Infection of a bronchogenic cyst after ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration.

Standard recommendation for therapy of benign mediastinal cysts is surgery. Endobronchial ultrasound fine needle aspiration (EBUS-FNA) has been used by some researchers as a diagnostic tool. This approach may be associated with severe life-threatening complications.

Radiation-induced combination of cardiac disease and sternoclavicular joint destruction.

Very late valvular and/or coronary artery diseases after mediastinal radiation are rare but well known. Late radiation induced osteonecrosis of the sternoclavicular joint is very rare. The combination of both or all three diseases has not yet been described to the best of our knowledge.

Solitary pulmonary plasmacytoma: report of two cases.

We report two cases of solitary plasmacytoma of the lung. Computed tomographic scan disclosed in case A a solid tissue formation in a cystic pulmonary lesion and in case B a solitary nodule. Suggesting aspergilloma in A and pulmonary malignancy in B diagnostic thoracotomies were performed and the respective findings were resected.

Sarcoma of the pulmonary trunk and the main pulmonary arteries.

We report on a sarcoma of the central pulmonary arteries. Surgical therapy consisted in replacing both main pulmonary arteries and the pulmonary trunk including the pulmonary valve. Six months later a left-sided pneumonectomy had to be performed due to an intravascular tumor.

Stress Doppler echocardiography of the internal thoracic artery--a new non-invasive approach for functional assessment after minimally invasive coronary bypass grafting.

Minimally invasive surgery for coronary revascularization using the left internal thoracic artery (ITA) has gained increasing interest. For control of graft function the established transcutaneous color-Doppler echocardiography in combination with a stress-test was performed to test the ability of this novel technique. Twenty-one patients having received a single ITA-graft were evaluated early postoperatively at rest and during isometric stress test with a handgrip exercise.

Post-pleuropneumonectomy herniation of liver mimicking major pulmonary embolism.

Following right-sided pneumonectomy and hemidiaphragm resection in a 58-year-old man with epithelioid mesothelioma, acute respiratory insufficiency and life-threatening circulatory collapse developed after a forced Valsalva maneuver. Major pulmonary embolism was diagnosed on clinical grounds, however computed tomography revealed herniation of the liver into the right hemithorax.

The impact of cardiac ischemia and reperfusion on markers of activated haemostasis and fibrinolysis during cardiopulmonary bypass: comparison of plasma levels in arterial and coronary venous blood.

Introduction: Activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis is common among patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) surgery. Little is known, however, about the impact of myocardial ischemia and reperfusion on coagulation activation and fibrinolysis in this clinical setting.

Study Design And Methods: We determined the levels of coagulation activation and fibrinolysis markers (CAFM) in 19 patients with severe coronary heart disease (CHD) during CPB surgery.

Alterations of mesenteric blood flow after cardiopulmonary bypass: a Doppler sonographic study.

Objective: Mesenteric ischemia after cardiopulmonary bypass is a serious complication associated with high mortality. It was the aim of this study to investigate mesenteric blood flow with the help of Doppler sonography in asymptomatic patients before and after cardiopulmonary bypass and cardiac surgery.

Design: Observational study of consecutive patients.

Late complication of aortocoronary venous bypass grafting.

The problem of symptomatic, diffuse coronary artery disease not amenable to the established methods of medical or revascularizing therapies remains unsolved. Aortocoronary venous bypass grafting is a rare treatment modality bearing considerable risks. We report on a further complication of the method.

Transit thrombus entrapped in a patent foramen ovale.

We describe the case of a 39-year-old man with a diagnosis of inferior vena cava compression caused by metastases of a testicular seminoma, who developed massive pulmonary embolism. Emergency operation was performed because of acute hemodynamic deterioration. Preoperatively, a free-floating mass was seen echocardiographically in the right atrium.