Hybrid approach for closure of muscular ventricular septal defects.

Background: The complexity of ventricular septal defects in early infancy led to development of new mini-invasive techniques based on collaboration of cardiac surgeons with interventional cardiologists, called hybrid procedures. Hybrid therapies aim to combine the advantages of surgical and interventional techniques in an effort to reduce the invasiveness. The aim of this study was to present our approach with mVSD patients and initial results in the development of a mini-invasive hybrid procedure in the Gdansk Hybrid Heartlink Programme (GHHP) at the Department of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Pomeranian Centre of Traumatology in Gdansk, Poland.

Miniinvasive hybrid procedure for device migration after percutaneous closure of persistent arterial duct: a case report.

We report a case of an 8-month-old girl admitted to the Department of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, Pomeranian Centre of Traumatology in Gdansk with migration of an Amplatzer Duct Occluder II device (AGA Med. Corp., USA) to the left pulmonary artery after interventional patent arterial duct (PDA) closure.

[Intraoperative imaging of hybrid procedure for muscular ventricular septal defects closure with Amplatzer Duct Occluder II].

Hybrid approach becomes a promising conception of an alternative treatment for muscular ventricular septal defects (VSD) closure in infants. In this paper we report epicardial echocardiography imaging that enabled successful hybrid procedure performed in premature infant referred for surgical correction of a large perimembraneous VSD with simultaneous perventricular approach for concomitant muscular VSD.

Candidemia in children after complex congenital heart defects surgery treated with caspofungin--our own experience and a review of literature.

Background: Invasive fungal infections due to Candida species constitute an increasing clinical problem. There are no guidelines for the management of candidemia in children undergoing surgical procedures for congenital heart defects (CHD). The aim of the study was to draw attention to the problem of candidemia in children who are operated on due to congenital heart defects.

Delayed closure of multiple muscular ventricular septal defects in an infant after coarctation repair and a hybrid procedure--a case report.

There are several strategies of surgical approach for the repair of multiple muscular ventricular septal defects (mVSDs), but none leads to a fully predictable, satisfactory therapeutic outcome in infants. We followed a concept of treating multiple mVSDs consisting of a hybrid approach based on intraoperative perventricular implantation of occluding devices. In this report, we describe a 2-step procedure consisting of a final hybrid approach for multiple mVSDs in the infant following initial coarctation repair with pulmonary artery banding in the newborn.

[Effectiveness of total parenteral nutrition in critically ill patients].

Background: Stress metabolism that develops in critically ill patients leads to acute malnutrition in approximately 40% of intensive care patients. Many of them cannot be fed enterally, and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is necessary. On the other hand, TPN is often not fully effective, and may be associated with various side effects and complications.

Effects of thoracic epidural anaesthesia on cardiac repolarization.

1. Prolongation of the QT interval is associated with a risk of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. In the present study, we examined whether reversible blockade of preganglionic sympathetic fibres of the heart, achieved by thoracic epidural anaesthesia, affects cardiac repolarization and thus confers an anti-arrhythmic effect.

[Perioperative assessment of body temperature in elderly patients during thoracic surgery].

Within the last years there is observed the increase in number of elder patients operated in planned terms. Perioperative disorders of thermoregulation are strongly expressed in the group of patients, and the number of complications rises significantly during inadvertent perioperative hypothermia. The aim of this study was estimation of body temperature in patients subjected to thoracosurgical operations.