Partial Cardiac Denervation to Prevent Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: The pCAD-POAF Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Efficient approaches to prevent postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) are still needed.

Objective: To investigate whether partial cardiac denervation, achieved by cutting off the ligament of Marshall (LOM) and resecting the fat pad along the Waterston groove, can reduce the risk of POAF following CABG.

Design, Setting And Participants: This single-center, randomized clinical trial enrolled adult patients scheduled for isolated CABG in China.

Transcatheter occlusion of azygos/hemiazygos vein in patients with systemic venous collateral development after the bidirectional Glenn procedure.

Objectives: To elucidate the feasibility and treatment effects of transcatheter occlusion of the azygos/hemiazygos vein in patients with progressive cyanosis after performing the bidirectional Glenn procedure.

Methods: From January 2007 to May 2011, transcatheter closure was performed on 9 patients (7 males and 2 females) aged 5-15 years (median 9 years).

Results: A total of 7 azygos veins and 3 hemiazygos veins were occluded successfully.

Transcatheter closure of coronary artery fistulae: initial human experience with the Amplatzer Duct Occluder II.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the new device Amplatzer Duct Occluder II (ADO II) for the closure of coronary artery fistulae (CAF) with coronary anomaly.

Background: Transcatheter device closure is an alternative treatment for selective patients with CAF. The currently available reports regarding the closure of CAF with the ADO II are limited.

A pilot trial of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell transplantation through grafting artery: a sub-study focused on segmental left ventricular function recovery and scar reduction.

Background: Our preliminary study suggested that patients with chronic myocardial infarction (MI) and heart failure could potentially benefit from CABG combined with aBM-MNC by improving global left ventricular (LV) function. The purpose of this sub-study was to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of aBM-MNC transplantation during CABG in patients with chronic MI by intensively analyzing the global and segmental LV function, the scar, and the relationships between the function recovery and the scar transmural extent.

Methods: A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study was performed in 50 patients with chronic MI.

T1 mapping for detection of left ventricular myocardial fibrosis in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a preliminary study.

Purpose: To investigate the diagnostic value of T1 mapping imaging of evaluating fibrosis in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Materials And Methods: 21 subjects with HCM and 18 healthy volunteers underwent conventional late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging and T1 mapping imaging. The region of myocardium in HCM is divided into remote area of LGE, peri-LGE, LGE (halo-like LGE and typical patchy LGE).

Surgery for type B dissection using a short-stented elephant trunk procedure.

Background: Stent grafting is a very important treatment for type B dissection. Some patients are unsuitable for endograft repair because of inadequate proximal and/or distal fixation zones. We reviewed our experience of proximal descending thoracic replacement combined with short-stented elephant trunk implantation for type B dissection for patients without adequate fixation zones for endografts.

[Aortic valve preservation and root reconstruction in Marfan syndrome].

Objective: To explore the experiences of aortic valve preservation and root reconstruction in patients with Marfan syndrome.

Methods: From July 2003 to Dec 2007, 22 patients with Marfan syndrome were treated by aortic valve preservation and root reconstruction. There were 12 male and 10 female, the age ranged from 10 to 57 years old with a mean of (28 +/- 10) years.

Surgery for acute type A dissection using total arch replacement combined with stented elephant trunk implantation: experience with 107 patients.

Objective: In patients with acute type A dissection, it is controversial whether to use a more aggressive strategy with extended aortic replacement to improve long-term outcome or to use a conventional strategy with limited ascending aortic or hemiarch replacement to circumvent a life-threatening situation.

Methods: Between April 2003 and June 2007, 107 patients (17 women, 90 men; mean age, 45 +/- 11 years; range, 17-78 years) with acute type A dissection underwent total arch replacement combined with stented elephant trunk implantation under hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass and selective cerebral perfusion. Computed tomography was performed to evaluate the residual false lumen in the descending aorta during follow-up.

Is total arch replacement combined with stented elephant trunk implantation justified for patients with chronic Stanford type A aortic dissection?

Objective: Surgical treatment of chronic Stanford type A aortic dissection using total arch replacement combined with stented elephant trunk implantation is controversial owing to the visceral arteries and intercostal arteries originating from the false lumen.

Methods: Eighty-nine patients (mean age, 45.67 +/- 10.

Surgery for acute type A dissection with the tear in the descending aorta using a stented elephant trunk procedure.

Background: Surgical management of acute type A dissection with the tear in the descending aorta is challenging because of the technical difficulty in managing proximal and distal aortic lesions through a median sternotomy or lateral thoracotomy using a single-stage procedure.

Methods: Thirty-three patients with acute type A dissection with the tear in the descending aorta underwent total arch replacement combined with stented elephant trunk implantation through a median sternotomy from April 2003 to June 2007. Preoperative complications included acute cardiac tamponade (n = 1), acute left heart failure (n = 1), acute myocardial infarction (n = 1), cerebral ischemia (n = 1), acute renal failure (n = 2), chronic renal dysfunction (n = 2), and acute mesenteric ischemia (n = 1) and lower extremity ischemia (n = 3).

Surgery for marfan patients with acute type a dissection using a stented elephant trunk procedure.

Background: The purpose of the study was to assess the efficacy of total arch replacement combined with stented elephant trunk implantation for Marfan patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection involving the aortic arch.

Methods: Between January 2004 and April 2006, 13 consecutive Marfan patients (4 female, 9 male) with acute type A aortic dissection involving the aortic arch underwent total arch replacement combined with implantation of a stented elephant trunk. Aortic dissection extending to the iliac artery was seen in 10 patients, and to the abdominal aorta in 3 patients.

Overactivation of poly(adenosine phosphate-ribose) polymerase 1 and molecular events in neuronal injury after deep hypothermic circulatory arrest: study in a rabbit model.

Objective: Although deep hypothermic circulatory arrest has been known to induce neuronal injury, the molecular mechanism of this damage has not been identified. We studied the key molecular mediators through cellular energy failure, excitotoxicity, and overactivation of poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase 1 in brain tissues of a rabbit model of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest similar to clinical settings.

Methods: We established 2 models of cardiopulmonary bypass (n = 15) and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (n = 15) associated with cerebral microdialysis in rabbits.

[Valve-sparing aortic root replacement in patients with aortic root disease].

Objective: To review the results of the valve-sparing operation (David procedure) in patients with aortic root disease.

Methods: Twenty-nine patients with aortic root disease, 20 males and 9 females, aged 39 +/- 17 (10-64), 10 being of heart functional class I, 15 of class II, and 4 of class III, and 15 with gentle, 9 with moderate, and 5 with severe aortic insufficiency underwent David procedure, one undergoing the aortic valve-sparing reimplantation (David I), 25 undergoing aortic valve-sparing remodeling (David II), and 3 undergoing a new modified aortic valve-sparing operation. After the operation the patients were followed up for 29 +/- 15 months (5-74 months).