Intraoperative coronary grafts flow measurement using the TTFM flowmeter: results from a domestic sample.

Objective: To evaluate intraoperative graft patency and identify grafts under risk of early occlusion.

Methods: Fifty four patients were submitted to coronary artery bypass surgery and the graft flow was assessed by the Flowmeter (Medtronic Medistim), which utilizes the TTFM method. Three patients had left main disease and 48 had normal or mildly reduced left ventricular function.

Cytokines and pain.

Background And Objectives: Cytokines are necessary for the inflammatory response, favoring proper wound healing. However, exaggerated proinflammatory cytokine production can manifest systemically as hemodynamic instability or metabolic derangements. The objective of this review was to describe the effects of cytokines in pain.

Cardiovascular response [corrected] during rehabilitation after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the behavior of cardiovascular variables during an in-hospital cardiovascular rehabilitation program in patients following myocardial revascularization surgery.

Methods: A total of 14 patients (mean age: 55.4 ± 6.

Ischemic preconditioning influence ventricular function in off-pump revascularization surgery.

Background: Ischemic preconditioning is a method that prepares and protects cells to tolerate a long period of ischemia with the least possible injury.

Objectives: Evaluate the influence of ischemic preconditioning over left ventricular function during off-pump myocardial revascularization.

Method: Forty patients with clinical indication for off-pump myocardial revascularization were randomized in two groups, with or without ischemic preconditioning.

Effect of intravenous lidocaine on manifestations of fibromyalgia.

Background And Objectives: The objective of our study was to evaluate the effect of intravenous lidocaine on the manifestations of fibromyalgia.

Methods: A randomized, double-blind, comparative study was conducted on 30 patients. All patients received 25 mg amitriptyline.

Stentless valves treated by the L-hydro process in the aortic position in sheep.

Calcification of glutaraldehyde-treated bioprosthetic heart valves is a major cause of long-term failure. We studied porcine aortic valves treated by the L-Hydro process and implanted into 14 juvenile sheep (group 1). Another 10 sheep were implanted with glutaraldehyde-treated porcine bioprostheses (group 2).

[Surgical treatment of aortic valve disease with stentless bovine pericardium prosthesis: immediate results].

Objective: To present the immediate results and assess the clinical and hemodynamic performance of stentless bovine pericardial bioprostheses in aortic position.

Methods: Twenty patients were operated who were indicated for surgery for valve replacement with biological prosthesis. Eleven patients were male; sixteen had aortic stenosis; four, insufficiency; the mean age was 66.

Off-pump myocardial revascularization: critical analysis of 23 years' experience in 3,866 patients.

Background: Surgical myocardial revascularization without cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is not new, with the first consecutive series of patients appearing in the early eighties. There has been increased interest in this alternative approach, especially in patients with comorbidities. There is controversy regarding advantages, risks, and usefulness of this method of myocardial revascularization.

Cryopreserved aortic homograft for aortic valve replacement: immediate results.

Objective: To assess immediate clinical and echocardiographic results of the use of cryopreserved aortic homografts for aortic valve replacement.

Methods: Eighteen patients with aortic valve disease underwent aortic valve replacement, receiving a cryopreserved aortic homograft, 15 were male, 10 had aortic regurgitation, and 8 had aortic stenosis. Age ranged from 18 to 65 years (mean, 44.

Off-pump versus on-pump myocardial revascularization in low-risk patients with one or two vessel disease: perioperative results in a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Background: To evaluate hospital mortality and morbidity after myocardial revascularization in a prospective and multicenter study, comparing on-pump versus off-pump in a special subset of patients with lesions in the left descending artery, alone or associated with the right coronary artery.

Methods: A multicenter prospective randomized study was performed. One hundred and sixty selected low-risk patients were enrolled; 80 patients were operated on-pump (coronary artery bypass grafting [CABG], group I) and 80 patients were operated off-pump (off-pump coronary artery bypass [OPCAB], group II).

Myocardial revascularization in renal transplant patients.

Objective: To assess the results of surgical myocardial revascularization in renal transplant patients.

Methods: From 1991 to 2000, 11 renal transplant patients, whose ages ranged from 36 to 59 (47.5+/-8) years, 8 males and 3 females, underwent myocardial revascularization.

Myocardial infarction scar plication in the rat: cardiac mechanics in an animal model for surgical procedures.

Background: The immediate effects of surgical reduction of left ventricle cavity on cardiac mechanics have not been well defined.

Methods: Cardiac mechanics were analyzed before and after myocardial infarction scar plication in 11 isolated infarcted rat hearts.

Results: Despite a decrease in myocardial stiffness, an increase in chamber stiffness was noted after myocardial infarction scar plication.