Iatrogenic closure of coronary sinus: an unforseen complication of surgical atrial septal defect closure.

Cardiac complication following the surgical closure of a secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) is extremely uncommon in the current era. We report a case of 39-year-old male presented with hemoptysis following an ASD closure 21 years prior and diagnosed to have iatrogenic closure of the coronary sinus at the time of surgical ASD closure. To our best knowledge, this is the first case of such complication reported in the literature.

Aortic uncrossing with concomitant arch augmentation in a rare case of left circumflex aorta with arch hypoplasia.

Retro-esophageal circumflex aortic arch is a rare form of vascular ring. Majority of cases occur in isolation without any intracardiac lesions. Only a few cases of left circumflex aorta have been reported in the literature.

Is pH-stat or alpha-stat the best technique to follow in patients undergoing deep hypothermic circulatory arrest?

A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was whether pH-stat or alpha-stat is the best technique to follow in patients undergoing deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. Altogether 206 papers were found using the reported search, of which 16 represent the best evidence to answer the clinical question.

Does use of the Hepcon point-of-care coagulation monitor to optimise heparin and protamine dosage for cardiopulmonary bypass decrease bleeding and blood and blood product requirements in adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery?

A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was whether use of the Hepcon point-of-care coagulation monitor (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) to optimise and monitor heparin and protamine dosage for cardiopulmonary bypass could decrease bleeding and blood and blood product requirements in adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Altogether 680 papers were identified on Medline, and 879 on Embase using the reported search strategy.