Characterizing Microheterogeneity in Liquid Mixtures via Local Density Fluctuations.

We present a novel approach to characterize and quantify microheterogeneity and microphase separation in computer simulations of complex liquid mixtures. Our post-processing method is based on local density fluctuations of the different constituents in sampling spheres of varying size. It can be easily applied to both molecular dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, including periodic boundary conditions.

Device-based prevention of neurological events in coronary artery bypass patients with calcified ascending aorta.

Patients with severely calcified aorta undergoing conventional cardiac surgery are at increased risk for postoperative neurologic deficits. Implementation of cerebroprotective devices may substantially reduce or even eliminate the risk of the adverse neurologic events, thus enabling surgical therapy, especially when interventional treatment cannot be considered an alternative option.

The ALSTER-TAVI All-Comers Registry: Procedural and 1-Year Clinical Outcomes of Balloon-Expandable vs Self-Expanding Contemporary TAVI Valves.

Objectives: Both balloon-expandable and self-expanding transcatheter aortic valves are used for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). We compared procedural and clinical outcome variables of Sapien 3 and Evolut R/Pro in an all-comers collective.

Methods: In this single-center registry, patients were consecutively treated with the Sapien 3 from November 2014 to March 2017 (n = 129) and from April 2017 to December 2018 mainly (>95%) with the Evolut R/Pro (n = 124), due to a switch in the main TAVI supplier driven by hospital management.

CP2K: An electronic structure and molecular dynamics software package - Quickstep: Efficient and accurate electronic structure calculations.

CP2K is an open source electronic structure and molecular dynamics software package to perform atomistic simulations of solid-state, liquid, molecular, and biological systems. It is especially aimed at massively parallel and linear-scaling electronic structure methods and state-of-the-art ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. Excellent performance for electronic structure calculations is achieved using novel algorithms implemented for modern high-performance computing systems.

Complex surgical valve repair after failed percutaneous mitral intervention using the MitraClip device.

Catheter-based techniques of percutaneous valve intervention are recently being performed in an increasing number of patients. We finally report a case of successful, but complex surgical mitral valve repair 32 days after failed percutaneous intervention with severely aggravated mitral pathology caused by the catheter-based procedure. It is outlined that the conditions for surgery can be severely deteriorated, thereby reducing the chance for successful surgical repair after preceding mitral intervention.

Ablation surgery in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation: an 8-year clinical experience.

Objective: This analysis was undertaken to evaluate the results of persistent atrial fibrillation ablation procedures concomitant to open surgery and to identify risk factors for persistent atrial fibrillation recurrence.

Methods: Since 2001, a total of 325 consecutive patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (duration, 0.5-33 years) have undergone persistent atrial fibrillation ablation concomitant to open surgery by creating 2 encircling isolation lesions around the left and right pulmonary veins and a connecting lesion between both with the use of radiofrequency ablation procedures.

Restrictive mitral valve annuloplasty for chronic ischemic mitral regurgitation: a 5-year clinical experience with the physio ring.

Background: This study investigated the results of restrictive mitral annuloplasty with the semirigid Carpentier-Edwards Physio ring in patients with moderately severe to severe chronic ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) and advanced ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM).

Methods: From 2003 to 2007, 100 consecutive patients (mean age +/- SD, 69 +/- 10 years) with chronic IMR of grades 3 to 4 (3.6 +/- 0.

A 5-year clinical experience with bipolar radiofrequency ablation for permanent atrial fibrillation concomitant to coronary artery bypass grafting and aortic valve surgery.

This study analyses the 5-year results of permanent atrial fibrillation (pAF) bipolar radiofrequency (RF) ablation surgery concomitant to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and/or aortic valve (AV) surgery. Eighty-five patients with pAF (0.5-30 years) underwent bipolar RF ablation procedure concomitant to CABG/AV surgery.

Seven-year experience with ablation of permanent atrial fibrillation concomitant to mitral valve surgery in 152 patients.

Background: This study analyzed 7 years of results for monopolar endocardial radiofrequency (RF) ablation of permanent atrial fibrillation (pAF) concomitant to mitral valve (MV) surgery.

Methods: Between 2001 and 2007, 152 patients who had experienced pAF for a median of 4.0 years (interquartile range, 1.

Surgical treatment of permanent atrial fibrillation during heart valve surgery.

A simple strategy to abolish permanent atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients undergoing heart valve surgery is described. The concept includes: (1) endocardial radiofrequency (RF) ablation creating two encircling isolation lesions around the left and the right pulmonary veins (LPV, RPV) and a connection line between both; (2) antiarrhythmic protection with amiodarone for 3 months. Between 02/01 and 02/02 29 patients underwent surgical AF ablation procedures associated with primary valve operations (mitral, n=22; aortic, n=6; aortic+mitral, n=1).

Surgical treatment of permanent atrial fibrillation during cardiac surgery using monopolar and bipolar radiofrequency ablation.

Objective: Permanent atrial fibrillation (pAF) is a serious problem in cardiac surgery: An incidence of 3.5% among all patients scheduled for open heart surgery, 9.8% in heart valve cases and 45.

Permanent atrial fibrillation ablation surgery in patients with advanced age.

Background: Even if permanent atrial fibrillation (pAF) is a frequent concomitant problem in patients undergoing open heart surgery and particularly in those with advanced age, data of pAF ablation surgery in older aged patients are scarce. This study was performed to assess early and late results of combined open heart surgery and pAF ablation procedures in patients with advanced aged, compared to young patients.

Material And Methods: A selective group of 126 patients (Group A: age =70 [76.

Downsizing of the mitral valve and coronary revascularization in severe ischemic mitral regurgitation results in reverse left ventricular and left atrial remodeling.

Objective: Data of combined mitral downsizing by restrictive prosthetic ring annuloplasty and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and moderately severe to severe mitral regurgitation (MR) are rare, and little is known about the effect on reverse left ventricular (LV) and left atrial (LA) remodeling.

Methods: Thirty-eight patients (70.6+/-8.

Monopolar and bipolar radiofrequency ablation surgery: 3-year experience in 90 patients with permanent atrial fibrillation.

Objective: In our population, permanent atrial fibrillation (pAF) is a serious concomitant problem in patients scheduled for open heart surgery. The high incidence necessitates reliable methods of treating pAF efficiently. We report our 3-year experience with a safe concept of using monopolar and bipolar radiofrequency (RF) ablation procedures.

Three years experience with monopolar and bipolar radiofrequency ablation surgery in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation.

Objective: In our population permanent atrial fibrillation (pAF) is a frequent concomitant problem in patients undergoing open heart surgery. A 3-year experience with a treatment strategy using mono- and bipolar radiofrequency (RF) ablation procedures in a heterogeneous group of patients is reported.

Methods: In a prospective analysis the incidence of pAF among all patients undergoing open heart surgery in our department between February 2001 and July 2004 was evaluated.

Global surgical experience with the Acorn cardiac support device.

Objective: Surgical intervention is an option for treating the remodeled and dilated left ventricles of patients with heart failure. Providing end-diastolic support with an innovative mesh-like cardiac support device reduces mechanical stress, improves function, and reverses cardiac remodeling in animal models without safety issues. The objective of this study was to review the global clinical safety and feasibility experience of this device.