D-ribose-L-cysteine supplementation enhances wound healing in a rodent model.

Background: Wound healing and chronic wounds are serious public health issues. While wounds heal, cellular stores of antioxidants are depleted. d-ribose-l-cysteine (DRLC) is a precursor to the antioxidant glutathione.

Cardima Surgical Ablation System: a novel tool for cardiac ablation in the treatment of atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation is a pervasive and difficult heart rhythm problem for more than 3 million Americans. Patients are plagued by myriad symptoms and are exposed to the risk of stroke. Attempts to restore normal rhythm with drug therapy have been largely unsuccessful and the complications associated with long-term anticoagulation to reduce stroke risk are appreciable.

Surgical approaches for atrial fibrillation.

For cardiac surgery patients presenting with atrial fibrillation (AF), surgeons offer an operation that corrects the structural heart disease and the AF. With this approach, it is estimated that surgeons will perform more than 10,000 ablation procedures in 2008. Surgeons are developing minimally invasive techniques for stand-alone, epicardial ablation of AF.

Completely endoscopic microwave ablation of atrial fibrillation on the beating heart using bilateral thoracoscopy.

The pharmacological treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) has proven to be wholly inadequate. Although highly successful, the surgical approach is too invasive and has not been widely adopted. Progress has been made with breathtaking speed over the last decade toward the creation of an ablative surgical procedure that retains a high cure rate yet solves the problem of invasiveness.

Histopathological evaluation of a novel radiofrequency surgical ablation system.

Purpose: : Using a porcine model, this feasibility study was undertaken to evaluate the histopathological characteristics of lesions created in the proximity of the pulmonary veins after ablation with a new endoscopic-guided radiofrequency device.

Methods: : Five adult female swine underwent endoscopic surgical ablation on the epicardial surface of the beating heart. Histologic sections taken from around the pulmonary vein pedicle, representing 10 separate anatomic sites, underwent independent qualitative histopathological evaluation as well as quantitative histomorphometric measurement of lesion depth and section thickness.

Surgical approaches for atrial fibrillation.

For cardiac surgery patients presenting with atrial fibrillation (AF), surgeons offer an operation that corrects the structural heart disease and the AF. With this approach, it is estimated that surgeons will perform more than 10,000 ablation procedures in 2007. Surgeons are developing minimally invasive techniques for stand-alone, epicardial ablation of AF.

Minimally invasive surgery for atrial fibrillation.

Although the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation has become technically simpler and faster with the advent of new ablative technologies, the ultimate goal of treating large numbers of patients for lone AF remains elusive. The ideal procedure would be performed epicardially, on the beating heart, with minimal risk to and impact on the patient, a rapid recovery and high cure rates. As minimal access techniques improve along with device designs and our understanding of pathophysiology, the field continues to move toward this objective.

Ablation of atrial fibrillation with concomitant cardiac surgery.

Atrial fibrillation is present in approximately 35% of patients presenting for mitral valve surgery and in 1 to 6% of adult patients undergoing other forms of cardiac surgery. If left untreated, atrial fibrillation is associated with increased morbidity, and, in some subgroups, increased mortality. Therefore, concomitant management of the arrhythmia is indicated in most cardiac surgery patients with preexisting atrial fibrillation.

The use of extracellular matrix as an inductive scaffold for the partial replacement of functional myocardium.

Regenerative medicine approaches for the treatment of damaged or missing myocardial tissue include cell-based therapies, scaffold-based therapies, and/or the use of specific growth factors and cytokines. The present study evaluated the ability of extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from porcine urinary bladder to serve as an inductive scaffold for myocardial repair. ECM scaffolds have been shown to support constructive remodeling of other tissue types including the lower urinary tract, the dermis, the esophagus, and dura mater by mechanisms that include the recruitment of bone marrow-derived progenitor cells, angiogenesis, and the generation of bioactive molecules that result from degradation of the ECM.

Inflammation effects on the electrical properties of atrial tissue and inducibility of postoperative atrial fibrillation.

Background: Atrial fibrillation is the most common complication after cardiac surgery. Postoperative atrial fibrillation (PAF) has been shown to increase length of stay, morbidity, and mortality. Because the clinical behavior of PAF parallels that of inflammation following surgery, we investigated the effect of the inflammatory mediator arachidonic acid on the electrical behavior of normal atrial tissue in vitro and assessed the efficacy of the topical application of anti-inflammatory drugs at suppressing PAF in an animal model.

High resolution mechanical function in the intact porcine heart: mechanical effects of pacemaker location.

The necessity to quantify the mechanical function with high spatial resolution stemmed from the advancement of myocardial salvaging techniques. Since these therapies are localized interventions, a whole field technique with high spatial resolution was needed to differentiate the normal, diseased, and treated myocardium. We developed a phase correlation algorithm for measuring myocardial displacement at high spatial resolution and to determine the regional mechanical function in the intact heart.

Thrombogenic performance of a st. Jude bileaflet mechanical heart valve in a sheep model.

The sheep model is preferred for chronic evaluation of prosthetic heart valves, surgical techniques, and endocardiographic studies. A bileaflet mechanical heart valve (MHV) was implanted into a sheep model to study its in vivo performance and to evaluate the thrombogenic potential of the valve. Transesophageal echocardiography and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography measurements were conducted before and after the valve implantation.

Multichannel data acquisition system for mapping the electrical activity of the heart.

Background: Details of the electrical conduction pattern of the heart are revealed to the electrophysiologist when multichannel data are used for activation mapping. Commercial electronic systems are available for simultaneous acquisition of many surface electrograms; however, the cost of these systems may be prohibitive and they can be mostly inflexible for adaptation to other research projects. Furthermore, the hardware and software design is often proprietary.

The completely endoscopic treatment of atrial fibrillation: report on the first 14 patients with early results.

Unlabelled: We report the early results of a new completely endoscopic technique for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods: Fourteen patients underwent surgery solely for the treatment of AF. The thoracoscopic technique delivered microwave energy to the epicardial surface of the beating heart.

Effects of ischemia on epicardial deformation in the passive rabbit heart.

Background: Surgically induced ischemia in the arrested heart can result in changes in the mechanical properties of the myocardium. Regions of ischemia may be characterized based on the amount of epicardial deformation for a given load. Computer aided speckle interferometry (CASI), which tracks the movement of clusters of particles, is developed as a technique for measuring epicardial deformation, thereby determining the perfusion status of the passive heart.

Both metabolic inhibition and mitochondrial K(ATP) channel opening are myoprotective and initiate a compensatory sarcolemmal outward membrane current.

Background: Blockade of oxidative phosphorylation may activate ATP sensitive mitochondrial potassium (mitoK(ATP)) channels. We examined whether both metabolic inhibition and mitoK(ATP) channel openers protect both the whole organ and isolated cells from ischemia.

Methods And Results: Using a Langendorff preparation, one group of isolated rabbit hearts were exposed to ischemic preconditioning (IPC) via 2 episodes of flow interruption.

A completely endoscopic approach to microwave ablation for atrial fibrillation.

Background: Surgical therapy for atrial fibrillation is extremely effective but not widely applied. Minimally invasive methods may be more attractive. We report a case of complete pulmonary vein isolation performed entirely through a thoracoscopic approach.

Myocardial recovery from ischemia is impaired in CD36-null mice and restored by myocyte CD36 expression or medium-chain fatty acids.

Long-chain fatty acid uptake, which provides a large part of myocardial energy, is impaired in human and murine hearts deficient in the membrane fatty acid translocase, FAT/CD36. We examined myocardial function in CD36-null mice using the working heart. Fatty acid oxidation and stores of glycogen, triglycerides, and ATP were reduced in CD36-deficient hearts and were restored to WT levels by rescue of myocyte CD36.