Epoetin alpha in elective coronary and valve surgery in Jehovah's Witnesses patients. Experience in 45 patients.

BACKGROUND: The religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses who refuse homologous and autologous blood transfusion poses serious problems for surgeons when operating on patients requiring a mean transfusion requirement of =/>2 units of blood. METHODS: After a number of encouraging studies in a randomised sample of patients 2-3 and after the treatment of some Jehovah's Witnesses 1, a group of 45 patients (23 females and 22 males) underwent elective heart surgery between June 1998 and December 2000. The patients, who were all Jehovah's Witnesses, received pre-treatment with epoetin alpha and ferrous sulphate. In the light of recent studies, it was also decided to repeat medullary preconditioning using the same intervals but with a higher dose. The patients underwent surgery involving myocardial revascularisation, mitral and/or aortic valve replacement, associated interventions, valvuloplasty and ascending aortic aneurysms. After obtaining informed and signed consent, the treatment protocol comprised the administration of 140 IU/kg epoetin alpha three times a week for 3 weeks associated with oral ferrous sulphate 3 times a day. Hematochemical levels (hemoglobin, free hemoglobin, hematocrit, ferritin, transferrin, haptoglobin, reticulocytes, iron levels) were monitored from admission to Day Hospital to discharge. RESULTS: No patient in the study required blood transfusion. CONCLUSIONS: The short, medium and long-term follow-up reconfirmed the substantial reliability of this drug linked to the absence of collateral effects.

Minimally invasive thoracotomy for myocardial revascularisation. A study of 32 cases.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the advantages offered by a myocardial revascularisation technique proposed by Kolessov in 1967: minimally invasive thoracotomy for myocardial revascularisation. The aim was to assess its short and medium-term benefits. During the course of the 1980s, the problems linked to extracorporeal circulation (ECC) and the contraindications for traditional myocardial revascularisation led to a renewed popularity of "beating heart" revascularisation techniques. METHODS: The largest and most extensive series of patients in the literature undergoing myocardial revascularisation during left mini-thoracotomy was reported by Calafiore et al. In this study we report the series treated by our centre which, albeit involving only 32 cases, obtained good results in the short and medium term. This surgical procedure can only be applied to patients presenting monovasal obstructive coronary disease affecting the anterior interventricular artery (IVA) which must not present small calibre, calcified walls or a lateralised or intramyocardial anatomic position. RESULTS: Invasive and non-invasive instrumental tests carried out to control the distal anastomoses of the left internal mammary artery (IMA) did not reveal angulations and/or stenosing tractions before the anastomosis of IMA to a significant extent also for treatment, when isolating IMA, able to obtain the longest possible length and the best mobility. No infection of surgical wounds was reported postoperatively, as sometimes occurs in median longitudinal sternotomy. CONCLUSIONS: The 2-year follow-up showed the resolution of angina in 100% of the patients studied, as well as a satisfactory and rapid renewal of social relations.

Atherosclerotic aneurysm of the left main coronary artery. Case report and review of the literature.

Coronary artery aneurysms involve the right coronary artery, the left anterior descending and the left circumflex coronary arteries in descending order of frequency; aneurysms involving the main left coronary artery are extremely rare. Atherosclerosis is the most common cause. Only eleven patients surgically treated with atherosclerotic left main coronary artery aneurysms are reported. We observed the twelfth case of atherosclerotic aneurysm of the left main coronary artery, successfully treated. In a 65-year-old man we found a large aneurysm originating at the distal segment of the left main coronary artery. A thromboendarterectomy was per-formed and was extended back into the left main and down the left anterior descending artery. An aneurysmorrhaphy and a three-vessel coronary artery bypass grafting were also performed. Three years later the patient was asymptomatic. Management of these cases is still controversial and based on anedoctal experience rather than controlled trials. Although surgery has been recommended to prevent complications, there are no available data comparing medical and surgical management. We feel that coronary bypasses should be performed in coronary artery aneurysm patients only when indicated by the severity of stenosis or progressive angina despite medical therapy. It is our opinion that anurysmorraphy should preserve native flow as much as possible.

Quadricuspid aortic valve, parossistyc supraventricular tachycardia and double right kidney: an uncommon association.

Fourteen years after surgery for replacement of the aortic valve, an interesting case previously unreported was brought to our attention. The female patient came to our OP Dept for a routine follow-up: she had been found at surgery to have a quadricuspid aortic valve. Operation dated October 1985. At a careful appraisal of the world-wide literature, we noticed that such an association of pathologies had never been reported before: quadricuspid aortic valve, paroxystical supraventricular tachycardia and right double kidney with double renal pelvis and double proximal ureter. Other anomalies associated with the quadricuspid valve, available in the literature are: patent duct, subvalvular fixed aortic stenosis, ventricular septal defect, hypoplastic anterior mitral leaflet and pulmonary stenosis. The pathologic findings at autopsy of this congenital malformation vary between 0.008% and 0.033%; attention must be turned to the fact that the incidence can be underestimated if not expressly searched for. The first quadricuspid aortic valve was described in 1862 by Balington in an autoptic report and sixty other cases have been reported since. In rare cases this pathology has been diagnosed at angiography. At follow up our patient remains in SR with rare transitory episodes of supraventricular tachycardia.

Thrombosis of mechanical valve prosthesis: thrombolysis vs surgical treatment. Report of two cases, personal experience and review of the literature.

We report the cases of two patients, previously operated for mitral mechanical valve replacement who developed thrombosis of the prosthesis. The two patients were successfully treated with pharmacological thrombolysis with no recurrence. One patient developed late peripheral embolization most probably due to late mobilisation of a thrombotic fragment. Our experience with surgical management is reported (39 mitral and 5 aortic prosthetic thrombosis from 1982 to 1999 among 89 patients with prosthetic malfunction). Average time interval between surgery and thrombus formation is 26 months (max 204, min 1 month). Rate of mitral thrombosis is 3.9% and aortic 0.25%. Clinical presentation spreads from almost asymptomatic patients to critically ill patients with pulmonary oedema or frank cardiogenic shock. Temporary suspension of anticoagulant therapy (83% in our study group) to rule out minor surgery, appears to be the most frequent cause of thrombosis. Transthoracic or better transoesophageal echo-cardiography and Doppler are by far the most accurate diagnostic tools that can entirely replace angiographic assessment. Operative mortality was 64% in the prosthetic mitral thrombosis and 20% in the aortic one. Thrombolytic treatment may be affected by minor to relevant complications such as peripheral or central embolization but in our experience and according to the literature it seems much less hazardous than re-do surgery. Thrombolytic treatment is advocated for critical patients unless emergency institution of cardio pulmonary bypass is required and/or indicated. Re-do surgery remains indicated for all other cases of prosthetic malfunction.

Normothermic versus hypothermic perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass. A randomized study on 132 patients.

BACKGROUND: A prospective randomized trial to compare normothermic CPB with hypothermic CPB has been performed. METHODS: 132 patients undergoing CPB were randomized into two groups: group 1 underwent normothermic CPB and group 2 hypothermic CPB (between 26 and 30 degrees C). RESULTS: Any significant difference was observed between the groups with regard to hospital mortality, blood transfusions, incidence of neurologic deficits and hematocrit, blood hemoglobin levels, platelet counts, plasma concentrations of glutamic-pyruvic transminase, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, creatine kinase, valued at the 12th and 24th postoperative hour and at the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th postoperative day. A significant difference was observed between the groups with regard to tracheal extubation time, discharge time from the intensive care unit and inotropic drug infusion. The normothermic CPB patients group needed shorter time for tracheal extubation and discharge from the intensive care unit: this difference may be ascribed to a shorter inotropic drug infusion. Any increased surgical risks have been observed. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, we think that normothermic CPB is favourable because it can reduce costs, it can improve the management of a cardiac surgery unit and it is more comfortable for patients.

Left ventricular rupture after mitral valve replacement in a patient with osteogenesis imperfecta tarda.

We describe the case of a patient with osteogenesis imperfecta tarda (Lobstein's syndrome) and mitral valve insufficiency. The course after mitral valve replacement was complicated by rupture of the left ventricular posterior wall, which caused massive bleeding and sudden death. The pathologic findings and the operative problems are discussed.

Isolated lung perfusion with platinum in the treatment of pulmonary metastases from soft tissue sarcomas.

A multimodality approach including operation and isolated lung perfusion with platinum was used in six patients with lung metastases from soft tissue sarcomas. Staged thoracotomies were used in two patients with bilateral lesions. The inclusion criteria generally applied for surgical excision were adopted in this study. The pulmonary artery and a portion of the left atrium were isolated from systemic circulation and cannulated. The cannulas were then connected to a perfusion circuit and normothermic isolated lung perfusion was done for 60 minutes. The lung was then flushed and metastasectomy was done. Serial blood (systemic and pulmonary), tissue (normal lung and tumor), and urine samples were obtained for platinum content measurement by flameless atomic absorption spectroscopy. Lung damage was assessed by light and electron microscopy examination and by serial respiratory tests. Isolated lung perfusion was accomplished in all patients without any death, operative complication, or systemic toxicity. After operation, interstitial and alveolar edema developed in two patients (48 hours after treatment), necessitating respiratory support in one case. Total platinum concentrations in pulmonary plasma were about 43 times greater than those in systemic plasma. No differences in platinum concentrations between normal lung and metastatic tissue were found. Thus the proposed isolated lung perfusion technique is feasible and safe enough to be offered as a valid model to study combined chemosurgical approaches in the treatment of lung metastases.

[Predictive value of the shunt-to-infarct size ratio as a surgical risk factor in patients with decompensated post-ischemic interventricular septal rupture]. / Valore dell'indice di Shunt/DPos come previsione di rischio chirurgico nelle rotture post-ischemiche scompensate del setto interventricolare.

Postischemic septal rupture has always been evaluated, in respect of surgical indication, as regards the time lapse between infarct and rupture, interval between rupture and operation, extension of myocardial damage and general risk factors such as age, sex and associated pathologies. But in fact the surgeon is dealing with a two sided problem, the MI and the rupture, and thus surgical results depend upon both the residual ventricular function after MI and the consequences of volume overload on a damaged muscle. Surgical indication could not be based on a single criterion only. Extension of the MI alone is not fully predictive of operative mortality because, aside the reperfusion injury, the repair further jeopardizes viable myocardium and alters ventricular geometry; although the shunt appears unrelated to mortality it certainly interferes with operative outcome at least because of the time elapsed between rupture and repair. So far an index which could correlate the extension of myocardial damage and the entity of the shunt with each other was not available. Patients with septal rupture follow an emergency protocol and are often insufficiently investigated but every patients has a least one echo-Doppler evaluation or even a ventriculography while one or more ECGs are always available. With the presumption that the Qp/Qs is roughly indicative of the right ventricular volume overload and that ecg signs of myocardial infarct are always reliable, we have reviewed among our 24 patients with septal rupture those where a full ecg tracing and a quantitative Echo or angiographic evaluation of the shunt were available.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Circumferential dissection of the ascending aorta with intimal intussusception. Case report and review of the literature.

The present report describes an unusual case (apparently the 10th in the world literature) of a type-A aortic dissection with full circumferential detachment of the ascending aortic intima and intussusception thereof into the aortic arch and descending aorta, partly occluding the arch vessels. Computed tomographic scanning and 2-dimensional echocardiography failed to detect an intimal flap and a false lumen in the ascending aorta. Aortic dissection was visualized by aortography. The ascending aorta was surgically repaired and the aortic valve resuspended. The pertinent literature is reviewed.

Doppler haemodynamic assessment of clinically and echocardiographically normal mitral and aortic Allcarbon valve prostheses. Valve Prostheses Ligurian Cooperative Doppler Study.

Doppler echocardiographic characteristics of normally functioning Allcarbon prostheses were studied in 149 consecutive patients with 157 valves in the mitral (n = 73) and aortic (n = 84) positions whose function was considered normal by clinical and echocardiographic evaluation. In the mitral position, the mean gradient and the effective mitral orifice area were not significantly different in either the 25-mm or the 31-mm size valves (from 5 +/- 1 to 4 +/- 1 mmHg and from 2.2 +/- 0.6 to 2.8 +/- 0.9 cm2, respectively; P = ns for both). Conversely, peak gradient was significantly and inversely correlated to actual orifice area (r = -0.70; P < 0.0006), decreasing from 15 +/- 3 mmHg in the 25-mm size valve to 9 +/- 1 mmHg in the 31-mm size. In the aortic position, the mean gradient was 29 +/- 8 mmHg in the 19-mm size valve; it decreased to 8 +/- 2 mmHg in the 29-mm size. Effective prosthetic aortic valve area, calculated using the continuity equation, ranged between 0.9 +/- 0.1 cm2 for the 19-mm size valve to 4.1 +/- 0.7 cm2 for the 29-mm size. By analysis of variance, effective prosthetic aortic valve area differentiated various valve sizes (F = 25.3; P < 0.0001) better than peak (F = 5.34; P = 0.012) or mean (F = 4.34; P = 0.0052) gradients alone, and it correlated better with actual orifice area (r = 0.89, r = -0.70 and r = -0.65, respectively).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Doppler echocardiographic evaluation of functional parameters of mechanical and biological valve prostheses]. / Valutazione tramite ecocardiografia-Doppler dei parametri funzionali di protesi valvolari meccaniche e biologiche.

We studied and compared functional parameters in 314 valvular prostheses. The following parameters have been calculated: mean transvalvular gradients for aortic and mitral prostheses and functional area by Pht (pressure half time) for mitral prostheses. All patients with important depression in myocardial function, tachycardia or malfunctioning prostheses were excluded. 173 prostheses were in aortic position and 141 in mitral position. Mitral prostheses were: 31 biological and 110 mechanical. We subdivided mechanical prostheses in monoleaflet (Omnicarbon, Sorin-Carbocast and Allcarbon, Medtronic, Bjork-Shiley) and bileaflet (Sorin-Bicarbon, St. Jude). These three groups were compared: mean transvalvular gradients and area showed no differences. Aortic prostheses were: 33 biological and 140 mechanical; mechanical prostheses were subdivided in two groups: monoleaflet (Sorin Allcarbon e Carbocast, Bjork-Shiley, Medtronic, Omnicarbon) and bileaflet (Sorin-Bicarbon, St. Jude). Mean transvalvular gradients of these three groups were compared within each group for every size: bileaflet prostheses demonstrated inferior gradients than biological and monoleaflet for 19-21 and 23 sizes; in superior sizes there were no significant differences. Further analysis showed a significant correlation among gradients and body surface area in the 21 size prostheses (p = 0.004). Bileaflet prostheses in this subgroup showed less increase in mean gradient with surface area than mechanical and biological ones.

Surgical management of intracardiac myxomas. A 16-year experience.

Twenty-six patients with an intracardiac myxoma underwent surgical resection at our institution from 1977 through 1992. Left atrial myxoma was diagnosed in 22 patients, left ventricular in 1, right atrial in 2, and right ventricular in 1. Six patients were asymptomatic; preoperative symptoms included dyspnea, arrhythmias, embolic episodes, and syncope. The diagnosis was established with transthoracic echocardiography in all cases but one. Surgery was performed in all cases with the aid of cardiopulmonary bypass with moderate hypothermia and cold crystalloid cardioplegia. One patient with a left ventricular myxoma died in a comatose state during the immediate postoperative period. Long-term clinical and echocardiographic evaluation was performed in 19 patients; results were excellent (all the patients were in New York Heart Association functional class I or II), and no recurrences were documented. The clinical characteristics, diagnostic methods, and surgical approach are presented and discussed.

Emergency surgical treatment for total left main coronary artery occlusion. A report of 2 cases.

Treatment of total left main coronary artery occlusion is rarely reported (84 chronic and acute cases in the world literature), due to the high mortality rate from massive myocardial infarction. Acute occlusions have been treated with intracoronary streptokinase, with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, or with both. To date, there has been no report of successful surgical revascularization in an acute case. We present 2 cases of surgically treated patients who survived total left main coronary artery occlusion that appears to have been acute, or acutely evolving. Both patients had an 80% or greater stenosis of the right coronary artery, yet have remained in New York Heart Association functional class I or II postoperatively. We attribute this not only to the aggressive surgical approach, which enabled reperfusion to be achieved within 2 hours of total occlusion, but to the protective effect in these patients of right coronary-to-left anterior descending collaterals.

Coronary occlusion secondary to blunt chest trauma: a first attempt at balloon angioplasty.

There have been only 58 angiographically documented reports of transmural myocardial infarction due to closed-chest trauma. None of these cases has been treated by percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. We report the case of a 40-year-old man who developed an anterior-wall myocardial infarction secondary to blunt chest trauma suffered in an automobile accident. Angiographic study performed 2 months after the injury revealed an isolated total obstruction of the left anterior descending coronary artery. The patient was judged a good candidate for balloon angioplasty, but total reocclusion occurred within 24 hours of the procedure and a 2nd attempt did not restore patency. Surgical revascularization was performed a week later. A year after his injury, the patient remains asymptomatic and is back at work. Despite the failure of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in its 1st application to coronary artery repair after blunt chest trauma, we believe it to be the treatment of choice in young patients and in single-vessel disease.

[Catheter embolism. Method of bloodless extraction]. / Embolie da cateteri. Metodi di estrazione incruenta.

A detailed review and analysis of world literature on the techniques employed for the retrieval of polythene catheter fragments, metal spindles or Pudenz catheters from the heart or large vessels is presented. Non-surgical retrieval techniques are discussed on the basis of 174 cases reported in the literature. 2 personal cases of the retrieval of foreign bodies from the heart using a Deyhle-Seubert catheter are presented.

Removal of iatrogenic foreign bodies within cardiac chambers with a new snare catheter.

A technique for extracting an embolized venous catheter lodged in the pulmonary artery is described. A Deyhle-Seuberth catheter, which is generally used to excise gastrointestinal polyps, was used successfully to accomplish the extraction.