The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Left ventricular assist device performance with long-term circulatory support: lessons from the REMATCH trial.
Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) failure and malfunction rates are critical gauges for establishing LVADs as a long-term therapy for end-stage heart failure patients. These device performance measures, however, have been inadequately characterized in the bridge-to-transplantation literature. ⋯ Despite the observed rates of device malfunction and replacement, LVAD implantation confers clinically significant improvement with regard to survival as compared with medical management. Device modifications and innovations for infection management exhibit great promise of improving device performance in the near future.
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Multicenter Study
Outcome of right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery shunt in first-stage palliation of hypoplastic left heart syndrome: a multi-institutional study.
To evaluate the developing surgical technique of a modified Norwood procedure using a right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery shunt, we analyzed data obtained from 73 infants who underwent first-stage palliation for hypoplastic left heart syndrome between 1998 to 2002 at three centers in Japan. ⋯ Improved survival for patients after first-stage palliation of hypoplastic left heart syndrome is reproducible for many centers by an application of the modified Norwood procedure with the right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery shunt.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
A prospective multicenter trial of bipolar radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation: early results.
The Cox-Maze III remains the gold standard for the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation. However, the "cut-and-sew" technique is time consuming and technically challenging. The pulmonary veins are the source of ectopy in the majority of patients with atrial fibrillation. The safety and efficacy of bipolar radiofrequency to electrically isolate the pulmonary veins was evaluated in a prospective multi-center trial. ⋯ The use of bipolar radiofrequency for electrical isolation of pulmonary veins and to replace other Cox-Maze III incisions is safe and effective at controlling atrial fibrillation. This emerging technology may shorten and simplify the surgical management of atrial fibrillation.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Fenoldopam prophylaxis of postoperative acute renal failure in high-risk cardiac surgery patients.
Acute renal failure requiring replacement therapy occurs in 1% to 2% of patients who have undergone cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and is associated with a very high mortality rate. The aim of this study was to determine if prophylactic treatment with fenoldopam mesylate of patients at high risk of postoperative acute renal failure reduced the incidence of this event. ⋯ Given the limitations of a nonrandomized prospective trial, our results support the hypothesis that fenoldopam may reduce the risk of acute renal failure in patients in whom endogenous and exogenous cathecolamines action may induce a renal vascular constrictive condition.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Separate grafts or en bloc anastomosis for arch vessels reimplantation to the aortic arch.
This study compares the results of the separated graft technique and the en bloc technique as a method of arch vessels reimplantation during surgery of the aortic arch and determines the predictive risk factors associated with hospital mortality and adverse neurologic outcome during aortic arch repair. ⋯ Antegrade selective cerebral perfusion was confirmed to be a safe method of cerebral protection allowing complex aortic arch operations to be performed with acceptable results in terms of hospital mortality and neurologic outcome. The separated graft technique had no adverse impact on hospital mortality and morbidity.