[History of surgical treatment of atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries--the first 100 years]. / Istorijat hirurskog lecenja aterosklerotskog oboljenja koronarnih krvnih sudova--prvih 100 godina.

Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality. The incidence of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality has been doubled in our country during the period 1980 through 1996. Surgical treatment of the atherosclerotic coronary artery disease is already a century old, ever since Francois-Franck (in 1899) tried to achieve sympathetic denervation of the cervical ganglion. After the interim period of indirect myocardial revascularization, during the last 30 years, direct surgical revascularization has reached excellent early and long-term results, and became one of the most frequently performed procedures in the surgical practice. Use of arterial grafts and, introduced recently, procedures on the beating heart, minimally invasive procedures and, so called, port-access procedures became a daily routine in many centers. Surgical revascularization of the ischaemic cardiac muscle is the rapidly changing entity, along with diagnostic, technical and other improvements. We present a brief historical overview of the efforts of cardiac surgeons to combat the "disease of the century" atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.

[Use of the internal thoracic artery in patients with stenosis of the left main branch of the coronary artery]. / Upotreba unutrasnje torakalne arterije kod bolesnika sa suenjem glavnog stabla leve koronarne arterije.

UNLABELLED: Internal thoracic artery (ITA) is the graft of choice in myocardial revascularization. However, superiority of the ITA graft in patients (pts) with left main coronary artery disease is still a matter of debate. PATIENTS: In the period from November 1986 through February 1999, ITA graft was used for myocardial revascularization in 2860 pts. Stenosis of the left main stem was present in 229 patients (8.0%); there were 39 women (17.0%) and 26 diabetics (11.4%). Severely depressed left ventricular function was present in 32 pts (14.0%), while the average age was 56.4 +/- 7.2 years. RESULTS: Operative mortality was 1.3% and postoperative morbidity was 5.2%. Average postoperative hospital stay was 7.9 days (6-29). There were no differences in analyzed parameters between patients who received ITA graft and similar group of 240 patients who received vein grafts only, during the same period of time. All 16 patients operated on in the period 1986-1992 (6-12 years follow-up) are alive. CONCLUSION: It is safe to use ITA graft for myocardial revascularization in patients with left main coronary artery stenosis. Early operative results are favorable and these patients should not be denied the benefit of the ITA graft, since long-term results are proved to be good as well.

Active infective endocarditis: low mortality associated with early surgical treatment.

BACKGROUND: Early surgical treatment is important for successful outcome in selected cases of active, either native (NVE) or prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE). The aim of this study was to evaluate the early results of the surgical treatment of active NVE and PVE. METHODS: During a 3-yr period (January 1 1996-December 31 1998), 57 out of 60 patients (pts) with active, either NVE (46 pts) or PVE (11 pts) underwent surgical treatment. There were 11 women (23.9%), average age of the group being 43.3+/-9.1yr (18-73). They were operated on 12-35days, mean 17.7+/-7.5days (for NVE) and 5-33days, mean 13.2+/-10.1days (for PVE) after the diagnosis of endocarditis was first suspected. All pts had at least one absolute indication for early surgical treatment, the most frequent being (in NVE) worsening heart failure (19 cases) and inability to control the infection (10 cases), while in PVE it was valve dehiscence (8 cases). In 8 cases of NVE and 2 cases of PVE fresh, antibiotic sterilized aortic homograft was used to replace the aortic valve. RESULTS: Operative mortality was 1.8% (1/57) and hospital mortality 5.2% (3/57). Three pts with PVE died before they were operated on, giving an overall mortality of 10% (6/60). Postoperative morbidity included valve dehiscence in two pts (probable late onset recurrent endocarditis - 3.5%), three episodes of acute renal failure (5.3%), four cases of respiratory insufficiency (7.0%) and one chronic pleural effusion (1.8%). All pts that were discharged from the hospital (54/60), are still alive and well 1-35months postoperatively (mean 20.3+/-9.6months), including pts with recurrent endocarditis and valve dehiscence, after they were successfully reoperated. CONCLUSIONS: Along with early diagnosis and appropriate antibiotic treatment, aggressive surgical attitude is of importance for the successful outcome in this group of seriously ill patients. Our data indicate that early surgical treatment in cases of active endocarditis may be associated with low mortality and morbidity.

[Coronary occlusive disease and carotid stenosis]. / Maladie coronarienne occlusive et sténose des artères carotides.

In around 2.5% of patients with coronary artery diseases (CAOD), considerably occlusive changes in carotid arteries were also registered at the same time. In the period from March 1982 to February 15, 1993, at the University Clinic of Cardiovascular surgery in Novi Sad, a total of 5,701 patients underwent aortocoronary by-pass (ACBG). In 137 (2.4%) patients an additionally endarterectomy of carotid arteries (EAC) were also performed. Bad left ventricle function (EF < 30%) was registered in 30 pts (22%). Endarterectomy on one or more arteries had to be performed in 45% patients because diffuse and distal occlusive changes. Two stage operations were performed in 62 cases. Three stages operations (bilat. EAC) in 24 and simultaneous in 51. Operative mortality (30 days) was registered in 5 (3%) pts. Neurologic deficit (ND) happened in two (1.4%) pts, TIA in 3 pt (2.2%). Comparing our results in simultaneous and stage procedure, operative risk is higher in simultaneous operations, and only in case of unstable angina we prefer simultaneous operations.