[The Rostock artificial heart--current status and perspectives]. / "Rostocker künstliches Herz"--gegenwärtiger Stand und Ausblick.

The authors report on their experiences gained by animal experiments (calf) and their attempts (human corpses) concerning adaptation of the apparatus to the human thorax. At the present time they do not see a chance for its routine clinical use. The main reason why is the impossibility to install the extrathoracic driving system into the thoracic cage and last not least the wear of the material used for the heart chambers.

[Social structure and social behavior of elderly ambulatory surgical patients]. / Sozialstruktur und Sozialverhalten älterer ambulant chirurgischer Patienten.

Geriatric surgery is getting more and more important. Rising expectation of life, improved pre- and postoperative therapy deferred the age limit for elective operations for about 20 years above the former average. In a chance control we examined the social structure and the social behaviour of older ambulant patients suffering from surgical complaints. The arrangement of those patients according to their age, their homing conditions, their working time after their age limit and the general possibilities of communication were analysed. The importance of the social anamnesis for the therapeutic effect was proved. The regular increase of appropriate dwellings for older persons has to be secured. The possibilities contacts between old-age pensioners and social organisations have to be developed furthermore in order to integrate more and more older persons into social life.

[Contribution to the differential diagnosis of lung infarct, pulmonary tuberculosis and lung neoplasms]. / Beitrag zur Differentialdiagnose zwischen Lungeninfarkt, Lungentuberkulose und Lungenkrebs.

It is reported on the rare case of a symptom-free, atypically localised haemorrhagic pulmonary infarction without provable cause in a 52-year-old male. The patient became conspicuous on account of a plum-sized focal shadow in the right lateral upper field detected during a mass examination. The state was regarded as bronchial. carcinoma. Operation and following histological investigation of the resection preparation finally resulted in the diagnosis.

[Intra-and postoperative complications in pulmonary surgery (author's transl)]. / Intra- und postoperative Komplikationen durch Eingriffe an den Lungen.

The age of the patients, the causative diseases, and the extent of the surgical operation are decisive for the development of intraoperative and postoperative complications in pulmonary surgery. Restrictive and obstructive pulmonary changes of the older-age group involve the danger of postoperative complications. By our experience the critical age for pulmonary surgery is about 50 years.

[Rare thoracic injuries (biomechanics, diagnosis and therapy) (author's transl)]. / Seltene Thoraxverletzungen (Biomechanik, Diagnose und Therapie).

Thoracic injuries caused by direct or indirect power action involve various injury effects. The extent of injury depends on the force and the direction of the acting power, on the biomechanical properties of the partial structures of the thorax, and on genetically determined variations of form and structure. These correlations are demonstrated by special examples of rare thoracic injuries. The motto for the diagnostic and the choice of the therapeutical procedure is: "Inter vulnerationem thoracis diagnosis incipiat".

[Methods and quality of information from myocardial scintigrams in the diagnosis of myocardial infarct]. / Methodik und Informationsgehalt des Myokardszintigramms in der Infarktdiagnostik.

There is an increasing importance of scintigraphy for the assessment of microcirculation in the myocardium. In animal experiments advantages and disadvantages of negative and positive representation of ischemic myocardiac areas were tried, after experimental infarction in particular. The results by computer scintigraphy prove that positive representation reveals an information on site and extent of an infarction.

[The management of bronchial hemoptysis - case study (author's transl)]. / Massnahmen bei Haemoptysen im Bronchialsystem - Fallbericht.

Two case reports exemplify, that in patients with massive hemoptysis occuring in the bronchial system and owing to known or unknown causes, the emergency surgery must not to be delayed. In the case of minor relapsing hemoptysis, especially in old-age patients or borderline operability, the minimum surgical procedure is indicated after diagnosing and finding the localization of the hemorrhage.

[Myxoma of the heart (author's transl)]. / Zur Klinik der Herzmyxome

In every valvular defect of the heart and in particular of the mitral valve the existence of a tumour should be taken into consideration if diagnostic criteria are not evident. In this case the operation should not be delayed and performed in extracorporeal circulation.

[Complications in bilateral large lung cysts (author's transl)]. / Komplikationen bei doppelseitigen grossblasigen Lungenveränderungen.

Complications in bilateral, congenital or acquired large cystic lesions in the lungs are a diagnostic and therapeutic problem. Early diagnosis and treatment is emphasized. When surgical treatment is necessary, decisions about the surgical procedures should be made knowing the in situ condition. Cooperation in decision making between bronchologist and thoracic surgeon is required.

[Valve shunt--construction and hemodynamics]. / Ventilshunt-Aufbau und Hämodynamik.

Certain interventions on the thoracic aorta and its derives require bypass systems. In animal experiments the authors ascertained the proper measurements and tried the behavior of arterial pressure and flow, and the rate of hemolysis during bypass. The experiments have shown that by means of the valve shunt perfusion for several hours is possible.

[Valve shunt for use in heart surgery and surgery on the great vessels]. / Ventilshunt zur Anwendung für Operationen am Herzen und den grossen Gefässen.

Surgery with extracorporeal circulation must be carried out within temporary limits because of trauma to the blood by the pumping system and partly because of the oxygenators. For vascular replacement extracorporeal circulation can only conditionally be used because heparinization is required. The authors deviced a bypass for certain surgical interventions on the heart and thoracic aorta without the above mentioned drawbacks, which can be used for a longer period without pump and heparinization. This valve shunt stood all trials in experiment.