C-type natriuretic peptide/cGMP/FoxO3 signaling attenuates hyperproliferation of pericytes from patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Pericyte dysfunction, with excessive migration, hyperproliferation, and differentiation into smooth muscle-like cells contributes to vascular remodeling in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). Augmented expression and action of growth factors trigger these pathological changes. Endogenous factors opposing such alterations are barely known.

Clinical outcomes after inferior vena cava resection for malignant disease. A single center experience of 51 vena cava resections.

Background And Objective: For tumors involving inferior vena cava (IVC), surgery with complete resection remains the first line treatment. Management of IVC after resection, either ligation without reconstruction or primary reconstruction, is debated. Our study aimed to evaluate type of venous reconstruction, anticoagulation management and morbidity.

Multiorgan recovery in a cadaver body using mild hypothermic ECMO treatment in a murine model.

Background: Transplant candidates on the waiting list are increasingly challenged by the lack of organs. Most of the organs can only be kept viable within very limited timeframes (e.g.

Simultaneous Transapical Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement and Left S2 Segmentectomy.

Concomitant cardiac and pulmonary operations with and without extracorporeal circulation have been described before. The advent of therapies like transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) creates new options for managing patients with valvular heart disease and concomitant lung cancer. We report a case of left upper lobe squamous cell carcinoma and severe aortic stenosis.

Evaluation of Tick Abundance and Pyrethroid Resistance Via Determination of Glutathione-S-Transferases Activity.

Controlling the number of ticks as carriers of infectious diseases is very important. The process is sometimes compromised by activating the protective mechanisms of the tick itself. Glutathione-S-transferases activity (GSTs) was the subject of our investigation of tick abundance after pyrethroid treatment.

Subacute Aortic Rupture Due to Mechanical Chest Compression with Indwelling Impella.

Mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) devices like Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System (LUCAS) cause more skeletal and visceral injuries than standard CPR. A 62-year-old woman with ST-elevation myocardial infarction was resuscitated with LUCAS and Impella CP for refractory cardiogenic shock during percutaneous coronary intervention. She suffered delayed ascending aortic rupture necessitating supracommissural ascending aortic replacement plus triple bypass grafting.

Benefits of Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump Support in Patients with Postcardiotomy Shock Requiring Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

Background: The benefit of the combined use of an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) and venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) for postcardiotomy shock remains unclear. We aimed to analyse the potential benefits and safety of combining these two devices.

Methods: We enrolled 200 patients treated with either VA-ECMO only or in combination with IABP (ECMO-I group) between January 2012 and January 2021.

Bioactive glass grants equivalent fusion compared to autologous iliac crest bone for ALIF: a within-patient comparative study.

Purpose: To determine within-patient fusion rates of chambers filled with bioactive glass versus autologous iliac crest bone on computed tomography (CT) following anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF).

Methods: A consecutive series of 40 patients (58 levels) that underwent single-level (L5-S1 only) or two-level (L5-S1 and L4-L5) ALIF were assessed. Indications for fusion were one or more of the following: degenerative disc disease with or without Modic changes, spondylolisthesis, and stenosis.

Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation in a Patient with Ventricular Pseudoaneurysm.

 Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation after contained LV rupture (pseudoaneurysm) represents a difficult surgical problem.  We describe the surgical approach for such a patient. The sewing ring was implanted utilizing a Dacron patch for reconstruction of the free wall, fibrotic LV wall remnants, and a Teflon strip giving additional support for cannula position and hemostasis.

Fibrin Sealant Patch for the Management of Intractable Bleeding From an LVAD Apex Cannula.

Background: Intractable bleeding from the apical cannulation site of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a dreaded complication.

Case Report: A 52-year-old male suffering from dilative cardiomyopathy (DCM) with fixed pulmonary hypertension underwent reoperative LVAD implantation after previous mitral valve surgery. The patient underwent three rethoracotomies for bleeding from the apex cannulation site without achieving hemostasis.

First clinical experience with the novel cold storage SherpaPak™ system for donor heart transportation.

Background: The current gold standard for donor heart preservation is a three-bag-technique and storage in a cooler filled with slush ice. This technique can cause freezing injury with protein denaturation. We report our early experience with a single-use disposable device (SherpaPak™, Paragonix Technologies, MA, USA) specifically designed for sterile permanent temperature-controlled transportation of donor hearts.

Central Versus Peripheral Arterial Cannulation for Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Post-Cardiotomy Patients.

Different arterial cannulation strategies are feasible for veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) in postcardiotomy shock. We aimed to analyze potential benefits and safety of different arterial cannulation strategies. We identified 158 patients with postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock requiring VA-ECMO between 01/10 and 01/19.

Outcomes of stand-alone anterior lumbar interbody fusion of L5-S1 using a novel implant with anterior plate fixation.

Background Context: Compared with other approaches, anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) is believed to be more effective at restoring segmental lordosis and reducing risks of adjacent-segment disease. It remains controversial, however, whether ALIF improves global lumbar lordosis or influences pelvic parameters, possibly because of the heterogeneity of implants and levels studied.

Purpose: To report clinical outcomes of stand-alone ALIF with anterior plate fixation for L5-S1 and to determine the effect on global lumbar lordosis and pelvic parameters.

Donor heart selection and outcomes: An analysis of over 2,000 cases.

Background: Decision-making when offered a donor heart for transplantation is complex, and supportive data describing outcomes according to acceptance or non-acceptance choices are sparse. Our aim was to analyze donor heart acceptance decisions and associated outcomes at a single center, and after subsequent acceptance elsewhere.

Methods: This investigation was a retrospective analysis of data obtained from the University of Vienna Medical Center and Eurotransplant centers for the period 2001 to 2015.

Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for the management of contralateral iatrogenic bronchus perforation during lower bilobectomy.

Tracheobronchial rupture by a double-lumen endobronchial tube is a rare but life-threatening complication. We report a case of bronchial rupture during contralateral bilobectomy. Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support was instituted via the right femoral vein and the internal jugular vein with the patient in the left lateral decubitus position.

Secondary sclerosing cholangitis in cardiac surgical patients: A complication with a dismal prognosis.

Objectives: Secondary sclerosing cholangitis in critically ill patients is a rapidly progressing disease leading to biliary fibrosis and cirrhosis. We describe the course of sclerosing cholangitis in critically ill patients after cardiac surgery and compare this with matched patients.

Methods: A retrospective search for "secondary sclerosing cholangitis" and "liver and/or hepatic failure" in all adult patients (aged 18-93 years) who underwent cardiac surgery from April 2007 to March 2016 identified 192 of 8625 patients.

Combined pulmonary and left ventricular support with veno-pulmonary ECMO and impella 5.0 for cardiogenic shock after coronary surgery.

Background: Mechanical circulatory support is a common practice nowadays in the management of patients after cardiogenic shock due to myocardial infarction. The single or combined use of one or more devices for mechanical support depends not only on the advantage or disadvantage of these devices but also on the timing of use of these devices before the development of multi organ failure. In our case we used more than one tool for mechanical circulatory support during the prolonged and complicated course of our patient with postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock after coronary artery bypass surgery.

Rapid deployment valve system shortens operative times for aortic valve replacement through right anterior minithoracotomy.

Background: There is growing evidence from the literature that right anterior minithoracotomy aortic valve replacement (RAT-AVR) improves clinical outcome. However, increased cross clamp time is the strongest argument for surgeons not performing RAT-AVR. Rapid deployment aortic valve systems have the potential to decrease cross-clamp time and ease this procedure.

Cardiac Surgery is Safe in Female Patients with a History of Breast Cancer.

Purpose: In cardiac surgery candidates, a concomitant history of breast cancer suggests adverse outcomes. The possibility of internal mammary artery (IMA) utilization and its patency rate is frequently discussed. Secondary, blood loss and wound related infections might be important issues.

Impact of levosimendan and ischaemia-reperfusion injury on myocardial subsarcolemmal mitochondrial respiratory chain, mitochondrial membrane potential, Ca2+ cycling and ATP synthesis.

Objectives: Levosimendan (LS) is increasingly used in case of myocardial failure after cardiac surgery. The impact of LS on myocardial mitochondrial functions, such as respiratory chain function (RCF), mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), Ca(2+) handling, mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening and ATP during ongoing ischaemia/reperfusion (IR) injury, is not well understood. Depending on LS, I/R injury or the combination of both, we analysed myocardial functions in a retrograde Langendorff-model followed by the analysis of subsarcolemmal mitochondrial (SSM) functions.

Localizations of Na(+)-D-glucose cotransporters SGLT1 and SGLT2 in human kidney and of SGLT1 in human small intestine, liver, lung, and heart.

Novel affinity-purified antibodies against human SGLT1 (hSGLT1) and SGLT2 (hSGLT2) were used to localize hSGLT2 in human kidney and hSGLT1 in human kidney, small intestine, liver, lung, and heart. The renal locations of both transporters largely resembled those in rats and mice; hSGLT2 and SGLT1 were localized to the brush border membrane (BBM) of proximal tubule S1/S2 and S3 segments, respectively. Different to rodents, the renal expression of hSGLT1 was absent in thick ascending limb of Henle (TALH) and macula densa, and the expression of both hSGLTs was sex-independent.

[Indications, risk factors, specialities and after-care of surgical treatment for cardiac and thoracic vascular diseases].

Despite a known high risk and complexity in the operative therapy of cardio-thoracic patients, cardiac surgery is medical routine activity today. The German Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery regularly analyses the more than 100.000 cases a year in Germany.

Impact of cardiac magnet resonance imaging on management of ventricular septal rupture after acute myocardial infarction.

A 74-year-old man was admitted to the cardiac catheterization laboratory with acute myocardial infarction. After successful angioplasty and stent implantation into the right coronary artery, he developed cardiogenic shock the following day. Echocardiography showed ventricular septal rupture.

In vitro contracture test results and anaesthetic management of a patient with emery-dreifuss muscular dystrophy for cardiac transplantation.

Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) is a hereditary neuromuscular disorder characterized by slowly progressive muscle weakness, early contractures, and dilated cardiomyopathy. We reported an uneventful general anaesthesia using total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) for cardiac transplantation in a 19-year-old woman suffering from EDMD. In vitro contracture test results of two pectoralis major muscle bundles of the patient suggest that exposition to triggering agents does not induce a pathological sarcoplasmic calcium release in the lamin A/C phenotype.

Cardiac surgery in cases of myeloproliferative neoplasm: risk factor for stroke.

Objectives: a history of myeloproliferative neoplasms is considered to increase the risks in cardiac surgery. In patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms, increased rates of perioperative infections and thromboembolic complications are suspected, but studies analyzing the impact of myeloproliferative neoplasms on results after cardiac surgery are lacking.

Methods: 13 patients with the diagnosis of myeloproliferative neoplasm underwent cardiac surgery.