Native Valve Infective Endocarditis - the Postoperative Results and Role of the Endocarditis Team. A Single Center Experience.

Infective endocarditis (IE) may present with quite different aspects. Consequently, it's management involves a collaborative approach between several specialties. We analyzed the timing of surgery and the role of the "Endocarditis Team" in patients with IE.

The Best Approach for Patients with Stable Coronary Disease: The Importance of a Multidisciplinary Heart Team.

A multidisciplinary Heart Team (HT) is nowadays considered to be of great importance for a complete and accurate assessment of patients with stable coronary disease (CAD). This study evaluates the role of the HT approach in the selection of best therapeutic strategies for patients with stable CAD. The study included 200 patients with stable coronary artery disease.

Correlation between preoperative vein and artery diameters and arteriovenous fistula outcome in patients with end-stage renal disease.

Background And Aims: Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) maturation failure rates remain high in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Although preoperative morphological and functional assessment of blood vessels by duplex ultrasonography (DUS) has been shown to improve AVF maturation, there is no consensus regarding the optimal vein (VD) and artery (AD) diameters to be universally used for AVF creation. To improve patient selection, set out to investigate if there is a correlation between preoperative VD/AD and clinical covariates, and postoperative AVF outcome.

Effect of the veins histopathological characteristics and preexisting medical conditions on arteriovenous fistula maturation and primary patency in patients with end-stage renal disease: an observational, prospective study.

We assessed the veins histopathological characteristics and preexisting medical conditions before arteriovenous fistula (AVF) creation, and their correlation with AVF outcome and primary patency in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). In this observational, prospective, mono-center study in Romania, patients with artery and venous diameters =2 mm and =2.5 mm, respectively, were enrolled.

A very rare association between giant right atrial myxoma and patent foramen ovale. Extracellular matrix and morphological aspects: a case report.

We report a case of sporadic giant cardiac myxoma with a rare localization in the right atrium, operated in our Service, in a 73-year-old female patient who also presented a patent foramen ovale and a history of ischemic stroke in the year prior to current admission. Intra-operatively, the tumor had a very friable, gelatinous aspect, with a high potential for embolization due to its reduced consistency. The present paper refers to clinical, histochemical and immunohistochemical particularities, as well as to macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of the cardiac myxoma, emphasizing the extracellular matrix aspects, and without leaving out the cellular components of this rare tumor, with possible inference in the management of this disease.

The value of transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography for the diagnosis of the native aortic infective endocarditis valve complications: a case report and literature review.

Despite its current limitations transthoracic echocardiography is still widely used for the anatomical and functional evaluation of patients with infective endocarditis. However, all these limitations can be overcome by using transesophageal echocardiography. We present the case of a 42-year-old male patient, diagnosed with aortic valve infective endocarditis, whose transthoracic echocardiography showed only a cusp vegetation and aortic regurgitation, but raised the suspicion of periannular complications.

Surgical outcomes in native valve infectious endocarditis: the experience of the Cardiovascular Surgery Department - Cluj-Napoca Heart Institute.

Background And Aims: The introduction of Duke's criteria and the improvement of imaging methods has lead to an earlier and a more accurate diagnosis of infectious endocarditis (IE). The options for the best therapeutic approach and the timing of surgery are still a matter of debate and require a close colaboration between the cardiologist, the infectionist and the cardiac surgeon.

Methods: We undertook a retrospective, descriptive study, spanning over a period of five years (from January 1st, 2007 to December 31st, 2012), on 100 patients who underwent surgery for native valve infectious endocarditis in our unit.

Drainage of cerebral abscesses prior to valve replacement in stable patients with acute left-sided infective endocarditis.

Despite the medical and surgical advancements in the treatment of patients with acute infective endocarditis (IE), neurologic complications remain problematic. They can arise through various mechanisms consisting of stroke or transient ischemic attack, cerebral hemorrhage, mycotic aneurysm, meningitis, cerebral abscess, or encephalopathy. Most complications occur early during the course of IE and are characteristic to left-sided pathology of native or prosthetic valves.

Papillary fibroelastoma of the pulmonary valve: a case report.

Papillary fibroelastoma is a rare, benign cardiac tumor typically found on the heart valves, which is usually discovered incidentally on echocardiography. The clinical presentation of cardiac papillary fibroelastoma varies from no symptoms to severe embolic sequelae. We report the case of a 55-year-old female patient, with a suspicion of pulmonary embolism one year before, presently admitted to the hospital for mild respiratory symptoms; the trans-esophageal echocardiography (TEE) revealed a 10/10 mm tumoral mass attached on the pulmonary valve, confirmed also by the contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).