European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Jan 1990
Accidental deep hypothermia with cardiopulmonary arrest: extracorporeal blood rewarming in 11 patients.
Sixteen patients (age 13-53 years) with accidental deep hypothermia have been rewarmed in our clinic during the last 10 years, 14 by femoro-femoral cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) of whom 11 had a cardiopulmonary arrest (asystole in 5 and ventricular fibrillation in 6). On admission, the latter were clinically dead showing wide non-reactive pupils and being supported by ventilation and external heart massage. In the survivors, the mean length of cold exposure was 4.4 h (2-5.5 h) and mean arrest interval until initiation of CPB was 2.5 h (1.4-3.7 h). ⋯ All survivors became conscious during the first POD and resumed, their professional activity. We conclude that patients with accidental deep hypothermia and even prolonged cardiopulmonary arrest should be rewarmed and resuscitated rapidly by cardiopulmonary bypass. These measures are very promising particularly if the cause of accident and the circumstances suggest that cardiopulmonary arrest was induced by hypothermia alone without other asphyxiating mechanisms.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Jan 1990
Case ReportsType 1 aortic dissection with right coronary artery occlusion and fistula to right atrium and right ventricle.
A fistula between the aorta and right atrium which communicates with the right ventricle is an extremely rare and rapidly lethal complication of aortic dissection. There are only three previously reported cases of survival after operative repair of aorto-right atrial fistulae in the literature. We describe a patient who experienced acute aortic dissection with fistula formation to the right atrium and to the right ventricle. The patient underwent successful operative repair.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Jan 1990
Thoracic injuries sustained by the survivors of the M1 (Kegworth) aircraft accident. The Nottingham, Leicester, Derby, Belfast Study Group.
On 8 January 1989, a Boeing 737 carrying 126 passengers and crew crashed onto the M1 motorway killing 39 passengers. Of 87 initial survivors, 74 had major injuries making this an unusual accident as most aircraft crashes result in very few severely injured survivors. This prompted the setting up of a major study group, the Nottingham, Leicester, Derby, Belfast Study Group (NLDB) to examine in detail the accident and its aftermath. ⋯ Twenty-three passengers sustained major chest trauma and all had major injury to other parts of the body. Five of these patients died within 12 h of admission. Various patterns of chest trauma emerged from this study, including an increasing incidence of rib fractures with age and a distinctive pattern of upper zone pulmonary contusion in younger patients.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Jan 1990
Case ReportsSystemic atrioventricular conduit for extracardiac bypass of hypoplastic systemic atrioventricular valve.
The management of severe congenital mitral stenosis in infants and children is still controversial. We describe our experience with the use of a systemic atrioventricular (SAV) extracardiac conduit to bypass a hypoplastic systemic atrioventricular valve. An SAV extracardiac conduit has been used in six patients (left atrium--left ventricle in five, right atrium--right ventricle in one). ⋯ Postoperative cardiac catheterization performed in five patients showed reduction of the transmitral gradient from a mean of 16 mmHg to a mean of 5 mmHg. Calcification of the bioprosthetic valve occurred in two patients 3 1/2 years and 2 years respectively after the operation; one died from concomitant subaortic stenosis and one underwent conduit replacement. Although its long-term efficacy is limited, the SAV conduit seems the most reliable surgical option for infants and children with hypoplastic systemic atrioventricular valves unsuited to conventional surgery.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Jan 1990
Complement activation before, during and after cardiopulmonary bypass.
Plasma levels of the complement parent molecules C3, C4, and factor B and their split products, C3d, C4d, and Ba were measured in 12 patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass for coronary artery surgery. Alternative and common complement pathway activation, demonstrated by statistically significant rising levels of Ba (P less than 0.05), and C3d (P less than 0.05) and by elevated Ba:B (P less than 0.05) and C3d:C3 (P less than 0.05) ratios were found before the institution of cardiopulmonary bypass but following heparin administration suggesting that heparin may itself initiate alternative pathway activation. In addition, significant depletion of parent complement components and elevation of split product concentrations was seen during bypass suggesting classical and alternate pathway activation (P less than 0.01). This study clarifies the pathways of complement activation during bypass and presents evidence that heparin administration may initially activate the complement cascade.