Surgical closure of adult patent ductus arteriosus using a pursestring suture.

A 52-year-old woman with patent ductus arteriosus underwent transpulmonary surgical closure through a median sternotomy. The procedure was performed under cardiopulmonary bypass with normothermia and a beating heart, using transductal balloon occlusion and a pursestring suture around the orifice of the ductus. The use of a pursestring suture allowed minimization of the risk of balloon breakage, obviated the need for profound hypothermia and circulatory arrest, and greatly increased the technical facility of the procedure.

Outcomes and hemodynamics after aortic valve replacement: a comparison of stentless versus mechanical valves.

Purpose: Some investigators suggest that hemodynamic outcomes may be superior with the stentless aortic bioprosthesis when compared with a mechanical valve. The goal of this study was to characterize outcomes and hemodynamic data associated with each type of valve.

Subjects And Methods: Patient outcomes and echocardiographic data were compared between 25 patients with stentless valves and 59 patients with mechanical valves.

Use of an aortic connector system for vein grafting: intermediate outcomes.

Objective: The aortic connector system was used to minimize cerebrovascular complications when performing the proximal anastomosis of vein grafts during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The goal of this study was to investigate the intermediate outcomes of patients undergoing CABG with the aortic connector system.

Methods: The aortic connector was used on nine patients undergoing CABG between November 2002 and July 2003.

Urgent off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting in a patient with HIV.

We report a case of successful urgent off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for unstable angina pectoris in a 54-year-old human with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We studied the changes in CD4+ cells and HIV-RNA copy during the perioperative period. The results showed that off-pump CABG did not reduce the CD4+ cell count and did not affect the condition of HIV infection in this patient.