Frailty, disability and comorbidity: different domains lead to different effects after surgical aortic valve replacement in elderly patients.

Objectives: Frailty syndrome predicts adverse outcomes after surgical aortic valve replacement. However, disability or comorbidity is frequently associated with preoperative frailty evaluation. The effects of these domains on early and late outcomes were analysed.

Analysis of inflammatory response and utility of N-terminal pro brain-type natriuretic peptide in cardiac surgery with extracorporeal circulation.

Objectives: Cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) elicits an inflammatory response. During and after cardiac surgery, we examined the pattern of cytokine release of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, to investigate inflammatory response. We analyzed N-terminal pro brain-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) as a marker of ventricular function.