Vincenzo Gallucci: Memories of a Surgeon, Scientist, and Teacher.

Thirty years ago, Vincenzo Gallucci, MD, head of the Cardiovascular Surgery Institute of the University of Padua Medical School in Italy, died in a car accident at the age of 55 years. Vincenzo Gallucci was one of the most authoritative Italian cardiac surgeons, a fine, gentle, and extremely talented surgeon. He is credited with the first implant of a glutaraldehyde-fixed, stented porcine Hancock bioprosthesis in 1970 and with the first orthotopic heart transplantation performed in Italy in 1985.

Anterior mitral annulus caseoma: as benign as posterior counterparts?

Mitral annular caseoma is a common incidental finding involving the posterior annulus. It has an innocent nature, with the exception of its endocarditic degeneration and/or a stenotic functional effect when exophytic. We report an exceptionally rare isolated anterior mitral annular caseoma involving also the anterior mitral leaflet and affecting its physiologic systolic movement, thus resulting in a restricting anterior leaflet motion responsible for mitral insufficiency.

European multicenter experience with valve-sparing reoperations after the Ross procedure.

Background: Autograft valve preservation at reoperation may conserve some of the advantages of the Ross procedure. However, results of long-term follow-up are lacking. In this retrospective multicenter study, we present our experience with valve-sparing reoperations after the Ross procedure, with a focus on long-term outcome.

Two decades of experience with the Ross operation in neonates, infants and children from the Italian Paediatric Ross Registry.

Objective: Children undergoing Ross operation were expected to have longer autograft, but shorter homograft durability compared with adults. In order to define the outcome in the second decade after Ross operation in children, a nationwide review of 23 years of experience was undertaken.

Methods: 305 children underwent Ross operation in 11 paediatric units between 1990 and 2012.

Is it possible to assess the best mitral valve repair in the individual patient? Preliminary results of a finite element study from magnetic resonance imaging data.

Objectives: Finite element modeling was adopted to quantitatively compare, for the first time and on a patient-specific basis, the biomechanical effects of a broad spectrum of different neochordal implantation techniques for the repair of isolated posterior mitral leaflet prolapse.

Methods: Cardiac magnetic resonance images were acquired from 4 patients undergoing surgery. A patient-specific 3-dimensional model of the mitral apparatus and the motion of the annulus and papillary muscles were reconstructed.

Current management of double-outlet left ventricle: towards biventricular repair in infancy.

Background: Double-outlet left ventricle (DOLV) is an extremely rare type of ventriculoarterial connection, mostly reported anecdotally with wide variations in morphology, surgical strategy and clinical outcome. The aim of the present study was to define current morbidity and mortality of biventricular repair and discuss surgical management in infancy.

Methods: Inclusion criteria were English literature publication; balanced ventricular development and completion of biventricular repair.

Diabetic hearts have lower basal urocortin levels that fail to increase after cardioplegic arrest: association with increased apoptosis and postsurgical cardiac dysfunction.

Objectives: The present study investigated the cardioprotective role of urocortin (Ucn) and its relationship with protein kinase C (PKC)ε and PKCδ in patients with (DMPs) and without (NDMPs) diabetes mellitus after on-pump cardiac surgery (OPCS). The molecular mechanisms responsible for the reported worse outcomes of DMP after OPCS remain unknown.

Methods: Two sequential biopsy specimens were obtained from the right atrium of 27 DMPs and 22 NDMPs before and after cardiopulmonary bypass.

Ventricular and pulmonary vascular remodeling induced by pulmonary overflow in a chronic model of pretricuspid shunt.

Objectives: Current preclinical models of pulmonary arterial hypertension do not reproduce the clinical characteristics of congenital heart anomalies. Aortocaval shunt is relevant to a variety of clinical conditions. The pathophysiology and possible determination of pulmonary hypertension in this model are still undefined.

Neonatal repair of truncus arteriosus with "scimitar-like" mixed total pulmonary venous return.

The association between truncus arteriosus and total anomalous pulmonary venous return is exceedingly rare. Here described is a neonate presenting with a common arterial trunk and a previously unreported "scimitar-like" mixed total pulmonary venous return who underwent a successful one-stage repair. The unprecedented anatomic pattern of the systemic and pulmonary venous connection and the original surgical strategy are discussed.

Chronic overcirculation-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension in aorto-caval shunt.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a common complication of congenital heart defects with left-to-right shunts. Current preclinical models do not reproduce clinical characteristics of shunt-related pulmonary hypertension. Aorto-caval shunt was firstly described as a model of right ventricle volume overload.

First-time, isolated surgical aortic valve replacement after prior coronary artery bypass surgery: results from the RECORD multicenter registry.

Background: This multicenter study was undertaken to determine the immediate and long-term outcomes in patients undergoing a primary surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) who had a previous coronary artery bypass graft surgery with patent grafts.

Methods: One hundred and thirteen consecutive patients (mean EuroSCORE II, 10.3 ± 7.

In which patients is transcatheter aortic valve replacement potentially better indicated than surgery for redo aortic valve disease? Long-term results of a 10-year surgical experience.

Background: Redo aortic valve replacement procedures have been reduced by the growing practice of trans-catheter aortic valve-in-valve procedures. We analyzed our long-term results of redo aortic valve replacement procedures during a 10-year period in an effort to define subgroups in which trans-catheter aortic valve-in-valve procedures may be better than surgery.

Methods: From 2002 to 2010, 131 redo aortic valve replacement procedures with at least 18 months of follow-up were prospectively enrolled.

Role of calcium desensitization in the treatment of myocardial dysfunction after deep hypothermic circulatory arrest.

Introduction: Rewarming from deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) produces calcium desensitization by troponin I (cTnI) phosphorylation which results in myocardial dysfunction. This study investigated the acute overall hemodynamic and metabolic effects of epinephrine and levosimendan, a calcium sensitizer, on myocardial function after rewarming from DHCA.

Methods: Forty male Wistar rats (400 to 500 g) underwent cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) through central cannulation and were cooled to a core temperature of 13°C to 15°C within 30 minutes.

Pulsatile flow decreases gaseous micro-bubble filtering properties of oxygenators without integrated arterial filters during cardiopulmonary bypass.

Objectives: Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) has a risk of embolic injury with an important role of gaseous micro-bubbles (GMBs), coming from CPB-circuit. Pulsatile perfusion (PP) can provide specific conditions for supplementary GMB-activity with respect to non-pulsatile (NP). We aimed to test GMB-filtering properties of three modern oxygenators under pulsatile and non-pulsatile conditions.

Targeting urocortin signaling pathways to enhance cardioprotection: is it time to move from bench to bedside?

Despite the exponential growth in medical knowledge, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) contribute to more than one-third of worldwide morbidity and mortality. A range of therapies already exist for established CVDs, although there is significant interest in further understanding their pathogenesis. The urocortins (Ucns) are peptide members of the corticotrophin-releasing factor family, a group of evolutionary conserved peptides with homologues in fish, amphibians and mammals and considered to play a pivotal role in energy homeostasis and local tissue repair.

Effects of angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist and temperature on prolonged cardioplegic arrest in neonatal rat myocytes.

Cardioplegic arrest is a model of ischemia/reperfusion injury and results in the death of irreplaceable cardiac myocytes by a programmed cell death or apoptosis. Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) signaling pathways play an important role in the modulation of apoptosis after ischemia and reperfusion. Angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor antagonist added to cardioplegia could represent an additional modality for enhancing myocardial protection during cardioplegic arrest.

Functional mitral regurgitation: a 30-year unresolved surgical journey from valve replacement to complex valve repairs.

Functional mitral regurgitation remains one of the most complex and controversial aspect--for both clinicians and surgeons--in the management of mitral valve disease in the context of left ventricular dysfunction. Given the current absence of clear guidelines, as well as of results from randomized trials comparing the outcome of different surgical strategies potentially available for this complex scenario, surgical decision making for these high-risk patients poses a real dilemma in the daily practice. The resulting surgical choices often represent a questionable combination of surgeons' personal feeling, local supplies, patients' life expectancy and risk/benefit ratios, opinions and statements of the experts, and so on.

Gaseous micro-emboli activity during cardiopulmonary bypass in adults: pulsatile flow versus nonpulsatile flow.

Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) has a risk of cerebral injury, with an important role of gaseous micro-emboli (GME) coming from the CPB circuit. Pulsatile perfusion is supposed to perform specific conditions for supplementary GME activity. We aimed to determine whether pulsatile CPB augments production and delivery of GME and evaluate the role of different events in GME activity during either type of perfusion.

Comparison between D901 Lilliput 1 and Kids D100 neonatal oxygenators: toward bypass circuit miniaturization.

Progress in biomaterial technology and improvements in surgical and perfusion strategy ameliorated morbidity and mortality in pediatric cardiac surgery. In this study, we describe our clinical experience comparing performance of two neonatal oxygenators. From January 2002 to March 2011, 159 infants with less than 5 kg body weight underwent heart surgery.

Diagnosis of infection in paediatric veno-arterial cardiac extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: role of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein.

Objectives: Plasma concentration of procalcitonin (PCT) and its value in the diagnosis of infection in paediatric patients treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) are undefined. This study aimed to define the levels of PCT and C-reactive protein (CRP) in paediatric cardiac ECMO patients and to determine their role in predicting infection, severity of organ dysfunction and clinical outcome.

Methods: PCT and CRP plasma concentrations were measured daily in 20 consecutive infants and young children treated with veno-arterial ECMO.