J Cardiothorac Surg
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J Cardiothorac Surg · Jan 2007
Monitoring of oxidative and metabolic stress during cardiac surgery by means of breath biomarkers: an observational study.
Volatile breath biomarkers provide a non-invasive window to observe physiological and pathological processes in the body. This study was intended to assess the impact of heart surgery with extracorporeal circulation (ECC) onto breath biomarker profiles. Special attention was attributed to oxidative or metabolic stress during surgery and extracorporeal circulation, which can cause organ damage and poor outcome. ⋯ Oxidative and metabolic stress during cardiac surgery could be assessed continuously and non-invasively by means of breath analysis. Correlations between breath acetone profiles and clinical conditions underline the potential of breath biomarker monitoring for diagnostics and timely initiation of life saving therapy.
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Pulmonary hamartomas are usually an incidental finding and range in size from 1 cm to 8 cm in diameter in various series. We report a case of a massive pulmonary hamartoma (size 25.5 x 17.5 x 6.5 cm and weighing 1134 g) in a 61 year old male who presented with a short history of breathlessness. ⋯ The tumour was compressing the right lung and there was no evidence of infiltration into the surrounding structures. It was successfully treated by surgical resection and final histology was pulmonary hamartoma with predominantly adipose and leiomyomatous differentiation.
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J Cardiothorac Surg · Jan 2006
Ischemia monitoring in off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery using intravascular near-infrared spectroscopy.
In off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery, manipulations on the beating heart can lead to transient interruptions of myocardial oxygen supply, which can generate an accumulation of oxygen-dependent metabolites in coronary venous blood. The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability of intravascular near-infrared spectroscopy as a monitoring method to detect possible ischemic events in off-pump coronary artery bypass procedures. ⋯ Our initial results show that intravascular near-infrared spectroscopy can reliably be used for an online intraoperative ischemia monitoring in off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery. However, the method has to be further evaluated and standardized to determine the role of spectroscopy in off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery.
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J Cardiothorac Surg · Jan 2006
Case ReportsSecondary left ventricular injury with haemopericardium caused by a rib fracture after blunt chest trauma.
Trauma is the third most common cause of death in the West. In the US, approximately 90,000 deaths annually are traumatic in nature and over 75% of casualties from blunt trauma are due to chest injuries. Cardiac injuries from rib fractures following blunt trauma are extremely rare. We report the unusual case of a patient who fell from a height and presented with haemopericardium and haemothorax as a result of left ventricular and lingular lacerations and was successfully operated upon.
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J Cardiothorac Surg · Jan 2006
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyComparison of flow characteristics and vascular reactivity of radial artery and long saphenous vein grafts [NCT00139399].
The morphological and functional differences between arteries and veins may have implications on coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) survival. Although subjective differences have been observed between radial artery (RA) and long saphenous venous (LSV) grafts, these have not been quantified. This study assessed and compared the flow characteristics and in-vivo graft flow responses of RA and LSV aorto-coronary grafts. ⋯ The flow characteristics and flow responses of the RA graft suggest that it is a more physiological conduit than the LSV graft. The clinical relevance of the balance between imperfect patency versus the more physiological vascular function in the RA graft may be revealed by the 5-year angiographic follow-up of this trial.