Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge for enabling surgery in a patient under cardiogenic shock due to acute mitral prosthesis dysfunction.

A 52-year-old male patient, who underwent mitral replacement with a mechanical prosthesis as a child, sustained a cardiac arrest which was successfully resuscitated. Further investigation showed prosthesis malfunction with significant regurgitation in the context of multi-organ failure. In such a life-threatening condition, veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was considered as a rescue procedure to achieve optimisation of clinical status to allow definitive surgical treatment.

Primary coarctation-related isthmus aneurysm in an adult.

A 56-year-old female patient was transferred due to the presence of a left supraclavicular pulsatile mass. Further work-up was performed to confirm diagnosis. Angiography and computed tomography were also performed.

Complete Transversal Disc Fracture in a Björk-Shiley Delrin Mitral Valve Prosthesis 43 Years After Implantation.

A patient who underwent previous implantation of a mitral valve replacement with a Björk-Shiley Delrin (BSD) mitral valve prosthesis during infancy was admitted to our institution 43 years later after an episode of syncope and cardiac arrest. Under extreme hemodynamic instability, a mitral valve prosthetic dysfunction causing massive mitral regurgitation was identified. The patient underwent an emergent cardiac operation, and a complete disc fracture with partial disc migration was found.

Postoperative recurrence of postinfarction true and false ventricular aneurysms.

Progressive dyspnea after myocardial infarction can suggests the presence of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction or a left ventricular aneurysm (LVA). Surgical treatment of LVA aims to reduce its volume and to restore the ventricle. Recurrence of LVA after previous repair is extremely rare and the occurrence of concomitant postoperative true and false aneurysms is extraordinary.

Acute Right Coronary Artery Occlusion After Tricuspid Valve Ring Annuloplasty.

A patient was submitted to mitral valve replacement and tricuspid ring annuloplasty. During immediate postoperative course, signs of inferior myocardial ischemia appeared. Acute entrapment of the right coronary artery due to tricuspid ring sutures was confirmed by coronary angiography.

[Pneumoperitoneum after cardiac surgery. A complete anamnesis is the clue].

Herein we present the case of an 82 year-old patient undergoing cardiac surgery for mitral valve replacement. Fifteen years earlier, the patient had undergone surgery to replace his aortic valve, so that it was now a cardiac reoperation. Through sternotomy, and release of pericardial adherences, there was an accidental opening of a small portion of the peritoneum, proceeding to repair with simple suture.

Perivalvular pannus and valve thrombosis: two concurrent mechanisms of mechanical valve prosthesis dysfunction.

A 78-year-old woman was admitted to our institution with progressive dyspnea. She had previously been diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease and had undergone cardiac surgery for mechanical mitral valve replacement ten years previously. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed blockage of the mechanical prosthesis and the patient was scheduled for surgery, in which a thrombus was removed from the left atrial appendage.

A bovine aortic arch in humans.

We describe a curious congenital variation of human aortic arch (AA) branching pattern termed the "bovine aortic arch". Rather than arising directly from the AA as a separate branch as occurs in the most common AA branching pattern, the left common carotid artery moves to the right and merges from the brachiocephalic trunk. It is the normal AA branching pattern presented in a number of animals (canines, felines or Macaque monkeys) but it has nothing to do with anatomy of AA in ruminant animals, including cattle and buffalo.

Intramedullary cervical abscess in the setting of aortic valve endocarditis.

Spinal cord tissue has a remarkable resistance to infection. An intramedullary abscess is an exceptional complication of infective endocarditis in the post-antibiotic era. We describe the case of a 42-year-old man who presented with fever and cephalea.

Survival after major cardiac surgery: performance and comparison of predictive ability of EuroSCORE II and logistic EuroSCORE in a sample of Mediterranean population.

Background: The European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) II has been recently introduced to improve mortality prediction in cardiac surgery. We compare the predictive ability of the new EuroSCORE II with that of the original logistic EuroSCORE and we made an evaluation of a sample of our population submitted to major cardiac surgery in the context of a Mediterranean country.

Materials And Methods: Predicted and observed mortality were recorded in 1,200 consecutive patients undergoing major cardiac surgery at our institution with both logistic EuroSCORE and EuroSCORE II.

Amplatzer Amulet left atrial appendage occluder entrapment through mitral valve.

We report on a 77-year-old woman in whom percutaneous left atrial appendage (LAA) closure was performed. The patient had a left atrial myxoma resection 3 years previously, and 2 years later, she suffered a transient ischemic attack. Atrial fibrillation was detected and anticoagulation therapy was established.

[Anatomic atrial remodeling after mitral valve surgery in permanent atrial fibrillation].

Background: Mitral valve pathology is frequently associated with atrial dilation and fibrillation. Mitral surgery allows immediate surgical atrial remodeling, and in those cases in which sinus rhythm is achieved, it is followed by late remodeling. The aim of this study was to investigate the process of postoperative atrial remodeling in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation who undergo mitral surgery.

[Surgery ablation of atrial fibrillation with epicardial and endocardial biauricular radiofrequency: initial experience].

Background: Atrial fibrillation is frequent in surgical patients with cardiac valvulopathies. Radiofrequency energy applied by means of surgical probes permits the reproduction of atriotomies described in the maze surgical procedure for the ablation of atrial fibrillation in a fast, safe and efficient way. This study presents our initial experience in treatment of chronic atrial fibrillation through radiofrequency performed in patients with surgical cardiac valvulopathies.