Annals of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery : official journal of the Association of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons of Asia
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Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Jan 2011
ReviewThoracic endovascular aortic repair--indications and evidence.
Since its introduction more than a decade ago, thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has shown promising results for patients with various thoracic aortic diseases. The aim of the current review is to assess the current literature to evaluate the safety and efficacy of TEVAR. ⋯ Despite numerous encouraging results from a large number of publications in recent years, there remains a lack of level 1 evidence to support an improvement of long-term overall survival for patients who underwent TEVAR when compared with traditional treatment modalities. There appears to be an urgent need to conduct well-designed randomized-controlled trials in this rapidly expanding intervention.
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Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Jan 2011
Case ReportsMalignant melanoma of the lung: report of two cases.
Malignant melanoma (MM) is the most fatal cutaneous neoplasm. Primary MM of the lung is quite rare, and late recurrence of MM is also uncommon. We report 2 cases of pulmonary MM, the first involving primary MM of the lung and the second involving late recurrence 8 years after the initial surgery. ⋯ In the second case, the patient had a history of thumb amputation for MM 8 years ago. For pulmonary MM, extrapulmonary origin of the tumor must be excluded by detailed examination because melanomas involving the lung are almost always metastatic. Whether the diagnosis is primary or metastatic disease, the potential for recurrence should be considered even in patients with a long disease-free survival.
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Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Jan 2011
Comparative StudyCystatin C in diabetics as a marker of mild renal insufficiency after CABG.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of plasma cystatin C in acute impairment in renal function; plasma cystatin C was compared to plasma creatinine in two hundred patients undergoing elective CABG surgery. ⋯ Cystatin C and cystatin C-based estimation of GFR may be useful and more sensitive than creatinine in detecting mild acute renal insufficiency in diabetic patients.
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Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Jan 2011
Surgery offers high cure rates in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
Drug resistance has become a major problem in the treatment of tuberculosis, and pulmonary resection in combination with chemotherapy appears to be an effective measure for the treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the results of resection for multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis (MDR-TB). ⋯ Even with high morbidity in the early post-operative period, surgery, in addition to medical therapy, offers higher cure rates than only medical therapy; however, meticulous preoperative evaluation of patients is needed.
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Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Jan 2011
Randomized Controlled TrialCerebroprotective effect of piracetam in patients undergoing open heart surgery.
Reduction of cognitive function is a possible side effect after the use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) during cardiac surgery. Since it has been proven that piracetam is cerebroprotective in patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery, we investigated the effects of piracetam on the cognitive performance of patients undergoing open heart surgery. ⋯ Piracetam had no cerebroprotective effect in patients undergoing open heart surgery. Unlike the patients who underwent coronary surgery, piracetam did not reduce the early postoperative decline of neuropsychological abilities in heart valve patients.