Comparison of three different surgical methods in aortic root aneurysms: long-term results.

Background: Degenerative ascending aortic aneurysms frequently present with aortic valve pathology. If only the noncoronary sinus of Valsalva is dilated, replacement of the noncoronary sinus by tailoring the supracoronary graft with or without aortic valve replacement (AVR) can be a simple operation strategy. We sought to describe our experiences in this kind of operation, and compare them with a relatively homogeneous group of patients who underwent the classical Bentall operation.

Mid-term results of peripheric cannulation after port-access surgery.

Several minimally invasive approaches, avoiding median sternotomy, have been described within the last few years for cardiac surgery. Femoral arterial and venous cannulation for extracorporeal perfusion are required for many of these operations. The aim of this report is to assess the long-term outcomes of femoral cannulations in patients who underwent minimally invasive procedures.

Erythropoietin attenuates neuronal injury and potentiates the expression of pCREB in anterior horn after transient spinal cord ischemia in rats.

Background: Recent studies have suggested that EPO activates the CREB transcription pathway and increases BDNF expression and production, which contributes to EPO-mediated neuroprotection. We investigated whether EPO has a neuroprotective effect against ISCI in rats and examined the involvement of CREB protein phosphorylation in this process.

Methods: Spinal cord ischemia was produced by balloon occlusion of the abdominal aorta below the branching point of the left subclavian artery for 5 minutes, and rHu-EPO (1000 U/kg BW) was administered intravenously after the onset of the reperfusion.

Surgical resection for successful treatment of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis: report of 3 cases.

We present 3 patients, 2 with recent heart transplants, complicated with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), treated successfully with surgical resection. These patients demonstrate the role of surgery in management of IPA, and 2 heart transplant patients are of particular interest as surgical treatment of IPA after solid organ transplantation is seldom reported.

Early protective effects of iloprost, a stable prostacyclin analog, during spinal cord ischemia in a rabbit model.

Spinal cord ischemia may develop into paraplegia in some cases during operation of the thoracoabdominal aorta. This is attributable to the vulnerability of spinal motor neurons to ischemia. In this study, iloprost was used as an agent to decrease the severity of ischemia and reperfusion injury to the spinal cord motor neurons.