The heart surgery forum
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The heart surgery forum · Jan 2008
Review Case ReportsAn air gun pellet retained in the heart: a case report.
We report the rare case of an air gun pellet retained within the myocardium. The pellet passed through the right ventricle and the interventricular septum and was retained in the posterior left ventricular wall. The patient presented with cardiac tamponade requiring urgent surgical treatment. The case report is followed by a review of the pertinent literature.
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The heart surgery forum · Jan 2008
Achieving metrics during beating-heart ex-maze procedures improves outcomes.
Current surgical treatments for atrial fibrillation (AF) lack intraoperative metrics that predict long-term outcomes. The extracardiac maze (Ex-Maze) procedure is a beating-heart maze procedure that causes spontaneous conversion to sinus rhythm (SR) during lesion creation. Spontaneous conversion and confirmation of pulmonary vein exit block are 2 important predictors of long-term freedom from AF. ⋯ Recent advances in techniques and technologies permit the creation of a comprehensive biatrial lesion pattern on the epicardium of a beating heart. Observation of spontaneous conversion and confirmation of pulmonary vein exit block are important metrics that predict improved long-term outcomes.
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The heart surgery forum · Jan 2008
Restrictive mitral valve annuloplasty for chronic ischemic mitral regurgitation: a 5-year clinical experience with the physio ring.
This study investigated the results of restrictive mitral annuloplasty with the semirigid Carpentier-Edwards Physio ring in patients with moderately severe to severe chronic ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) and advanced ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM). ⋯ Restrictive mitral valve annuloplasty using the semirigid Physio ring corrected chronic IMR in ICM patients with very low mortality and improved contractility. Surgery also prevented recurrence of significant IMR in parallel with the phenomenon of postoperative continuous reverse myocardial remodeling.
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The heart surgery forum · Jan 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialThe role of clopidogrel and acetylsalicylic acid in the prevention of early-phase graft occlusion due to reactive thrombocytosis after coronary artery bypass operation.
Reactive thrombocytosis has been reported in 20% of patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), a frequency that might be related to the high incidence of thrombotic complications. The present study was planned to investigate the effect of combined treatment with clopidogrel and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) on post-CABG reactive thrombocytosis. ⋯ Combination antiplatelet therapy with ASA and clopidogrel seems to be more effective than ASA alone for maintaining graft patency in patients with reactive thrombocytosis.
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The heart surgery forum · Jan 2008
Comparative StudyPreoperative prophylaxis can decrease rates of atrial fibrillation in open heart surgery: a retrospective study.
We investigated the effects of preoperative administration of beta-blockers on the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardiothoracic surgery and the resulting morbidity and mortality. ⋯ Postoperative AF increases the rates of morbidity and mortality and the length of hospital stay after CABG. The prophylactic use of beta-blockers decreases the rate of postoperative AF and thus AF-related complications.