J Cardiothorac Surg
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J Cardiothorac Surg · Jun 2018
The EZ-blocker for one-lung ventilation in patients undergoing thoracic surgery: clinical applications and experience in 100 cases in a routine clinical setting.
In certain clinical situations the insertion of a double-lumen tube (DLT) for one-lung ventilation (OLV) is not feasible or unfavorable. In these cases, the EZ-Blocker (EZB) may serve as an alternative. The aim of our analysis was to report on the clinical applications and our experience with the EZB for one-lung ventilation in 100 patients undergoing thoracic surgery. ⋯ The EZB is an efficient, easy-to-use and safe airway device and enables OLV in several clinical situations, when conventional DLTs are not feasible or less favorable. Three major applications were depicted from the data: expected difficult airway, surgical procedures with necessity of intraoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve monitoring and already intubated or tracheostomized patients.
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J Cardiothorac Surg · Jun 2018
Is isolated aortic valve replacement sufficient to treat concomitant moderate functional mitral regurgitation? A propensity-matched analysis.
A significant proportion of patients presenting for isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR) demonstrate some degree of functional mitral regurgitation (fMR). Guidelines addressing concomitant mitral valve intervention in those patients with moderate fMR lack strong evidence-based support. Our aim is to determine the effect of untreated moderate fMR at the time of AVR on long-term survival. ⋯ Patients undergoing isolated AVR with concomitant 2-3+ fMR experience poorer long-term survival than those patients with no or mild fMR. This suggests that mitral valve intervention may be necessary in patients undergoing AVR with clinically significant fMR.