Long-term follow up of patients undergoing reoperative surgery with aortic or mitral valve replacement using a St. Jude Medical prosthesis.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Between June 1978 and September 2002, a total of 440 reoperative open-heart patients (mean age 62 +/- 14 years; range: 18-91 years), following various primary cardiac operations, underwent single-valve replacement with the St. Jude Medical (SJM) heart valve. Of 241 patients having aortic replacement (AVR) and 199 mitral valve replacement (MVR), 86 (35%) and 42 (21%), respectively, underwent concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting.

Coronary artery bypass grafting with a minimized cardiopulmonary bypass circuit: a prospective, randomized trial.

Objective: The study was designed to determine differences in blood loss and transfusion associated with a minimized cardiopulmonary bypass circuit versus a standard bypass circuit.

Methods: From February 2005 through April 2006, 199 patients were randomized to undergo coronary artery bypass grafting with a standard cardiopulmonary bypass circuit (Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn) or a minimized bypass circuit, the Medtronic Resting Heart Circuit.

The St. Jude Medical cardiac valve prosthesis: long-term follow up of patients having double valve replacement.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Between October 1977 and February 2002, a total of 343 patients (mean age 62 +/- 13 years; range: 19-91 years) underwent double valve replacement (DVR) with the St. Jude Medical (SJM) heart valve. Among the replacements, 337 (98%) were aortic and mitral in nature.

Use of peripheral ultrafiltration in the postoperative cardiac surgery patient.

Background: : After cardiac surgery, most patients have development of third-space fluid retention, commonly treated with diuretics. In some patients diuretics are ineffective. In this subset, a simplified system for ultrafiltration was used for fluid extraction.

Opposite trends in coronary artery and valve surgery in a large multisurgeon practice, 1979-1999.

Background: Trends in coronary artery bypass (CAB) and valve operations (VO) may help predict the future of cardiac surgery in the context of changing case mix, shifting paradigms, emerging technology, and population demographics.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all 30,319 adult CAB and VO in our group from 1979 to 1999 according to specific procedures.

Results: Coronary artery bypass volumes peaked in 1996 at 1,895 cases, declining 15.