardia with situs inversus totalis.

INTRODUCTION: Dextrocardia is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly where the base-apex axis of the heart is directed to the right side. It may be associated with situs solitus, situs inversus, or situs ambiguous. Such cases are technically challenging when heart surgery is needed. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We presented a case of a patient with dextrocardia and situs inversus totalis, who had severe aortic bioprosthetic valve degeneration needing a redo aortic valve replacement. Our operative strategy was to change the position of the main surgeon to the left side of the patient to perform most surgical steps. DISCUSSION: A meticulous pre-operative surgical plan involving the whole team was very important for a smooth intra-operative course and a favourable outcome. Regarding the position of the main surgeon standing on the left side of the patient, we believed this surgical team arrangement added much to the technical ease for the procedure, since the anatomy was opposite to what our minds are used to. Also, computed tomography scan played a crucial role for a proper preoperative anatomical evaluation and surgical planning. CONCLUSION: Our approach with the surgeon on the left side provided excellent exposure for redo aortic valve replacement in dextrocardia with situs inversus totalis. This surgical management played an important role for the good result in this technically challenging scenario.

Infectious agents is a risk factor for myxomatous mitral valve degeneration: A case control study.

BACKGROUND: The etiology of myxomatous mitral valve degeneration (MVD) is not fully understood and may depend on time or environmental factors for which the interaction of infectious agents has not been documented. The purpose of the study is to analyze the effect of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp), Chlamydophila pneumoniae (Cp) and Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) on myxomatous mitral valve degeneration pathogenesis and establish whether increased in inflammation and collagen degradation in myxomatous mitral valve degeneration etiopathogenesis. METHODS: An immunohistochemical test was performed to detect the inflammatory cells (CD20, CD45, CD68) and Mp, Bb and MMP9 antigens in two groups. The in situ hybridization was performed to detect Chlamydophila pneumoniae and the bacteria study was performed using transmission electron microscopy. Group 1 (n = 20), surgical specimen composed by myxomatous mitral valve degeneration, and group 2 (n = 20), autopsy specimen composed by normal mitral valve. The data were analyzed using SigmaStat version 20 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The groups were compared using Student's t test, Mann-Whitney test. A correlation analysis was performed using Spearman's correlation test. P values lower than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: By immunohistochemistry, there was a higher inflammatory cells/mm2 for CD20 and CD45 in group 1, and CD68 in group 2. Higher number of Mp and Cp antigens was observed in group 1 and more Bb antigens was detected in group 2. The group 1 exhibited a positive correlation between the Bb and MVD percentage, between CD45 and Mp, and between MMP9 with Mp. These correlations were not observed in the group 2. Electron microscopy revealed the presence of structures compatible with microorganisms that feature Borrelia and Mycoplasma characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of infectious agents, inflammatory cells and collagenases in mitral valves appear to contribute to the pathogenesis of MVD. Mycoplasma pneumoniae was strongly related with myxomatous mitral valve degeneration. Despite of low percentage of Borrelia burgdorferi in MD group, this agent was correlated with myxomatous degeneration and this may occour due synergistic actions between these infectious agents likely contribute to collagen degradation.

Risk factor analysis of hospital mortality in patients with endocarditis with ring abscess.

BACKGROUND: Endocarditis associated with ring abscess is a pathology with high morbidity and mortality. AIM OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this study was to analyze hospital mortality risk factors in patients with ring abscess due to endocarditis. METHODS: From January 1982 to December 2000, 104 patients underwent surgical intervention at the Heart Institute of the University of São Paulo Medical School for valve endocarditis with ring abscess. The age ranged from 6 years to 73 years, with an average of 40.3 years and 72.1% were male. According to NYHA functional class (FC), 12 (11.5%) were in FC II, 62 (59.6%) in FC III, and 30 (28.9%) in FC IV. Seventy-seven (74.0%) patients had endocarditis on a bioprosthesis, 58 (55.8%) in the aortic position and 19 (18.3%) in the mitral position. Twenty-nine (26.9%) patients had atrioventricular blockage prior to the operation. Univariate analysis was performed comparing variables and hospital mortality with a level of significance of 5%. Multivariate analysis was performed by logistic regression. RESULTS: The hospital mortality was 19.2% (20 patients). Univariate analysis showed that atrioventricular blockage, age, and prosthetic valve endocarditis significantly influenced hospital mortality. Multivariate analysis identified atrioventricular blockage as an independent predictor of hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative atrioventricular blockage is an independent risk factor for hospital mortality in the surgical treatment of endocarditis with ring abscess.

Late evolution of mitral commissurotomy in patients with low echocardiographic score.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the late results with open mitral commissurotomy in patients with low echocardiographic scores and to identify variables influencing these late results. METHODS: We studied 50 patients who underwent open mitral commissurotomy due to rheumatic mitral stenosis at the Heart Institute University of São Paulo Medical School. Enrolled patients had a Wilkins echocardiographic score

Multivariate analysis of risk factors for hospital mortality in valvular reoperations for prosthetic valve dysfunction.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to analyze risk factors for hospital mortality in patients undergoing valvular reoperations for prosthetic valve dysfunction. METHODS: We performed a prospective analysis of 146 patients who underwent valvular reoperations for prosthetic valve dysfunction between July 1995 and June 1999 at the Heart Institute of the University of São Paulo Medical School. Multivariate statistical analysis with logistic regression was used to analyze preoperative and intraoperative variables to determine risk factors for hospital mortality. RESULTS: The overall hospital mortality was 10.9% (16 patients). Univariate analysis showed that the following variables were associated with higher mortality rates: advanced New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class, increased creatinine level, prolonged extracorporeal circulation time and treatment of annular abscess. Logistic multivariate analysis identified advanced NYHA functional class and a creatinine level higher than 1.5 mg/dl as independent predictors of hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Advanced NYHA functional class and higher creatinine levels were independent predictors of hospital mortality in patients submitted for valvular reoperations for prosthetic valve dysfunction.

Aneurysm of the left atrial appendage.

We present the case of a 33-year-old woman with atrial tachyarrhythmias and chest pain. The transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated an intrapericardial liquid mass confirmed as an aneurysm of the left atrial appendage by a nuclear magnetic imaging study. Aneurysmectomy was performed with the assistance of cardiopulmonary bypass with a bilateral submammary skin incision and subsequent median sternotomy. The patient had an uneventful postoperative course. We suggest aneurysmectomy aided by cardiopulmonary bypass as a safer method of treatment for this rare cardiac anomaly.

Valve reconstruction in the Heart Institute of São Paulo, Brazil.

In the Heart Institute of University of São Paulo Medical School, between 1980 and 2000, were performed 712 mitral valve repair procedures, 39 aortic valve repairs and 469 tricuspid valve repairs. In our experience with mitral valve repair, the most performed techniques were quadrangular resection of the posterior leaflet, posterior annuloplasty with bovine pericardial sling and Carpentier ring annuloplasty. Quadrangular resection of the posterior leaflet is the technique of choice in mitral regurgitation due to degenerative disease, and repair is possible in 90% of the cases. Since 1994, we perform the quadrangular resection without ring annuloplasty, a modification in the technique called "Double Teflon" technique, with good results. Aortic valve repair is performed in specific situations. In congenital aortic insufficiency, we perform the suspention of the prolapsed leaflets in the comissures. In rheumatic aortic insufficiency, when we found leaflet retraction, we elongate the leaflets with bovine pericardial patchs. Our experience of aortic valve repair, between 1980 and 2000, consists of a small group of 39 patients. The results are satisfactory, but these techniques are feasible only in selected cases. Tricuspid insufficiency is generally a consequence of annular enlargement in patients with mitral valve disease and we prefer the De Vega annuloplasty in these cases. In cases with large annulus dilatation, we prefer to use the "Revuelta" or the "bicuspidization" techniques. In patients with previous tricuspid repair and annulus distortion, we prefer to use bovine pericardial sling or Carpentier ring annuloplasty.