Meeting the needs of pregnant women in socially vulnerable situations: A phenomenological qualitative study.

Objective: Vulnerability relates to fragile physical, psychological, and socio-environmental circumstances. Pregnant women's social vulnerability can lead to disruptions in their medical follow-ups, prematurity, and increased infant mortality rates, such that their special needs must be considered. Yet, despite different governments' 'perinatality' plans, international literature suggests their care can be improved.

Trapping energy of a spherical particle on a curved liquid interface.

We derive the trapping energy of a colloidal particle at a liquid interface with contact angle θ and principal curvatures c1 and c2. The boundary conditions at the particle surface are significantly simplified by introducing the shift ε of its vertical position. We discuss the undulating contact line and the curvature-induced lateral forces for a single particle and a pair of nearby particles.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of a small caliber vascular prosthesis fixed with a polyepoxy compound.

A small caliber vascular prosthesis obtained from an ovine internal thoracic artery (3.8-4.5 mm ID) fixed with a polyepoxy compound and treated with heparin has been evaluated.

Deterioration of bioprosthetic heart valves.

The aim of this study was to detect biologic factors in the structural deterioration of bioprosthetic heart valves. Prostheses were removed from patients after 4-8 years of implantation and submitted to biochemical and morphologic assays. Successive staining of biologic sections revealed colocalization of lipids and glycosaminoglycans underneath calcifications in the disintegrated extracellular matrix.

A new device for endothelial cell seeding of a small-caliber vascular prosthesis.

A device permitting homogeneous endothelial cell seeding of a small-caliber arterial prosthesis has been developed. The prosthesis is maintained firmly attached to a rotative scaffolding device. This device is activated by an electrical motor at constant and adjustable speed.

[Discordant heart xenografts. Experimental study in pigs conditioned by total lymphoid irradiation and cyclosporine A].

The use of discordant xenografts may solve some of donor shortage problems. The beneficial effects of treatment with total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) and classical drugs on this discordant model of transplantation rejection was evaluated. Twenty-four lamb hearts were transplanted heterotopically in the abdomen of 24 pigs.

Mode of failure of the Mitroflow pericardial valve.

A consecutive series of 188 Mitroflow pericardial bioprostheses were inserted in 166 patients between 1st January 1983 and 31st December 1985. Twenty-two valves had to be removed from 16 patients after a mean follow up period of 78 months (range 58-92 months) for aortic, 73 months (65-79 months) for mitral and 78 months (48-103 months) for double valve replacements. All but one reoperations for primary tissue failure were carried out as elective surgical procedures.

Enhanced O2 transportation during cardiopulmonary bypass in piglets by the use of inositol hexaphosphate loaded red blood cells.

A continuous lysing and resealing of erythrocytes permitted internalization of inositol hexaphosphate (IHP), a strong allosteric effector of Hb, leading to significant rightward shifts of the HbO2 dissociation curve. Twelve piglets were put on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) with the heart beating, cooled to 25 degrees C then rewarmed to 37 degrees C before weaning off CPB. AoP, LV pressure, PAP, and cardiac output (CO) were monitored.

In vitro endothelialization of carbon-coated Dacron vascular grafts.

Physical vapour deposition is used to coat vascular prostheses with pyrolytic carbon. This coating may facilitate the development of an endothelial monolayer in grafts implanted in laboratory animals. This in vitro study compared the adherence and growth of cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells (EC) seeded in vitro on carbon-coated Dacron, to uncoated prostheses.

[Conflicting xenograft. Role of preoperative total lymphoid irradiation].

This study deals with an experimental model of discordant cardiac xenograft between 24 donor lambs of the Préalpes race and 24 recipient Camborough pigs divided up into 4 groups: I control (6) without immunosuppressive treatment; II (5) with pharmacological immunosuppression (IP); III (13) with PI and total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) and immediate graft, divided up into IIIa (5) with high-rate (HR) TLI and IIIb with low-rate (LR) TLI; IV (4) with a two-week lapse between TLI and grafting. The best graft survival rate (GSR) is obtained either after delayed LR-TLI or after LR-TLI without delay. This study seems to be the first one demonstrating that for discordant xenogenic grafts, TLI associated to PI with cyclosporin A (Cy A) significantly prolongs the survival of the graft (30 times).

Protection of the small intestine against irradiation by means of a removable prosthesis.

In radiation therapy of tumors, several techniques are used to prevent injury of the intestinal loops. Their purpose is to drive the intestine out of the external beam. Understanding the disadvantages they present, a temporary prosthesis which effectively protects the small bowel, and is easy to remove, has been developed.

Palliative treatment of bile duct tumoral compression by an endoprosthesis: clinical results.

The palliative therapy of stenoses of the biliary tract is a difficult choice. Because percutaneous or endoscopic drainage methods are fraught with complications, an endoprosthesis for surgical intubation of the biliary tract has been developed. Thirty patients were treated by this method.

[New surgical procedure for the protection of the small intestine before postoperative pelvic irradiation].

A prosthesis was designed to protect the intestinal loop from external beam radiation therapy when post-operative radiation is indicated. It is a silicone inflatable balloon, which, when implanted displaces the intestinal loops out of the pelvic irradiation field. The prosthesis can be deflated between each course of irradiation, without surgery.

[Experimental study of arterial microanastomoses under tension in the Wistar rat. Morphologic and histologic effects].

An experimental study was performed to evaluate the effects of tension on microsurgical anastomoses. A variable length of the common carotid artery in Wistar rats was resected to give variable degrees of tension and the artery was reanastomosed microsurgically. 42 Wistar rats were divided into 7 groups of 6 rats each according to the relative length resected.

An original inflow cannula for paracorporeal assist devices.

Cannulae for paracorporeal ventricular assist devices have been clinically shown to be limiting factors in optimal circulatory support. A new inflow cannula has been manufactured according to an original silicone rubber molding process, permitting a hemocompatible inner surface. The cannula is 200 mm in length, with a 10 mm internal diameter.

The Mitroflow pericardial valve. First five years of follow-up evaluation.

The first 5 years durability study on a substantial number of Mitroflow pericardial valves makes the substance of the present report. One hundred eighty-eight valves were implanted on 166 patients before December 1985: 149 patients were discharged and are recalled annually. Follow up is 99% complete.

Centrifugal pump or pneumatic ventricle for short-term mechanical circulatory support?

Two comparable groups of four Holstein calves were implanted with different left ventricle assist devices: the Centrimed centrifugal pump (CP) (Sarns Inc.) or the UTAH 85 VAD pneumatic ventricle (University of Utah). Operative procedure, inflow and outflow cannulae, monitoring, heparinization, were identical in both groups.

[Intubation of proximal biliary stenoses using a new surgical endoprosthesis].

Thirty patients with high biliary tract strictures were treated by a new surgical endoprosthesis, the tolerance of which has been tested experimentally. It is flexible, radiopaque and incompressible with spurs which prevent migration. Following choledochotomy, the endoprosthesis is positioned surgically above the sphincter of Oddi, thereby avoiding ascending cholangitis.

Proximal stenosis of the bile ducts: results with a new surgical endoprosthesis.

A new endoprosthesis designed for surgical intubation of neoplastic strictures of the proximal biliary tract has been developed. The technical aspects of intubation by this endoprosthesis are discussed, and the results in the first 25 patients are given. The results suggest that this device was well tolerated.