Circulation
-
From August 1982 to May 1991, 65 children (32 boys), 1 day to 14 years old, received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) 0-50 hours after cardiac surgery. Forty-four (67.7%) were weaned, with 23 (35.4%) survivors. ⋯ ECMO allows for myocardial recovery in the majority of patients with refractory postcardiotomy failure and permits some patients to survive who would not have otherwise.
-
When high-dose aprotinin is used during cardiopulmonary bypass, there is a prolongation of the activated coagulation time (ACT), which is used to monitor heparinization. The aim of this study was to provide guidelines for monitoring heparin levels by the ACT if aprotinin is used during cardiopulmonary bypass. ⋯ Aprotinin prolongs the ACT and APTT independently of heparin. If high-dose aprotinin is used during cardiopulmonary bypass, ACTs should be maintained at times > 750 seconds to allow for appropriate levels of heparin.
-
Several operations (most commonly ventricular septal myotomy-myectomy and also mitral valve replacement) have been performed to relieve symptoms and obstruction to left ventricular outflow in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). ⋯ Mitral valve plication combined with myotomy-myectomy in obstructive HCM 1) can be performed safely and does not adversely alter mitral valve function, 2) relieves symptoms and outflow obstruction under basal and provocable conditions, and 3) may represent an alternative to mitral valve replacement in selected patients with elongated and enlarged mitral leaflets.
-
Doppler echocardiographic studies have previously documented abnormalities of mitral flow during acute rejection similar to those seen in patients with "restrictive" physiology. As central venous flow is known to be abnormal in such patients, it was proposed that examination of superior vena caval flow with Doppler echocardiography might be useful for the detection of acute cardiac rejection. ⋯ During acute cardiac rejection, forward systolic superior vena caval flow is markedly diminished compared with nonrejectors. This is accompanied by other Doppler echocardiographic features consistent with the development of "restrictive" physiology. It is postulated that the loss of forward systolic flow in the superior vena cava is due to diminished long-axis shortening of the right ventricle associated with acute cardiac rejection.