Articles

Chemical injuries of the oesophagus: aetiopathological issues in Nigeria

Chemical injuries of the oesophagus occur worldwide. There is paucity of information on aetiopathological profile of chemical injuries of the oesophagus in Nigeria.

Authors: Martins O Thomas, Ezekiel O Ogunleye and Oladapo Somefun

An occasional diagnosis of myasthenia gravis - a focus on thymus during cardiac surgery: a case report

Myasthenia gravis, an uncommon autoimmune syndrome, is commonly associated with thymus abnormalities. Thymomatous myasthenia gravis is considered to have worst prognosis and thymectomy can reverse symptoms if ...

Authors: Marco Agrifoglio, Fabio Barili, Luca Dainese, Antioco Cappai, Faisal H Cheema and Paolo Biglioli

Intramural haematoma of the thoracic aorta: who's to be alerted the cardiologist or the cardiac surgeon?

This review article is written so as to present the pathophysiology, the symptomatology and the ways of diagnosis and treatment of a rather rare aortic disease called Intra-Mural Haematoma (IMH). Intramural ha...

Authors: Nikolaos G Baikoussis, Efstratios E Apostolakis, Stavros N Siminelakis, Georgios S Papadopoulos and John Goudevenos

A long-term follow-up of a girl with dilated cardiomyopathy after mitral valve replacement and septal anterior ventricular exclusion

We treated a 10 year 11 month old girl with severe mitral valve regurgitation, stenosis and dilated cardiomyopathy, presented with New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification IV. She acutely de...

Authors: Shiro Baba, Hiraku Doi, Tadashi Ikeda, Masashi Komeda and Tatsutoshi Nakahata

Early results of coronary artery bypass grafting with coronary endarterectomy for severe coronary artery disease

Despite the existence of controversial debates on the efficiency of coronary endarterectomy (CE), it is still used as an adjunct to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). This is particularly true in patients...

Authors: Jan D Schmitto, Philipp Kolat, Philipp Ortmann, Aron F Popov, Kasim O Coskun, Martin Friedrich, Samuel Sossalla, Karl Toischer, Suyog A Mokashi, Theodor Tirilomis, Mersa M Baryalei and Friedrich A Schoendube

Myocardial ischemia with left ventricular outflow obstruction

We report an unusual case of a 32-year old man who was treated for a hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) with a DDD pacing with short AV delay reduction in the past. Without prior notice the patient...

Authors: Aron F Popov, Christian Bireta, Jan D Schmitto, Dieter Zenker, Martin Friedrich, Kasim O Coskun, Ralf Seipelt, Gerd G Hanekop and Friedrich A Schoendube

Beneficial effect of the oxygen free radical scavenger amifostine (WR-2721) on spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury in rabbits

Paraplegia is the most devastating complication of thoracic or thoraco-abdominal aortic surgery. During these operations, an ischemia-reperfusion process is inevitable and the produced radical oxygen species c...

Authors: Fany Chronidou, Efstratios Apostolakis, Ioannis Papapostolou, Konstantinos Grintzalis, Christos D Georgiou, Efstratios N Koletsis, Menelaos Karanikolas, Panagiotis Papathanasopoulos and Dimitrios Dougenis

Pulmonary stenosis development and reduction of pulmonary arterial hypertension in atrioventricular septal defect: a case report

A 24-year-old patient was admitted for dyspnoea and syncope. He had a previous history of complete atrio-ventricular septal defect and trisomy 21. At the age of 6 months, in 1984, cardiac catheterization revea...

Authors: Emeline Barth, Hélène Bouvaist, Stéphanie Marlière, Gérard Ninet and Gérald Vanzetto

Cardiorespiratory effects of venous lipid micro embolization in an experimental model of mediastinal shed blood reinfusion

Retransfusion of the patient's own blood during surgery is used to reduce the need for allogenic blood transfusion. It has however been found that this blood contains lipid particles, which form emboli in diff...

Authors: Atli Eyjolfsson, Ignacio Plaza, Björn Brondén, Per Johnsson, Magnus Dencker and Henrik Bjursten

Daptomycin for treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis saphenectomy wound infection after coronary artery bypass graft operation (CABG): a case report

We report a case of successful treatment of postoperative saphenectomy wound infection of the upper left leg with the antibiotic drug Daptomycin.

Authors: Jan D Schmitto, Aron F Popov, Samuel T Sossalla, Kasim O Coskun, Suyog A Mokashi, Anton Wintner and Friedrich A Schoendube

Gene polymorphisms in APOE, NOS3, and LIPC genes may be risk factors for cardiac adverse events after primary CABG

Coronary artery disease progression after primary coronary artery bypass grafting may, beside classical atherosclerosis risk factors, be depending on genetic predisposition.

Authors: Sandra Eifert, Astrid Rasch, Andres Beiras-Fernandez, Georg Nollert, Bruno Reichart and Peter Lohse

Surgically cured hypoglycemia secondary to pleural solitary fibrous tumour: case report and update review on the Doege-Potter syndrome

The association of paraneoplastic hypoglycemia [Doege-Potter syndrome] and finger clubbing [Pierre-Marie-Bamberg syndrome] with pleural solitary fibrous tumour is rare. We present a previously unpublished but ...

Authors: Ahmed Y. Kalebi, Martin J. Hale, Michelle L. Wong, Tessa Hoffman and Jill Murray

Chylopericardium after cardiac surgery can be treated successfully by oral dietary manipulation: a case report

We report a case of chylopericardium after ascending aorta and aortic valve replacement, which presented as late tamponade. We discuss the various treatment options in this rare condition which can result in s...

Authors: Sing Yang Soon, Sharath Hosmane and Paul Waterworth

The challenge to detect heart transplant rejection and transplant vasculopathy non-invasively - a pilot study

Cardiac allograft rejection and vasculopathy are the main factors limiting long-term survival after heart transplantation.

Authors: Engin Usta, Christof Burgstahler, Hermann Aebert, Stephen Schroeder, Uwe Helber, Andreas F Kopp and Gerhard Ziemer

Cardiac CT and MRI guide surgery in impending left ventricular rupture after acute myocardial infarction

We report the case of a 67 year-old patient who presented with worsening chest pain and shortness of breath, four days post acute myocardial infarction. Contrast enhanced computed tomography of the chest ruled...

Authors: Jens Vogel-Claussen, Jan Skrok, Elliot K Fishman, João AC Lima, Ashish S Shah and David A Bluemke

UK pneumonectomy outcome study (UKPOS): a prospective observational study of pneumonectomy outcome

In order to assess the short term risks of pneumonectomy for lung cancer in contemporary practice a one year prospective observational study of pneumonectomy outcome was made. Current UK practice for pneumonec...

Authors: Ellie S Powell, Adrian C Pearce, David Cook, Paul Davies, Ehab Bishay, Geoffrey MR Bowler and Fang Gao

Proanthocyanidin to prevent formation of the reexpansion pulmonary edema

We aimed to investigate the preventive effect of Proanthocyanidine (PC) in the prevention of RPE formation.

Authors: Orhan Yucel, Ergun Ucar, Ergun Tozkoparan, Armagan Gunal, Cemal Akay, Mehmet Ali Sahin and Onur Genc

Evaluation of preoperative intra-aortic balloon pump in coronary patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction undergoing OPCAB surgery: early and mid-term outcomes

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the safety and the cost-effectiveness of using preoperative IABP as support compared with postoperative IABP treatment in coronary patients with severe left ven...

Authors: Zhibing Qiu, Xin Chen, Ming Xu, Yingshuo Jiang, Liqiong Xiao, LeLe Liu and Liming Wang

Omentoplasty and Thoracoplasty for treating postpneumonectomy bronchopleural fistula in a patient previously submitted to aortic prosthesis implantation

Bronchopleural fistula following pneumonectomy is a serious and frightening complication in chest surgery with a high mortality rate. The possibility of curing this complication using a conservative treatment ...

Authors: Mario Nosotti, Ugo Cioffi, Matilde De Simone, Paolo Mendogni, Alessandro Palleschi, Lorenzo Rosso, Michele M Ciulla and Luigi Santambrogio

BioGlue and Peri-strips in lung volume reduction surgery: pilot randomised controlled trial

Both tissue sealants and buttressing have been advocated to reduce alveolar air leaks from staple lines following Lung Volume Reduction Surgery (LVRS). However, the long term detrimental effects of buttressing...

Authors: Sridhar Rathinam, Babu V Naidu, Prakash Nanjaiah, Mahmoud Loubani, Maninder S Kalkat and Pala B Rajesh

Surgery of secondary mitral insufficiency in patients with impaired left ventricular function

Secondary mitral insufficiency (SMI) is an indicator of a poor prognosis in patients with ischemic and dilated cardiomyopathies. Numerous studies corroborated that mitral valve (MV) surgery improves survival a...

Authors: Andreas Rukosujew, Stefan Klotz, Henryk Welp, Christian Bruch, Farshad Ghezelbash, Christoph Schmidt, Raluca Weber, Andreas Hoffmeier, Jürgen Sindermann and Hans H Scheld

Mitral paravalvular abscess with left ventriculo-atrial fistula in a patient on dialysis

Infective endocarditis in hemodialysis patients is challenging but is becoming more common recently.

Authors: Tadashi Kitamura, James Edwards, Suchi Khurana and Robert G Stuklis

Methods of estimation of mitral valve regurgitation for the cardiac surgeon

Mitral valve regurgitation is a relatively common and important heart valve lesion in clinical practice and adequate assessment is fundamental to decision on management, repair or replacement. Disease localise...

Authors: Efstratios E Apostolakis and Nikolaos G Baikoussis

The role of a pseudocapsula in thymic epithelial tumors: outcome and correlation with established prognostic parameters. Results of a 20-year single centre retrospective analysis

Treatment of thymoma is often based on observation of only a few patients. Surgical resection is considered to be the most important step. Role of a pseudocapsula for surgery, its clinical significance and out...

Authors: Sebastian Dango, Bernward Passlick, Ulf Thiemann, Gian Kayser and Christian Stremmel

The European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) is not appropriate for withholding surgery in high-risk patients with aortic stenosis: a retrospective cohort study

The European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) is a widely used risk assessment tool in patients with severe aortic stenosis to determine operability and to select patients for alternati...

Authors: Dimitri Kalavrouziotis, Debbie Li, Karen J Buth and Jean-Francois Légaré

Possible roles of Epstein-Barr virus in Castleman disease

Complete resection seemed to be curative in patients with Castleman disease of any location but the disease is likely to be reactive in its pathogenesis. The relation between Epstein-Barr virus and Castleman d...

Authors: Chih-Hao Chen, Hung-Chang Liu, Tzu-Ti Hung and Tsang-Pai Liu

Current role of surgery in small cell lung carcinoma

Small cell lung carcinoma represents 15–20% of lung cancer. Is is characterized by rapid growth and early disseminated disease with poor outcome. For many years surgery was considered a contraindication in Sma...

Authors: Efstratios N Koletsis, Christos Prokakis, Menelaos Karanikolas, Efstratios Apostolakis and Dimitrios Dougenis

Unstable angina early after aortic valve replacement surgery in a female patient with normal coronary arteries preoperatively – a case report

Angina pectoris early after aortic valve replacement surgery in patients with previously normal coronary arteries may be life threatening and has to be assessed immediately.

Authors: Sybille Gruber, Choi-Keung Ng, Christian Schwarz and Johann Auer

Papillary fibroelastoma of the left atrial wall: a case report

Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma is a rare, benign cardiac tumor. It often arises from valvular endocardium, and non-valvular endocardial location is rare. Although transthoracic echocardiography is usually suf...

Authors: Murat Bicer, Mustafa Cikirikcioglu, Erman Pektok, Hajo Müller, Sarah Dettwiler and Afksendiyos Kalangos

"How I do it: utilization of high-pressure sealants in aortic reconstruction"

Suture-line hemostasis, reinforcement of friable tissue, and adhesion prevention are key concerns for patients undergoing cardiac surgery for aortic reconstruction. Failure to secure hemostasis at anastomotic ...

Authors: John A Elefteriades

Bilateral sternobronchial fistula after coronary surgery – are the retained epicardial pacing wires responsible? a case report

Temporary epicardial pacing wires are routinely used during cardiac surgery; they are dependable in controlling postoperative arrhythmias and are associated with low morbitity.

Authors: Timothy Sakellaridis, Michalis Argiriou, Victor Panagiotakopoulos and Christos Charitos

Can local application of Tranexamic acid reduce post-coronary bypass surgery blood loss? A randomized controlled trial

Diffuse microvascular bleeding remains a common problem after cardiac procedures.

Authors: Hosam Fawzy, Elsayed Elmistekawy, Daniel Bonneau, David Latter and Lee Errett

Predictors of inotrope use in patients undergoing concomitant coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and aortic valve replacement (AVR) surgeries at separation from cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)

Left ventricular dysfunction is common after coronary artery bypass graft and valve replacement surgeries and is often treated with inotropic drugs to maintain adequate hemodynamic status. In this study, we ai...

Authors: Imdad Ahmed, Chad M House and William B Nelson

Tracheal replacement by autogenous aorta

Tracheal defects may occur after trauma or prolonged intubation. Resection of tracheal tumors also poses a major challenge for substitution. In an effort to solve this problem, different techniques have been t...

Authors: Farhad Anoosh, Hossain Hodjati, Seifollah Dehghani, Nader Tanideh and Perikala V Kumar

Bronchial stump reinforcement with an azygous vein flap

Bronchial stump reinforcement has been shown to significantly reduce the incidence of bronchopleural fistulas. Various coverage techniques have been described in the literature. While the azygous vein flap is ...

Authors: Faisal Al-Mufarrej, Marc Margolis, Eric Strother, Barbara Tempesta and Farid Gharagozloo

Successful management of an aortoesophageal fistula caused by a fish bone – case report and review of literature

We report a case of aortoesophageal fistula (AEF) caused by a fish bone that had a successful outcome. Aortoesophageal fistula is a rare complication of foreign body ingestion from which few patients survive. ...

Authors: Stephen L. Kelly, Paul Peters, Murray J. Ogg, Alan Li and Bernard M. Smithers

Predictors of packed red cell transfusion after isolated primary coronary artery bypass grafting – The experience of a single cardiac center: A prospective observational study

Preoperative patients' characteristics can predict the need for perioperative blood component transfusion in cardiac surgical operations. The aim of this prospective observational study is to identify perioper...

Authors: Elsayed M. Elmistekawy, Lee Errett and Hosam F. Fawzy

Sternal plating for primary and secondary sternal closure; can it improve sternal stability?

Sternal instability with mediastinitis is a very serious complication after median sternotomy. Biomechanical studies have suggested superiority of rigid plate fixation over wire cerclage for sternal fixation. ...

Authors: Hosam Fawzy, Nasser Alhodaib, C. David Mazer, Alana Harrington, David Latter, Daniel Bonneau, Lee Errett and James Mahoney

Giant right coronary artery aneurysm- case report and literature review

Authors: Neerod K. Jha, Husam Z. Ouda, Javed A. Khan, Gregory P. Eising and Norbert Augustin

Aortic root surgery in septuagenarians: impact of different surgical techniques

To evaluate the impact and safety of different surgical techniques for aortic root replacement (ARR) on early and late morbidity and mortality in septuagenarians undergoing ARR.

Authors: Nawid Khaladj, Rainer Leyh, Malakh Shrestha, Sven Peterss, Axel Haverich and Christian Hagl

Torsion of right middle lobe after a right upper lobectomy

Lobar torsion after lung resection is a quite rare complication. A 50-year-old woman presented typical features on chest radiographs and CT(computed tomography) scan of lobar torsion after a right upper lobect...

Authors: Chih-Hao Chen, Tzu-Ti Hung, Tung-Ying Chen and Hung-Chang Liu

Spontaneous left main coronary artery dissection complicated by pseudoaneurysm formation in pregnancy: role of CT coronary angiography

We report a case of a 26-year-old female, who presented at 34 weeks of an uncomplicated pregnancy with an acute ST elevation anterior wall myocardial infarction. Cardiac catheterization suggested a left main c...

Authors: Shahid Rahman, Mohammed Abdul-Waheed, Tarek Helmy, Lynn C. Huffman, Vipin Koshal, Julian Guitron, Walter H. Merrill, David F. Lewis, Stephanie Dunlap, Yukitaka Shizukuda, Neal L. Weintraub, Cristopher Meyer and Mehmet Cilingiroglu

Aortic distensibility and coronary artery bypass graft patency

Aortic distensibility is an elasticity index of the aorta, and reflects aortic stiffness. Coronary artery disease has been found to be substantially associated with increased aortic stiffness. In this study we...

Authors: Bülent Özdemir, Murat Biçer, Levent Özdemir, İbrahim Baran, Aysel Aydın Kaderli, Tunay Şentürk, Ali Emül, Zeynel Abidin Yetgin, Sümeyye Güllülü and Ali Aydınlar

Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) as a safe alternative for the resection of pulmonary metastases: a retrospective cohort study

VATS has become a preferred method for benign surgical conditions, yet still remains controversial for malignancies. The purpose of this study was to review our results of pulmonary metastasectomies using both...

Authors: Marilee Carballo, Mary S. Maish, Dawn E. Jaroszewski and Carmack E. Holmes

Successful management of multiple permanent pacemaker complications – infection, 13 year old silent lead perforation and exteriorisation following failed percutaneous extraction, superior vena cava obstruction, tricuspid valve endocarditis, pulmonary embolism and prosthetic tricuspid valve thrombosis

A 59 year old man underwent mechanical tricuspid valve replacement and removal of pacemaker generator along with 4 pacemaker leads for pacemaker endocarditis and superior vena cava obstruction after an earlier...

Authors: Pankaj Kaul, Krishna Adluri, Kalyana Javangula and Wasir Baig

Diagnosing left ventricular aneurysm from pseudo-aneurysm: a case report and a review in literature

Rupture of the free wall of the left ventricle (LV) is a catastrophic complication occurring in 4% of patients after myocardial infarction (MI) and in 23% of those who die of MI. Rarely the rupture is containe...

Authors: Giampaolo Zoffoli, Domenico Mangino, Andrea Venturini, Alberto Terrini, Angiolino Asta, Chiara Zanchettin and Elvio Polesel

Two stage hybrid approach for complex aortic coarctation repair

Management of an adult patient with aortic coarctation and an associated cardiac pathology poses a great surgical challenge since there are no standard guidelines for the therapy of such complex pathology. Deb...

Authors: Efstratios Koletsis, Stella Ekonomidis, Nikolaos Panagopoulos, George Tsaousis, James Crockett and Matthew Panagiotou

"Acute pseudo-pericardial tamponade": the compression of the thoracal inferior vena cava – a case report

We describe a case of 68-year-old woman which was admitted to our hospital for mitral valve replacement (MVR), in whom acute compresion of the vena cava inferior developed after repair of lacerated atrio-caval...

Authors: Raif Cavolli, Kaan Kaya and Altay Omer Elalmis

Magnesium sulphate and amiodarone prophylaxis for prevention of postoperative arrhythmia in coronary by-pass operations

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of prophylactic magnesium sulphate and amiodarone in treating arrhythmias that may occur following coronary bypass grafting operations.

Authors: Osman Tiryakioglu, Sinan Demirtas, Hasan Ari, Selma Kenar Tiryakioglu, Kagan Huysal, Ozer Selimoglu and Ahmet Ozyazicioglu

Coronary artery bypass grafting and concomitant excision of chest wall chondrosarcoma

Coexistence of coronary artery disease and cancer with both requiring surgical treatment at the same time is rare. A 52 year male undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting was incidentally discovered...

Authors: Pankaj Kaul, David JR Duthie, Somsekhar Ganti and Radhika Ramnath