Chylopericardium after mitral valve repair for rheumatic valve disease treated with surgery.

Chylopericardium is a rare disorder that may be primary (idiopathic) or secondary to injury of the thoracic duct or thymus gland. Pediatric cardiac operations are more commonly related to this complication because thymus gland is very active in this population and atrophies in the adult patients. We present a case of chylopericardium after mitral valve repair for rheumatic disease, due to thymus gland tributaries injury.

A Rare Case of Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Cardiac Sarcoma.

We present a case of a patient with a four-month history of gradual-onset dyspnea and generalized body weakness. During the clinical evaluation, a mass was found in the left atrium. Coronary angiography was performed and showed normal coronary arteries. We proceeded with a complete surgical excision of the tumoral mass, and histopathology confirmed it as undifferentiated cardiac sarcoma. Six months after the surgical intervention and adjuvant chemotherapy, the patient is in complete remission, with no evidence of a recurrence of the malignant pathology. Cardiac sarcoma is a rare clinical finding and a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge due to its numerous non-specific clinical presentations.

Incidence and Impact of Patient-Prosthesis Mismatch in Isolated Aortic Valve Surgery.

AIM: The mains topics of this work are the incidence of patient-prosthesis mismatch and the influence in the early results of isolated aortic valve surgery. METHODS: In 193 patients isolated aortic valve surgery was performed. The study population was divided in three subgroups: 20 patients with severe, 131 patients with moderate and 42 patients without patient-prosthesis mismatch. The indexed effective orifice area was used to define the subgroups. Operative mortality and perioperative complications were considered the indicators of the early results of aortic valve surgery. RESULTS: The incidence of severe and moderate patient-prosthesis mismatch was respectively 10.3% and 67.8%. Hospital mortality and perioperative complications were: mortality 5% vs. 3.1% vs. 2.4% (p = 0.855), low cardiac output 5% vs. 6.9% vs. 4.8% (p = 0.861); pulmonary complications 5% vs. 3.1 vs. 0.0% (p = 0.430); exploration for bleeding 5% vs. 0.8% vs. 2.4% (p = 0.319); atrial fibrillation 30% vs. 19.8% vs. 11.9% (p = 0.225); wound infection 5% vs. 0.8% vs. 0.00% (p = 0.165), respectively for the group with severe, moderate and without patient-prosthesis mismatch. CONCLUSIONS: Patient-prosthesis mismatch is a common occurrence in aortic valve surgery. This phenomenon does not affect the early results of aortic valve surgery.