Surgical aortic valve replacement in octogenarians: Single-center perioperative outcomes and five-year survival.

Introduction And Objectives: Aortic stenosis is the most common valvular heart disease. The number of octogenarians proposed for intervention is growing due to increased lifespan. In this manuscript we aim to evaluate perioperative outcome and long-term survival after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in octogenarians, comparing patients with low surgical risk (EuroscoreII <4%) with intermediate-high risk (EuroscoreII ≥4%).

Conduction Disorders And Their Clinical Impact After Sutureless/Rapid Deployment Aortic Bioprosthesis.

Introduction: Aortic stenosis remains the number one heart valve pathology. The drive to improve the surgical outcomes brought to focus rapid deployment valves (RDV), which reduce aortic cross-clamping and cardio-pulmonary bypass (CPB) times. However, some centers have reported a higher rate of conduction abnormalities and permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation.

Ascending Aorta Sacular Aneurysm.

. A 83 year old woman with history of arterial hypertension, hypothyroidism, obesity, chronic renal insufficiency and incipient dementia was transferred to our hospital after complaints of chest pain. Investigation revealed a sacular ascending aortic aneurysm with the aneurysmal sac adjacent to the sternum.

Internal Mammary Artery Skeletonization - Review Of Current Evidence.

Internal mammary artery (IMA) harvesting is a central part in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The technique of harvesting the IMA - pedicled, skeletonized, or semi-skeletonized, may influence intra-operatory and postoperatory outcomes. We aim to review current evidence regarding the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques, and their performance in certain subsets of patients.

Sutureless bioprosthesis for aortic valve replacement: Surgical and clinical outcomes.

Background: Aortic valve stenosis is the most common adult valve disease in industrialized countries. The aging population and the increase in comorbidities urge the development of safer alternatives to the current surgical treatment. Sutureless bioprosthesis has shown promising results, especially in complex procedures and in patients requiring concomitant surgeries.

Low Mean Arterial Pressure During Cardiopulmonary Bypass and the Risk of Acute Kidney Injury: A Propensity Score Matched Observational Study.

Introduction: Low mean arterial pressure (MAP) periods occur frequently during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), and their management remains controversial. Our aim was to correlate MAP during CPB with the occurrence of post-operative acute kidney injury (AKI), considering two different parameters: consecutive and cumulative low MAP periods.

Methods: Single-centre observational retrospective study including 250 patients submitted to non-emergent aortic valve replacement, with tepid to mild hypothermia (not below 32°C).

Definitive Treatment Of Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax A 10 Year Experience.

Objectives: Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is defined as a pneumothorax without obvious underlying lung disease. Definitive treatment should be offered to patients with recurrent or persistent PSP. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of medical pleurodesis (MP) with video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) on definitive treatment of PSP.

Platelet Count Drop After Rapid Deployment Aortic Valve Implantation.

Background: A transient postoperative drop in platelet count is an expected finding after aortic valve replacement using extracorporeal circulation. The implantation of the Perceval valve has been associated with a more intense drop of platelet count compared to other bio-prostheses. This study analyses and compares the platelets progression associated with the Perceval and Intuity valves.

Surgical Treatment of an Advanced Stage Thymoma in a Good's Syndrome Patient - Case Report.

We report a rare case of an advanced stage thymoma with right superior pulmonary lobe, superior vena cava, innominate vein and pericardium invasion in a patient with Good's syndrome. In a multidisciplinary discussion, surgical resection was deemed the best initial approach, since invaded structures could be safely managed. The tumor was fully resected and included partial resection of the superior pulmonary lobe, superior vena cava and innominate vein.

Twelve Years of Complete Atrioventricular Septal Defect Repair.

Background: Surgical repair is the standard treatment for complete atrioventricular septal defect. At our institution, this repair is performed by single patch, modified single patch or two patch techniques, according to the surgeon preferences and the surgical anatomy of the defect. The goal of this study was to evaluate our results from the last twelve years.

[Minimally invasive approach vs full sternotomy for aortic valve and ascending aorta replacement: results from our center].

Background: Aortic valve disease is the most common valvular heart disease. Surgical aortic valve replacement remains the gold-standard of treatment. Recently, minimally invasive approaches have been developed to reduce surgical trauma and to compete with percutaneous treatment of valvular heart disease.

Rapid Deployment Aortic Valves in Elderly Patients: Age is not just a Number.

Introduction: Aortic valve stenosis (AS) is the most common valvular pathology in the elderly. Surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) remains the gold-standard of treatment for AS. However, emerging transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has become an increasing alternative to surgery.

An alternative approach for addressing mediastinal tumours through mini-invasive surgery.

Introduction: The treatment of choice for mediastinal tumours is surgical, with the standard approach being sternotomy. Because of the invasive nature of this procedure, the management of these masses through mini-invasive surgery has become an alternative method.

Presentation Of Case: We report the case of a woman with a mediastinum tumour and a new technique used for resection, through an inframammary left incision, using a Thoratrak rib spreader and Rultract Skyhook retractor assisted by a video.

Occult Metastatic Melanoma Presenting as an Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Melanoma is a tumor that virtually involves any tissue and commonly metastasizes to the heart. It is usually not diagnosed because of the absent/nonspecific cardiac signs and symptoms. Herein, we present a case of a 41-year-old man without any cardiovascular risk factor, admitted to the emergency room with chest pain, diagnosed with a myocardial infarction.

Extended thymectomy, left pneumonectomy, pericardiectomy and partial pleurectomy for a large thymoma, using only a median sternotomy.

We present a case of a large thymoma with invasion to the hilum of the lung and pleural dissemination. A 58-year-old woman was diagnosed with a type B2 thymoma, with suspected pericardium, pulmonary artery and left lung invasion and pleural metastasis (Masaoka-Koga stage IVb). A radical resection was planned after systemic chemotherapy.

Use of CO in video assisted thoracic surgery and single-lumen endotracheal tube-a new less invasive approach.

Carbon dioxide (CO) has been extensively used to allow laparoscopic procedures, due to its extensive advantages in obtaining a fairly innocuous pneumoperitoneum to allow visceral dissection. Its use in video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has seldom been described. We present our experience in more than 100 patients, operated for various thoracic pathologies, in whom we created a surgical pneumothorax to allow different surgeries to be undertaken.

Cardiac surgery using a single thoracic port-current status and future directions.

Cardiac surgery is almost universally performed through a median sternotomy, an approach which is painful, unestethical, and prone to life-threatening infections. Minimally invasive cardiac surgery has tried to avoid problems associated with full sternotomy for many years. Recently, uniportal thoracic surgery was shown to be very advantageous when compared to standard thoracotomy and classical video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS).

Minimally invasive bypass of the left anterior descending coronary artery.

Introduction: Minimally invasive revascularization of the left anterior descending coronary artery has gained popularity. Recently, the emergence of new surgical instruments and the improvement of the technique, allowed its use by routine. Its use in Heart Team allows excellent results.

[Video-assisted thoracic sympathectomy - the results from a center outpatient surgery program].

Background: The outpatient surgery program from our department has started in 2014 to improve patient access to surgery and to reduce the surgical waitlist. Focused on the thoracic surgery, the most common intervention is the surgical treatment of primary hyperhidrosis by thoracic sympathectomy by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). It is performed according to the patient's symptoms, with section or application of surgical clips between R2-R5.

[Results of the utilization of the ECMO-VA following cardiac surgery, in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of Santa Maria Hospital].

Objectives: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation through a veno-arterial circuit (ECMO-VA) is an organ support option in refractory cardiogenic shock, when the primary cause of decompensation is thought to be reversible. We report the clinical results of this technique in patients submitted to cardiac surgery at our center.

Methods: We present a retrospective study of patients that underwent ECMO-VA after cardiac surgery and subsequent admission at the intensive care unit (ICU), in our center.