Surgical epicardial left atrial appendage closure:A true alternative.

Left atrial appendage closure was originally described by Madden in 1949 who was the first to perform appendix amputation. This was a very invasive procedure with poor outcome, but preformed for stroke prevention. Much later, it was James Cox whom described the Cox-Maze procedure, which included multiple incisions to create a maze like pathway for the electrical impulse to go undisturbed from the sinus node down to the atrio-ventricular node.

JetValve: Rapid manufacturing of biohybrid scaffolds for biomimetic heart valve replacement.

Tissue engineered scaffolds have emerged as a promising solution for heart valve replacement because of their potential for regeneration. However, traditional heart valve tissue engineering has relied on resource-intensive, cell-based manufacturing, which increases cost and hinders clinical translation. To overcome these limitations, in situ tissue engineering approaches aim to develop scaffold materials and manufacturing processes that elicit endogenous tissue remodeling and repair.

Left atrial appendage clip occlusion: early clinical results.

Objective: Atrial fibrillation puts patients at significant risk for embolic stroke originating from the left atrial appendage. Few means are available for safe, effective, and durable left atrial appendage occlusion. A new clip device was evaluated with regard to safety and effectiveness for epicardial left atrial appendage occlusion.

Impact of preoperative nesiritide on renal function after mitral valve surgery.

Nesiritide, a recombinant B-type natriuretic peptide used for the intravenous treatment of acute decompensated congestive heart failure. Concerns have been raised about the long-term use of nesiritide, but data is scarce regarding its use in acute congestive heart failure and during cardiac surgery. We conducted a retrospective data review to address the safety of nesiritide for pretreatment of patients undergoing mitral valve surgery.