All cardiac surgical procedures performed in 80 German cardiac surgical units throughout the year 2009 are presented in this report, based on a voluntary registry which is organized by the German ...Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. In 2009 a total of 96 129 cardiac surgical procedures (excluding ICD and pacemaker procedures) were collected in this registry. More than 11.8 % of the patients were older than 80 years compared to 10.3 % in 2008. Hospital mortality in 45 171 isolated CABG procedures (13.1 % off-pump) was 2.8 %. In 23 556 isolated valve procedures (including 2216 catheter-based procedures) a mortality of 4.7 % was observed. This voluntary registry of the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery continues to be an important tool for quality control and illustrates the development of cardiac surgery in Germany.
Abstract Background There are only a few reports about combined heart-liver transplantations. The surgical techniques differ widely, ranging from sequential implantation of the organs to simultaneous ...transplantations. We report our experience with simultaneous, combined heart-liver transplantations without using a veno-venous bypass demonstrating that this is a feasible surgical technique. Methods Since 2005, we performed 4 combined heart-liver transplantations by implanting the liver during the reperfusion period of the newly implanted heart. We retrospectively reviewed patient clinical data and outcomes. Results The mean operative time was 534 ± 247 minutes and the ischemia times for heart and liver were 190 ± 72 minutes (cold ischemia time for the heart), 98 ± 96 minutes (warm ischemia time for the heart), 349 ± 101 minutes (cold ischemia time for the liver), and 36.25 ± 3.5 minutes (warm ischemia time for the liver). Three patients were discharged from the hospital after an uneventful clinical course. One patient died due to multi-organ failure during the intensive care unit stay on the 23rd postoperative day. Conclusion We suggest that combined, simultaneous heart-liver transplantation without veno-venous bypass is a feasible surgical technique.
All cardiac surgical procedures performed in 79 German cardiac surgical units throughout the year 2008 are illustrated in this report, based on a voluntary registry which is organized by the German ...Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. In 2008 a total of 99 176 cardiac surgical procedures (ICD and pacemakers procedures excluded) have been collected. More than 10.3 % of the patients were older than 80 years compared to 9.8 % in 2007. Hospital mortality in 47 337 isolated CABG procedures (11.3 % off-pump) was 2.8 %. In 22 243 isolated valve procedures a mortality of 4.7 % has been observed. This voluntary registry of the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery continues to be an important tool enabling quality control and illustrating the development of cardiac surgery in Germany.
Chronic cardiac rejection is represented by cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) and cardiac interstitial fibrosis (CIF) known to cause severe complications. These processes are accompanied by ...remarkable changes in the cardiac extra cellular matrix (cECM). The aim of our study was to analyse the cECM remodelling in chronic rejection and to elucidate a potential role of ED-A domain containing fibronectin (ED-A⁺ Fn), alpha smooth muscle actin (ASMA) and B domain containing tenascin-C (B⁺ Tn-C). A model of chronic rejection after heterotopic rat heart transplantation was used. Allografts, recipient and control hearts were subjected to histological assessment of rejection grade, to real-time PCR based analysis of 84 genes of ECM and adhesion molecules and to immunofluorescence labelling procedures, including ED-A⁺ Fn, ASMA and B⁺ Tn-C antibodies. Histological analysis revealed different grades of chronic rejection. By gene expression analysis, a relevant up-regulation of the majority of ECM genes in association with chronic rejection could be shown. For 8 genes, there was a relevant up-regulation in allografts as well as in the corresponding recipient hearts. Association of ASMA positive cells with the grade of chronic rejection could be proven. In CAV and also in CIF there were extensive co-depositions of ED-A⁺ Fn, ASMA and B⁺ Tn-C. In conclusion, chronic cardiac allograft rejection is associated with a cECM remodelling. ASMA protein deposition in CAV, and CIF is a valuable marker to detect chronic rejection. Interactions of VSMCs and Fibro-/Myofibroblasts with ED-A⁺ Fn and B⁺ Tn-C might functionally contribute to the development of chronic cardiac rejection.
Our purpose was to evaluate and compare the accuracy of the "Sequential Organ Failure Assessment" score (SOFA) and the "Cardiac Surgery Score" (CASUS) for the prediction of mortality after cardiac ...surgery.
Between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008 we prospectively included all consecutive adult patients admitted to our intensive care unit (ICU) after cardiac surgery. Both scoring systems were calculated daily from the 1st day in the ICU (day of operation) until the 7th ICU day. We evaluated the ICU mortality prediction of both models using calibration and discrimination statistics.
2801 patients (29.6% females) were included. Mean age was 66.9 ± 10.7 years. Intensive care unit mortality was 5.2%. The calibration of the "Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score" and "Cardiac Surgery Score" was reliable for all days (p ≥ 0.05). CASUS was more accurate in predicting survival and mortality compared to SOFA for all days, as evidenced by the larger areas under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curves.
Both CASUS and SOFA are reliable mortality prediction tools after cardiac surgery. However, CASUS was more accurate in predicting the individual patient's risk of mortality. Thus, use of the CASUS in cardiac surgery intensive care units is recommended.
The purpose of this study was to develop a specific postoperative score for intensive care unit (ICU) cardiac surgical patients for assessment of organ dysfunction and survival.
This prospective ...study consisted of all consecutive adult patients admitted after cardiac surgery to our ICU over a period of 3 years. Evaluation of variables was performed using the first year patients who stayed in the ICU for at least 24 hours. The reproducibility was then tested in two validation sets using all patients. Performance was assessed with the Hosmer-Lemeshow (chi2 statistics) goodness-of-fit test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and compared with the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) and Multiple Organ Dysfunction Score (MODS).
A total of 3,230 patients were admitted to the ICU after cardiac surgery. Mean chi2 values for the new score were 5.8 (APACHE II, 11.3; MODS, 9.7) for the construction set, 7.2 (APACHE II, 8.0; MODS, 4.5) for the validation set I, and 5.9 for the validation set II. The mean area under the ROC curve was 0.91 (APACHE II, 0.86; MODS, 0.84) for the new score in the construction set, 0.88 (APACHE II, 0.84; MODS, 0.84) in the validation set I, and 0.92 in the validation set II.
Our new 10-variable risk index performs very well, with calibration and discrimination very high, better than general severity systems; and it is an appropriate tool for daily risk stratification in ICU cardiac surgery patients. Thus, it may serve as an "expert system" for diagnosing organ failure, decision making, resource evaluation, and predicting mortality among ICU cardiac surgical patients.
Intracranial complications of sinusitis are rare but life threatening. We present a case of a 17-year-old woman with sinusitis who deteriorated over the course of 12 days from subdural empyema and ...global purulent cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. The patient was managed with surgery and mechanical thrombectomy utilizing a novel ‘stent anchor with mobile aspiration technique’, in which a Trevo stent retriever (Stryker) was anchored in the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) while a 5 MAX ACE reperfusion catheter (Penumbra) was passed back and forth from the SSS to the sigmoid sinus with resultant dramatic improvement in venous outflow. The patient was extubated on postoperative day 3 and was discharged with minimal lower extremity weakness on postoperative day 11. This is the first report using the Trevo stent retriever for sinus thrombosis. It is important to keep these rare complications in mind when evaluating patients with oral and facial infections.
The management of spinal vascular malformations has undergone significant evolution with the advent of advanced endovascular and angiographic technology. Three-dimensional rotational spinal ...angiography is an advanced tool that allows the surgeon to gain a better appreciation of the anatomy of these spinal vascular lesions and their relation to surrounding structures. This article describes the use of rotational angiography and 3D reconstructions in the diagnosis and management of spinal vascular malformations.
The authors present representative cases involving surgical treatment planning for spinal vascular malformations with focus on the utility and technique of rotational spinal angiography. They report the use of rotational spinal angiography for a heterogeneous collection of vascular pathological conditions.
Eight patients underwent rotational spinal angiography in addition to digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for the diagnosis and characterization of various spinal vascular lesions. Postprocessed images were used to characterize the lesion in relation to surrounding bone and to enhance the surgeon's ability to precisely localize and obliterate the abnormality. The reconstructions provided superior anatomical detail compared with traditional DSA. No associated complications from the rotational angiography were noted, and there was no statistically significant difference in the amount of radiation exposure to patients undergoing rotational angiography relative to traditional angiography.
The use of rotational spinal angiography provides a rapid and powerful diagnostic tool, superior to conventional DSA in the diagnosis and preoperative planning of a variety of spinal vascular pathology. A more detailed understanding of the anatomy of such lesions provided by this technique may improve the safety of the surgical approach.
Pulmonary metastasectomy is an established procedure in oncological therapeutic concepts. A systematic literature search and an analysis of all studies published since 01.01.2000 should evaluate the ...advantage of pulmonary metastasectomy for patients with primary head and neck cancer. Lung metastases develop in 1.9-13% of head and neck cancer patients. Following metastasectomy, patients reach a median survival of 9.5-78 months and 5-year survival rates of up to 58% are achieved. Intrathoracic recurrence occurs in 18.4-81.8% of patients, selected instances of which can be successfully treated by remetastasectomy. Patients with squamous cell carcinoma have the worst prognosis, but could also become long-term survivors (≥ 60 months). Pulmonary metastasectomy is frequently the only potentially curative therapeutic approach and offers a better long-term survival than nonsurgical therapies. Lung metastasectomy is thus the treatment of choice in selected patients with pulmonary metastases from primary head and neck cancer.
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