Comparison of Efficacy and Cost of Iodine Impregnated Drape vs. Standard Drape in Cardiac Surgery: Study in 5100 Patients.

We sought to examine the efficacy in preventing surgical site infection (SSI) in cardiac surgery, using two different incise drapes (not iodine-impregnated and iodine-impregnated). A cost analysis was also considered. Between January 2008 and March 2015, 5100 consecutive cardiac surgery patients, who underwent surgery in our Institute, were prospectively collected.

Extracorporeal life support in cardiogenic shock: Impact of acute versus chronic etiology on outcome.

Background: The role of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) in primary cardiogenic shock (PCS) is well established. In this study, we evaluated the impact of etiology on outcomes.

Methods: Between January 2009 and March 2013, we implanted a total of 249 patients with ECLS; we focused on 64 patients for whom peripheral ECLS was the treatment for PCS.

A Single Institution Evaluation of the Performance of Two Different Chest Drainage Systems in Pediatric Patients after Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease.

Background: The study compares the efficacy and advantages of two different drainage systems in pediatric patients during surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD).

Methods: A total of 200 consecutive pediatric patients (< 16 years) were enrolled; in 100 patients we used a polyvinyl chloride drain (PVCD) and in the other 100 we used a silicone drain (SD). Demographics, drain's technical data, and postoperative complications and costs were evaluated.

Nitinol flexigrip sternal closure system and standard sternal steel wiring: insight from a matched comparative analysis.

Objective: We sought to assess the efficiency of two different sternal closure techniques in preventing sternal wound instability in high-risk patients.

Materials And Methods: Between January 2009 and February 2012, 2068 consecutive cardiac patients were prospectively collected in our database. The 561 patients in whom the thermoreactive nitilium clips (Flexigrip) have been used (group A) were matched 1 : 1 with 561 patients who received a standard parasternal wiring technique (group B) on 10 available risk factors known to affect sternal wound healing (age, age >75 years, sex, diabetes mellitus, cardiac procedure, obesity, re-intervention, cross-clamp, and total operative times).

Surgical outcomes of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection repair: a 22-year experience.

Background: Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) is a rare congenital heart disease (CHD), whose surgical repair is associated with high mortality and reoperation rates. We sought to identify predictors of early and late outcomes.

Methods: Data from medical records of patients who underwent surgical repair for TAPVC from 1989 to 2012 were included.

Impact of vacuum-assisted closure therapy on outcomes of sternal wound dehiscence†.

Objectives: Sternal wound dehiscence (SWD) after cardiac surgery is a rare but serious condition associated with considerable costs and morbidity. We sought to evaluate the results of the introduction of vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) therapy in the management of sternal wound dehiscence, compared with those of previous conventional treatments.

Methods: We retrospectively collected 7148 patients who underwent cardiac surgery at our institution between January 2002 and June 2012.

Transplant renal artery stenosis in children: risk factors and outcome after endovascular treatment.

Background: Transplant renal artery stenosis (TRAS) is an increasingly recognised cause of post-transplant hypertension.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed 216 paediatric renal recipients transplanted between 2001 and 2011 to assess TRAS prevalence and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) efficacy. To assess risk factors, we compared children with TRAS with a propensity score-matched cohort of recipients without TRAS.

Pediatric coronary artery revascularization: a European multicenter study.

Background: We sought to evaluate the hospital and midterm results of different surgical revascularization techniques in pediatric patients within the European Congenital Heart Surgeons Association.

Methods: From 1973 to 2011, 80 patients from 13 European Congenital Heart Surgeons Association centers underwent 65 pediatric coronary artery bypass grafting (PCABG) and 27 other coronary artery procedures (OCAP; 12 patients had combined PCABG and other coronary artery procedures). Excluded were patients with Kawasaki disease.

Nitinol flexigrip sternal closure system and chest wound infections: insight from a comparative analysis of complications and costs.

Background: We sought to assess the efficiency of two different sternal closure techniques in preventing sternal wound complications (SWC). A cost analysis was also considered.

Methods: Between January 2008 and April 2010, 1,644 consecutive cardiac surgery patients who underwent cardiac surgery in our institute were prospectively collected.