Perioperative use of iloprost in cardiac surgery patients diagnosed with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia-reactive antibodies or with true HIT (HIT-reactive antibodies plus thrombocytopenia): An 11-year experience.

Thrombocytopenia and thromboembolism(s) may develop in heparin immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (HIT) patients after reexposure to heparin. At the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, 530 out of 17,000 patients requiring heart surgery over an 11-year period underwent preoperative HIT assessment by ELISA and a three-point heparin-induced platelet aggregation assay (HIPAG). The screening identified 110 patients with HIT-reactive antibodies, out of which 46 were also thrombocytopenic (true HIT).

NT-proBNP in the mitral valve surgery.

Background: Prognosis and severity of mitral valve disease in patients are reflected in their natriuretic peptide levels. Patients in the upper margin of this range with severe mitral valve dysfunction also present with a range of myocardial dysfunction and symptomatic progression. We investigated whether serial pre- and immediate postoperative measurements of N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) can serve as surrogate markers of these surgical patients' severity status and predictors of their immediate postoperative progress.

Outcomes after ascending aorta and proximal aortic arch repair using deep hypothermic circulatory arrest with retrograde cerebral perfusion: analysis of 207 patients.

Objectives: Correction of ascending aorta and proximal aortic arch pathology with numerous surgical techniques having been proposed over the years remains a surgical challenge. This study was undertaken to identify risk factors influencing outcome after aortic arch operations, requiring deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA).

Methods: Between 1993 and 2010, 207 consecutive patients were operated for ascending aorta and proximal arch correction with the use of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest with retrograde cerebral perfusion.