Multicentre experience with valve-sparing aortic root replacement by means of combined remodelling and external aortic ring annuloplasty in patients with Marfan syndrome.

Objectives: The most recent valve-sparing root replacement technique combines the advantages of the reimplantation (David) and remodelling (Yacoub) techniques. The aortic root is reconstructed according to the remodelling technique, the aortic valve is repaired according to the principle of effective height, and an external ring provides annular support. The purpose of this study was to evaluate operative and mid-term outcomes using this technique in patients with Marfan syndrome.

Added value of semi-quantitative analysis of [18F]FDG PET/CT for the diagnosis of device-related infections in patients with a left ventricular assist device.

Aims: Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) improve quality of life and survival in patients with advanced heart failure, but device-related infections (DRIs) remain cumbersome. We evaluated the diagnostic capability of [18F]FDG PET/CT, factors affecting its accuracy, and the additive value of semi-quantitative analysis for the diagnosis of DRI.

Methods And Results: LVAD recipients undergoing [18F]FDG PET/CT between 2012 and 2020 for suspected DRI were retrospectively included.

Anterior Myocardial Infarction Complicated by Apical Thrombus and Purulent Pericarditis.

We describe a man with cardiac tamponade after anterior myocardial infarction (MI) with a mass on echocardiography, complicated by a S. Milleri purulent pericarditis. This case is an example of how 2 cardiac conditions can interfere with the diagnosis and management of each individual disorder, resulting in an extremely complex disease course.

Ventricular assist device implantation in a patient with systemic right ventricle and pectus excavatum.

Unlabelled: Systemic right ventricular failure is a common finding in patients with transposition of the great arteries. Some of these patients require ventricular assist device implantation. We describe the feasibility of HeartMate 3 [Abbott, Illinois, United States] implantation in a patient with transposition of the great arteries, high human leukocyte antigen sensitization, and severe pectus excavatum using a two-stage approach.

Conservative initial postoperative anticoagulation strategy after HeartMate 3 left ventricular assist device implantation.

Introduction: Although anticoagulation therapy is mandated after implantation of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), postoperative bleedings and reoperations occur relatively frequently and are associated with worse outcomes. We evaluated the use of a conservative postoperative anticoagulation protocol in patients implanted with a HeartMate 3 (HM3) LVAD.

Methods: In a single-centre retrospective analysis of postoperative outcomes after HM3 LVAD implantation, a standard (old) anticoagulation protocol (i.

Quantitative three-dimensional echocardiographic analysis of the bicuspid aortic valve and aortic root: A single modality approach.

Background: Patients with bicuspid aortic valves (BAV) are heterogeneous with regard to patterns of root remodeling and valvular dysfunction. Two-dimensional echocardiography is the standard surveillance modality for patients with aortic valve dysfunction. However, ancillary computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging is often necessary to characterize associated patterns of aortic root pathology.

Randomized Trial of Miniaturized Versus Standard Extracorporeal Circulation in Aortic Valve Surgery.

Background: Complications related to extracorporeal circulation remain serious. Although a minimal invasive extra corporeal circulation (MiECC) system was developed to cope with these complications, its effectivity on patient-related outcomes such as blood loss remain uncertain. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare MiECC to an advanced standard system with respect to blood loss.

Off-pump no-touch technique: 3-year results compared with the SYNTAX trial.

Objectives: A 3-year follow-up of a retrospective, single-centre clinical study of OPCAB (off-pump coronary artery bypass) no-touch technique with arterial composite grafts and an indirect comparison with clinical outcomes of the 3-year follow-up of the SYNTAX trial.

Methods: A total of 400 consecutive patients ('all-comers') who underwent OPCAB no-touch coronary surgery. Primary endpoint was 3-year MACCE (major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events).

Adventitial dissection: a simple and effective way to reduce radial artery spasm in coronary bypass surgery.

Objectives: Over the last two decades, the radial artery (RA) has become a routinely used conduit for coronary artery bypass graft surgery. One potential disadvantage of the radial artery is its higher susceptibility to vasospasm compared with other arterial grafts. We investigated whether adventitial dissection of the radial artery can reduce vasoconstriction and increase free blood flow.

PulseCath(R) as a right ventricular assist device.

The PulseCath(®) is a pulsatile pump that offers a circulatory support up to 3 l/min. The PulseCath(®) is indicated for patients who require a higher degree of support than that offered by the intra-aortic balloon pump. We describe the first two cases of the use of the PulseCath(®) as a temporary support for the right ventricle after insertion through the pulmonary artery trunk.

Four-year outcome of OPCAB no-touch with total arterial Y-graft: making the best treatment a daily practice.

Background: A retrospective, single-center 4-year clinical study of the off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting no-touch technique with arterial conduits (Y-graft) was compared with the Syntax trial.

Methods: Four hundred consecutive patients ("all-comers") who underwent coronary surgery between 2004 and 2008 at the Thorax Center Twente (TCT) formed the study group. The primary end point was in-hospital and 12-month major cardiovascular or cerebrovascular event (MACCE).

Serial Doppler echocardiographic evaluation of small-sized sorin bicarbon prostheses.

Objective: The Sorin Bicarbon prosthesis (Sorin Biomedica, Saluggia, Italy) is a bileaflet valve with curved-profile leaflets, a rolling hinge mechanism, and a pyrolytic carbon-coated titanium alloy housing and sewing ring. Although the Sorin Bicarbon prosthesis has been implanted in greater than 80,000 patients, and reference values on the hemodynamic performance of valve prostheses are needed to avoid patient-prosthesis mismatch, few Doppler echocardiographic data are available on the prosthesis in the aortic position. The aim of this study is to provide a detailed echocardiographic evaluation of the hemodynamic performance and regression of left ventricular hypertrophy after aortic valve replacement with the Sorin Bicarbon prosthesis.

Interventricular hydatid cyst with atrioventricular block: a case report.

Hydatid cyst in the heart is rare, occurring in about 3% of human echinococcosis. A 21-year-old woman was admitted to hospital with a third degree atrioventricular block. Echocardiography showed a cystic mass with a diameter of 2.

Fate of coronary ostial anastomoses after the modified Bentall procedure.

Background: Introduction of the modified Bentall procedure with the button technique has reduced but not eliminated anastomotic complications in patients receiving a composite aortic conduit. Particularly the true incidence of coronary ostial complications such as stenosis, kinking or pseudoaneurysm formation needs to be assessed.

Methods: We reviewed 71 patients receiving a composite aortic conduit from November 1993 to November 1999 for chronic aneurysms (n = 51) or aortic dissection (n = 20), 12 of whom had Marfan syndrome.

[Type-A aortic dissection without chest pain in a patient with Clostridium fallax infection].

We describe the case of a 64-year-old patient admitted to our hospital because of syncope and suspicion of cardiac tamponade. At admission he had temporary alteration of conscience with clinical evidence of sepsis without chest pain. There was a mild pericardial effusion in absence of clinical and echocardiographic signs of cardiac tamponade.

Intravascular hemolysis in patients with new-generation prosthetic heart valves: a prospective study.

Objective: A prospective clinical study was designed to assess the frequency and severity of intravascular hemolysis in patients with new-generation, normally functioning prosthetic heart valves.

Methods: Hemolysis was evaluated in 172 patients with a mechanical prosthesis (53 CarboMedics and 119 Sorin Bicarbon) and in 106 patients with a bioprosthesis (15 St Jude Medical Toronto, 19 Baxter Perimount, and 72 Medtronic Mosaic) in the aortic position, mitral position, or both. Aortic valve replacement was performed in 206 patients, mitral valve replacement in 59 patients, and double valve replacement in 13 patients.

Clinical outcome in patients with 19-mm and 21-mm St. Jude aortic prostheses: comparison at long-term follow-up.

Background: Small-sized prostheses for aortic valve replacement may result in residual left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Aim of the study was to verify whether implantation of 19-mm versus 21-mm St. Jude Medical standard prostheses (St.