Publications by authors named "Alina Grigore"

Primary cardiac neoplasms are a rare, commonly benign, tumor with an approximate incidence rate of 0.02%. Papillary fibroelastoma (PFE), a common form of primary cardiac neoplasms, typically present as a mass on the aortic and mitral valves, while rarely presenting as a pulmonary valve tumor.

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Plasma cell features are encountered in a variety of non-plasma cell neoplasias, especially carcinomas of a discohesive type, such as those occurring in the digestive tract and breast. Lobular carcinomas of the breast present themselves in a variety of architectural patterns and many cell morphologies, including plasmacytoid types. A matching plasma cell phenotype is sometimes an associated feature.

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To improve our understanding of the evidence-based literature supporting temperature management during adult cardiopulmonary bypass, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiology and the American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology tasked the authors to conduct a review of the peer-reviewed literature, including 1) optimal site for temperature monitoring, 2) avoidance of hyperthermia, 3) peak cooling temperature gradient and cooling rate, and 4) peak warming temperature gradient and rewarming rate. Authors adopted the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association method for development clinical practice guidelines, and arrived at the following recommendation.

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Unlabelled: In order to improve our understanding of the evidence-based literature supporting temperature management during adult cardiopulmonary bypass, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiology and the American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology tasked the authors to conduct a review of the peer-reviewed literature, including: 1) optimal site for temperature monitoring, 2) avoidance of hyperthermia, 3) peak cooling temperature gradient and cooling rate, and 4) peak warming temperature gradient and rewarming rate. Authors adopted the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association method for development clinical practice guidelines, and arrived at the following recommendations: CLASS I RECOMMENDATIONS: a)The oxygenator arterial outlet blood temperature is recommended to be utilized as a surrogate for cerebral temperature measurement during CPB. (Class I, Level C) b)To monitor cerebral perfusate temperature during warming, it should be assumed that the oxygenator arterial outlet blood temperature under-estimates cerebral perfusate temperature.

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In order to improve our understanding of the evidence-based literature supporting temperature management during adult cardiopulmonary bypass, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiology and the American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology tasked the authors to conduct a review of the peer-reviewed literature, including: 1) optimal site for temperature monitoring, 2) avoidance of hyperthermia, 3) peak cooling temperature gradient and cooling rate, and 4) peak warming temperature gradient and rewarming rate. Authors adopted the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association method for development clinical practice guidelines, and arrived at the following recommendations: No Recommendation No recommendation for a guideline is provided concerning optimal temperature for weaning from CPB due to insufficient published evidence.

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Objectives: Diffuse isolated liver metastases are the dominant mode of tumor progression in a number of cancers and present a major treatment challenge for oncologists. An experimental treatment, percutaneous hepatic perfusion (PHP), utilizes partial venovenous cardiopulmonary bypass to allow administration of high-dose chemotherapy directly and solely to the liver with filtration of chemotherapeutic agents from the blood prior to its return to the systemic circulation, thereby minimizing toxic systemic effects. The following case series describes the management of 5 patients with metastatic melanoma undergoing serial PHPs.

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Extracellular glutamate is elevated following brain ischemia or trauma and contributes to neuronal injury. We tested the hypothesis that magnesium sulfate (MgSO4, 3 mM) protects against metabolic failure caused by excitotoxic glutamate exposure. Rat cortical neuron preparations treated in medium already containing a physiological concentration of Mg(2+) (1 mM) could be segregated based on their response to glutamate (100 µM).

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Ischemic heart disease (IHD) occurs when myocardial oxygen supply is not adequate for myocardial oxygen demand. Patients with IHD who are undergoing surgery are at risk for development of perioperative cardiac events (PCEs), and this risk depends on the type of surgery, the presence of clinical risk factors, and functional status of the patients. Appropriate perioperative management of medications such as dual antiplatelet therapy and β-blockers has a significant impact on outcomes.

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Over the last decade, TECAB has matured into a reproducible technique associated with low incidence of both mortality and morbidity, as well as superior quality of life, when compared with open CABG surgery. However, TECAB also is associated with important and specific challenges for the anesthesiology team, particularly with regard to the physiologic stresses of OLV, placement of special catheters, and induced capnothorax. As the technology supporting robotic surgery evolves and familiarity with, and confidence in, TECAB increases, the authors anticipate increasingly widespread use of these procedures in an increasingly fragile and problematic patient population who will require the support of a skilled and vigilant anesthesiology team.

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Purpose Of Review: Tracheobronchial lesions requiring significant resection of the airway have limited surgical options and present significant obstacles to the anesthesiologist and surgeon. This article will review recent advancements in anesthetic and surgical management.

Recent Findings: Technological advances have introduced novel approaches to the patient with large airway lesions.

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The cellular immunoprofile of cardiac dysfunctions and lesions of ischemic etiology are insufficiently studied to date, especially regarding the contribution of non-cardiomyocytic structures. Aiming to explore this immunoprofile, we used immunohistochemistry applied on embryonic, fetal and adult normal or ischemic myocardium. We observed a decrease of smooth muscle alpha-actin expression in fetal vs.

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Robotic assistance has enabled coronary artery bypass surgery to be performed safely in a completely endoscopic fashion, but diffusely diseased target vessels may pose a technical challenge. We present a case in which coronary endarterectomy was performed on the left anterior descending coronary artery during a two-vessel totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass procedure. A 52-year-old woman presented with intermittent substernal pain.

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Background: Patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection may require surgical revascularization. Reports on the surgical management of this pathology are primarily limited to classic coronary artery bypass grafting via sternotomy on cardiopulmonary bypass, although a limited number of reports of alternatives also exist.

Methods: We describe a case of robotic completely endoscopic coronary surgery using the daVinci® Si™ system in a patient with spontaneous coronary artery dissection.

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We report a rare case of renal tumor--mucinous tubular and spindle cell carcinoma in a 65-year-old man. The tumor, located in the right kidney, was well circumscribed. Microscopically, the tumoral proliferation was composed of cuboidal cells arranged in tubules, with abrupt transition to spindle cell morphology in a myxoid stroma.

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Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common primary mesenchymal neoplasias of the gastrointestinal tract, typically expressing c-kit (CD117) and CD34. Recently, it was reported that nestin and caveolin-1 are also expressed in some human sarcomas, GISTs included. We performed a retrospective study on formalin fixed, paraffin embedded samples from 81 cases of confirmed GISTs, aiming to characterize their immunohistochemical profile, including nestin and caveolin-1 expressions.

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Despite a half century of research and the implementation of various risk-reduction strategies among clinicians and basic scientists, patients continue to experience strokes and cognitive dysfunction related to the use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) for cardiac surgery. One strategy to reduce these detrimental effects has been the use of hypothermia. Although numerous studies have addressed the issue, the question of whether the use of hypothermia during CPB attenuates the impact of central nervous system consequences remains unresolved.

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Objective: Ethyl pyruvate (EP) is an investigational drug that has been shown to protect animals in several models of critical illness including myocardial or mesenteric ischemia/reperfusion injury, sepsis, and hemorrhagic shock. The purpose of this study was to assess the safety of EP administration to patients undergoing higher-risk cardiac surgery and to obtain preliminary efficacy data for the prevention of single and multisystem organ dysfunction.

Design: Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study.

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