Staged correction of double discordance, situs inversus, and absence of true pulmonary arteries.

The case of a young boy with an extremely rare and complex cardiac malformation is described. Situs inversus, dextrocardia, double discordance with pulmonary atresia, absence of true pulmonary arteries, and systemico-pulmonary collateral arteries was the original diagnosis. Three preparatory operations were necessary to reconstruct and unifocalize the pulmonary vascular tree. At the age of 7 years complete correction with intraoperative stenting of the left neopulmonary artery was successfully performed. After more than 3 years from the definitive operation, the patient is alive with no physical limitations.

Off-pump coronary surgery in a single center experience: from selective to systematic use.

BACKGROUND: The feasibility of the systematic use of the off-pump technique for myocardial revascularization was investigated. METHODS: From September 1997 to June 2001, 1221 isolated coronary artery bypass grafting operations were performed consecutively: 771 (group A) were completed with cardiopulmonary bypass, and 450 (group B) without. Since July 2000 all patients were considered as potential candidates for off-pump coronary artery bypass. In group B, a specific original instrumentation was used for coronary stabilization. RESULTS: The differences in the preoperative data were: a higher age, a higher incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a left ventricular ejection fraction < 30% in group B; a higher incidence of critical left main stenosis in group A. More grafts per patient were completed in group A (3.0 +/- 1.4 vs 2.2 +/- 0.9, p < 0.001). The hospital mortality (group A 1.0%, group B 0.7%) and the incidence of perioperative myocardial infarction (group A 2.5%, group B 1.1%) and that of cerebrovascular accidents (group A 1.4%, group B 0.9%) were comparable. Bleeding (610 +/- 370 vs 496 +/- 215 ml, p < 0.001), the transfusion rate (36 vs 19.7%, p < 0.001), the intubation time (13.4 +/- 3.5 vs 8.3 +/- 5 hours, p < 0.001), the intensive care unit stay (1.7 +/- 2.7 vs 1.2 +/- 2.1 days, p < 0.001) and the hospital stay (5.8 +/- 3 vs 5.1 +/- 3.2 days, p < 0.001) were lower in group B. At follow-up, the mortality (2.5 vs 1.1%), the rate of recurrence of angina (2.5 vs 2.0%), and those of re-angiography (4.1 vs 5.3%) and of new revascularization (1.6 vs 1.1%) were similar. The actuarial survival rates were 99.8, 98.6 and 96.3% in group A, and 98.8, 96.7 and 96.7% in group B at 1, 2 and 3 years of follow-up respectively (log rank p = 0.3387). CONCLUSIONS: The increase in the use of off-pump coronary artery bypass up to its systematic empolyment is feasible. The early and intermediate results are satisfactory.

Ministernotomy in myocardial revascularization without cardiopulmonary bypass: technical aspects and early results.

OBJECTIVE: This study attempts to evaluate the feasibility of ministernotomy in beating heart coronary surgery, with special emphasis on technical aspects. METHODS: From September 1997 to September 1999, 137 patients were scheduled for off-pump coronary surgery in our institution. In 61 cases requiring revascularization of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) and right coronary artery (RCA) systems, the approach was either a reversed "L-shaped " ministernotomy (56 patients) or a "T-shaped " ministernotomy (five patients). Mean age of the ministernotomy patients was 64 +/- 10 years, and 17 of the patients were female. The mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 60 +/- 11% (<35% in four patients), and 32 patients (52.5%) had one-vessel disease while 29 (47.5%) had 2-vessel or 3-vessel diseases. There were seven (11.4%) urgent procedures. For these procedures, we used devices that we designed ourselves for sternal retraction and coronary stabilization. RESULTS: Five patients (8.2%) needed conversion to another method due to hemodynamic instability or ischemia, while 56 of the patients completed the procedure. Fifty-one patients (91.1%) had a single graft on the LAD, four (7.1%) had a double graft on the LAD and the right or diagonal coronary artery, and one (1.8%) had a triple graft on the LAD and two diagonal branches. Mean coronary occlusion times and operative times were 12.1 +/- 2.7 and 152 +/- 33 minutes, respectively. Mean creatine kinase value was 29.8 +/- 24.6. One patient died of acute myocardial infarction, and one patient had temporary acute renal failure. Mean in-hospital stay was 5.2 +/- 1.9 days. Of the 18 patients (32.1%) who had postoperative angiographic control (range of 1 to 13 months), 17 showed patent anastomoses, and one required percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) of the anastomosis on the LAD. Mean follow-up time for all patients was 10.8 +/- 6.4 months. Freedom from any kind of repeat procedure was 98.2%. CONCLUSION: Ministernotomy is a safe approach for patients not requiring grafts on the circumflex system. The possibility of multiple grafting and the easy conversion to a conventional surgical method make ministernotomy a preferable approach for minimally invasive coronary surgery.