J Cardiothorac Surg
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J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2012
Meta Analysis Comparative StudyComparative pulmonary functional recovery after Nuss and Ravitch procedures for pectus excavatum repair: a meta-analysis.
Pectus excavatum (PE) is a common chest wall malformation, with surgery being the only method known to correct the defect. Although the Nuss and Ravitch procedures are commonly used, there is no consensus as to whether surgical repair improves pulmonary function. We therefore investigated whether pulmonary function recovers after surgical repair, and if recovery is dependent on the type of procedure or time after surgery. ⋯ Pulmonary function tends to improve after the surgical correction of pectus excavatum. Although the Nuss procedure was not significantly better 1 year after surgery, long-term postoperative pulmonary function improvement was significantly better after bar removal.
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J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2012
Atrial fibrillation following cardiac surgery: risk analysis and long-term survival.
We studied potential risk factors for postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) in a large cohort of patients who underwent open-heart surgery, evaluating short- and long-term outcome, and we developed a risk-assessment model of POAF. ⋯ POAF was detected in 44% of patients, which is high compared to other studies. In the future, our assessment score will hopefully be of use in identifying patients at high risk of POAF and lower complications related to POAF.
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J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialPrevention of sternal dehiscence with the sternum external fixation (Stern-E-Fix) corset--randomized trial in 750 patients.
The main objective of this study will be to determine the effects of a new advanced sternum external fixation (Stern-E-Fix) corset on prevention of sternal instability and mediastinitis in high-risk patients. ⋯ We demonstrated that using an external supportive sternal corset (Stern-E-Fix) yields a significantly better and effective prevention against development of sternal dehiscence and secondary sternal infection in high-risk poststernotomy patients.