Outcomes of surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation: a 10-year experience.

Aim: Surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation has been performed at Wellington hospital for 10 years. This audit aims to evaluate the outcomes from surgical intervention for atrial fibrillation and identify variables affecting clinical results.

Method: A retrospective audit of clinical outcomes was performed including all patients who had received surgical intervention for atrial fibrillation from 2004 to 2013.

Desmopressin for reducing postoperative blood loss and transfusion requirements following cardiac surgery in adults.

A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was, in adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery requiring extracorporeal cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), does administration of desmopressin acetate (DDAVP) reduce postoperative blood loss and transfusion requirements? Altogether 38 papers were found using the reported search, of which 19 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The authors, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes and results of these papers are tabulated.

A case of misdiagnosed squamous cell carcinoma due to alternative medical misadventure--time for tightening regulation?

We present a patient with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma that had grown significantly during 16 months of intensive alternative therapy. The alternative medicine practitioner allegedly repeatedly reassured the patient that her condition was benign and advised against seeking conventional medical treatment. Due to the delayed presentation, the patient required extensive surgery and postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy.

Benign metastasizing leiomyoma: a rare metastatic lesion in the right ventricle.

Cardiac tumors require resection for diagnostic purposes and to avoid complications associated with an intracardiac mass. We present the case of a 41-year-old woman with a known uterine leiomyoma who presented 3 months after elective cesarian section and hysterectomy with a right ventricular mass that was confirmed histologically to be a benign leiomyoma of the same pathologic type as the uterine primary. Benign metastasizing leiomyoma is a rare pathologic entity occurring in women with a history of a uterine leiomyoma.