Incidence and peri-operative risk factors for development of acute kidney injury in patients after cardiac surgery: A prospective observational study.

Background: Patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) after cardiac surgery develop acute kidney injury (AKI) immediately post-operation. We hypothesized that AKI occurs mainly due to perioperative risk factors and may affect outcome.

Aim: To assess peri-operative risk factors for AKI post cardiac surgery and its relationship with clinical outcome.

Prompt recovery after surgical treatment of pulmonary and aortic valve endocarditis in a patient with acute heart failure.

Infective endocarditis remains a medical challenge among urgent cases of cardiac disease. Multi-valvular endocarditis is uncommon and simultaneous right and left-sided valvular involvement, particularly affecting the pulmonary valve, is scarcely reported. A rare case of a patient with subacute myelodysplastic syndrome, who presented with endocarditis involving both aortic and pulmonary valves, complicated with new-onset heart failure, is described.

Patient with Unicuspid Aortic Valve and Ascending Aorta Aneurysm Treated with Ozaki Procedure and Ascending Aorta Replacement.

Although aortic valve replacement remains the gold standard treatment for aortic valve diseases like stenosis (AS) or insufficiency, new surgical methods have been developed with a focus in the reconstruction of the aortic valve rather than replacing it. The Ozaki procedure involves a tailored replacement of each individual valvular leaflet with glutaraldehyde-treated autologous pericardium and aims to reproduce the normal anatomy of the aortic valve. Cases of patients with unicuspid aortic valve treated with the Ozaki procedure are uncommon in the litrature and become even more rare when it comes to concomitant diseases like AS and ascending aorta aneurysm.

Outcomes and quality of life after aortic valve surgery in octogenarians.

Background: The emergence of catheter-based techniques questioned existing treatment strategies for patients with aortic stenosis. The increasing effectiveness of transcatheter aortic valve implantation therapies justifies a renewed evaluation of the results in terms of survival rate as well as the quality of life (QoL) after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in the elderly. The aim of this study is the assessment of QoL in octogenarians undergoing isolated SAVR.

Effectiveness of brain natriuretic peptide in predicting postoperative atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing non-cardiac thoracic surgery.

A best evidence topic was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was whether plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels could effectively predict the occurrence of postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients undergoing non-cardiac thoracic surgery. A total of 14 papers were identified using the reported search, of which 5 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question.

Left ventricular post-infraction pseudoaneurysm mimicking mitral valve endocarditis.

In this report we present a patient who was initially diagnosed as suffering from mitral valve endocarditis. The proper use of diagnostic modalities revealed a pseudo aneurysm of the left ventricle which was mimicking mitral valve vegetations. This allowed better planning of the subsequent operation.

Isolated sternal fractures treated on an outpatient basis.

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the need for admission of patients with isolated sternal fracture (ISF) by prospectively and randomly discharging or admitting them.

Methods: Patients with ISF after the completion of investigations were randomly discharged or admitted. Investigations performed included lateral chest x-ray; chest computed tomography; electrocardiogram; cardiac ultrasound; definition of C-reactive protein; and cardiac enzymes, such as creatine phosphokinase, myocardial branch of creatine phosphokinase, and troponin I (cardiac specific).

Extrathoracic chronic heamatoma presenting as a chest wall tumor 2 years after a blunt thoracic injury.

Chronic expanding heamatomas may present as masses mimicking chest wall tumors. We report the case of a patient who was presented with a giant posterior extrathoracic chest wall tumor. The mass was proven to be a chronic heamatoma possibly developed after a blunt thoracic injury which took place 2 years before presentation and was growing thereafter.

Simultaneous off-pump coronary artery bypass graft and nephrectomy.

We report the one-stage surgical management of a 68-year-old patient with renal cell carcinoma and serious hematuria combined with coronary artery disease and unstable angina. After the accomplishment of coronary revascularization without cardiopulmonary bypass, we proceeded to nephrectomy and resection of the renal tumor at the same time. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and at 17 months of follow-up, the patient showed no signs of recurrence.

Unusual case of massive hemorrhage of a gastric duplication cyst in a very advanced age.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to report an unusual case of gastric duplication in an 82-year-old female patient.

Materials And Methods: The patient was treated immediately by Billroth I partial gastrectomy due to massive hematemesis. The surgical specimen was histopathologically examined.

Left atrial giant thrombus infected by Escherichia Coli. Case report.

Background: Left atrial thrombi are mostly related to mitral valve disease. The differential diagnosis of clots and myxomas in the left atrium is mostly based on echocardiography. Infection of intracardiac thrombi is extremely rare and mostly reported in ventricular clots or aneurysms following myocardial infarction.