Concomitant Mitral Regurgitation in Patients Undergoing Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement for Aortic Stenosis: A Systematic Review.

Background: Concomitant mitral regurgitation (MR) is frequently seen in patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) for severe aortic stenosis (AS). When the severity of MR is moderate or less, the decision to undertake simultaneous mitral valve intervention can be challenging.

Methods: A systematic search of Medline, PubMed (NCBI), Embase and Cochrane Library was conducted to qualitatively assess the current evidence for concomitant mitral valve intervention for MR in patients with AS undergoing AVR.

Right-Sided Infective Endocarditis: The Importance of Vegetation Size.

Background: Right-sided infective endocarditis (IE) carries favourable prognosis compared to left-sided IE. However, the prognostic significance of vegetation size in right-sided IE is less well defined. This study reports the clinical, microbiological, and echocardiographic findings associated with right-sided IE and examines the predictors of adverse outcomes.

Minimally invasive posterior percutaneous transarticular C1-C2 screws: how I do it.

Background: Transarticular C1-C2 screw fixation, first described by Magerl, is a widely accepted used technique for C1-C2 instability with a good biomechanical stability and fusion rate.

Method: We present a 69-year-old woman, who was diagnosed with a C2 Odontoid fracture type III and primarily treated with conservative treatment and collar. During first 2 weeks of follow-up, the patient developed cervical pain associated with C1-C2 instability.

An exceptional presentation of pituicytoma apoplexy: A case report.

Pituicytomas are a rare form of indolent neoplasms, which typically present with visual disturbance and hypopituitarism. Complete resection by a trans-sphenoidal approach is the optimal treatment. Only 80 cases have been described thus far in the current literature and the present case is the first to describe the development of pituitary apoplexy in the context of a pituicytoma.

A unique case of multiple non-ossifying fibromas with polyostotic monomelic distribution and aggressive clinical course.

Multiple non-ossifying fibromas (MNOFs) occur either isolated or in association with other anomalies, are usually localized in the long bones of the lower limbs, may be radiographically confused with other skeletal lesions, and tend to heal spontaneously with the completion of the skeletal growth. Segmental distribution, either monomelic or polymelic and ipsilateral, is rare and commonly observed in the context of developmental diseases known as "RASopathies", which are caused by mutations in genes that encode components or regulators within the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway. We describe here the radiographic and pathologic features of an 18-year-old Caucasian boy, whose clinical history started at the age of 3 when the diagnosis of aneurysmal bone cyst was made on a lytic lesion of his left clavicle.

Comparison of Complications in Patients Receiving Different Types of Intracranial Pressure Monitoring: A Retrospective Study in a Single Center in Switzerland.

Objective: Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring has become "state of the art" in the management protocol for unconscious or sedated patients with intracranial pathologies; however, all current monitoring systems have significant drawbacks. We analyzed the complications of these monitoring devices as well as the risk factors for those complications.

Methods: We reviewed a total of 288 patients with ICP monitoring, i.

Bilateral ptosis: Lesion in the oculomotor nuclei or supranuclear lesion?

Background: Bilateral ptosis is a very interesting clinical challenge for doctors because of the multiple possible localizations of a lesion which can lead to this neurological sign.

Objectives: Through this case report, we aim to determine the difference between an apraxia of lid opening (ALO) with difficulty in initiating the act of lid elevation, in spite of adequate understanding, motor control and cranial nerve pathways, and a bilateral ptosis with a lesion in the oculomotor nucleus or blepharospasm.

Methods: The case report of a 50-year-old patient presenting bilateral ptosis and multiple ischemic lesions in the brainstem and bilateral frontal lobe lesions after the emergency removal of a large frontal tumor.

Predicting adverse outcomes in elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery using pre-operative troponin I levels.

Background: Cardiac troponins are frequently measured as part of the pre-operative work-up of patients prior to coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). The utility of measuring these levels in elective patients, and the clinical implication of an abnormal result are unclear. The following study investigates the relationship between cardiac troponin I (cTnI) measured as part of a routine pre-operative work-up and outcomes following CABG.

Intravenous leiomyomatosis with intracardiac extension - a review of diagnosis and management with an illustrative case.

Intravenous leiomyomatosis with intracardiac extension is an uncommon pathologic progression of uterine leiomyomata. It is a histologically benign condition, however due to interfence with right sided cardiac function patients may present with marked cardiovascular compromise and present a diagnostic dilemma to clinicians who are unfamiliar with this condition. Given the rarity of this condition, experience in individual institutions is usually limited to a few cases.

Preoperative atrial fibrillation is an independent risk factor for mid-term mortality after concomitant aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Objectives: Preoperative atrial fibrillation (PAF) has been associated with poorer early and mid-term outcomes after isolated valvular or coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Few studies, however, have evaluated the impact of PAF on early and mid-term outcomes after concomitant aortic valve replacement and coronary aortic bypass graft (AVR-CABG) surgery.

Methods: Data obtained prospectively between June 2001 and December 2009 by the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons National Cardiac Surgery Database Program was retrospectively analysed.

Surgical ventricular restoration procedure: single-center comparison of Surgical Treatment of Ischemic Heart Failure (STICH) versus non-STICH patients.

Background: Surgical ventricular restoration (SVR) was conceived to improve hemodynamic and clinical outcomes in ischemic cardiomyopathy. The Surgical Treatment of Ischemic Heart Failure (STICH) trial has conclusively shown no additional benefits of SVR when routinely combined with coronary artery bypass surgery. However, the STICH study did not include a registry arm for SVR-eligible patients who were not randomized.

Mirizzi syndrome type IV associated with cholecystocolic fistula: a very rare condition--report of a case.

Background: Mirizzi syndrome is a rare complication of prolonged cholelithiasis with presence of large, impacted gallstone into the Hartman's pouch, causing chronic extrinsic compression of common bile duct (CBD). Fistula formation between the CBD and the gallbladder may represent an outcome of that condition. According to Mirizzi's classification and Csendes's subclassification, Mirizzi syndrome type IV represents the most uncommon type (4%).

Acetabulum augmentation for Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease. 12 Children (14 hips) followed for 4 years.

Between 1986 and 1992, we performed 14 lateral shelf augmentation of the acetabulum in 12 children suffering from severe Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease. All children were over 9 years of age and none of the patients had previously undergone any other treatment. All children presented with a limitation of hip movement and episodes of pain during long walks and athletic activities.

High tibial osteotomy in the treatment of infantile Blount's disease.

The results after high tibial osteotomy (proximal to the tibial tubercle) in 23 tibiae (17 children) with infantile Blount's disease are described. The average age at the time of surgery was 5.3 years and the average follow up 4.

One-stage surgical procedure for congenital dislocation of the hip in older children. Long-term results.

The one-stage procedure described in this article, which has been used in children older than three years of age, is the method of choice in the treatment of late-diagnosed congenital dislocation of the hip. The present authors and their patients have been more than satisfied with the results of this procedure. With femoral shortening as the fundamental step, this method can be applied in high dislocations, as well as in cases of subluxation in which a pelvic osteotomy is indicated, to restore the depth of the acetabulum and to prevent undue pressure on the femoral head, which is the main cause of avascular necrosis, joint stiffness, and failures.