Effects of skeletonized versus pedicled radial artery on postoperative graft patency and flow.

Background: Radial artery (RA) was the second arterial graft introduced in clinical practice for myocardial revascularization. The skeletonization technique of the left internal thoracic artery (LITA) may actually change the graft's flow capacity with potential advantages. This leads to the assumption that the behavior of the RA, as a coronary graft, is similar to that of the LITA, when skeletonized.

Use of volatile anesthetics in extracorporeal circulation.

Background And Objectives: The use of volatile anesthetics in cardiac surgery is not recent. Since the introduction of halothane in clinical practice, several cardiac surgery centers started to use these anesthetics constantly.

Content: In the last years a great number of studies have shown that the volatile anesthetics have a protecting effect against myocardial ischemic dysfunction.

Experimental study of pulsatile implantable electromechanical artificial ventricle.

Objective: The objective is to present the results of the application this device in experimental animals unloading only the left ventricle.

Methods: Between June 2002 and October 2009, were implanted in 27 calfs with age between 2½ to 4 months and 80 to 100 kg of weight, with general anaesthesia and controled ventilation, by mean of left thoracotomy a cannula in the apex of VE and a lateral anastomose of a GTFE vascular graft tube in the descending portion of the thoracic aorta, both connected to the device implanted below the diaphragm in the subcutaneous (24) and intrathoracic (three). The cardiopulmonary bypass (BP) was used in five calves, and directly introduce the outflow cannula in 22.

Surgical treatment of partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection to the superior vena cava.

Objective: Surgical treatment of anomalous pulmonary venous connection to the superior vena cava, associated with sinus venous atrial septal defect, is well established and correlates with low mortality and morbidity. In order to reduce the incidence of stenosis or occlusion of the right superior vena cava, especially when associated with the presence of left superior vena cava, the right atrial appendage was used to enlarge the right superior vena cava, after the diversion of the anomalous pulmonary veins for the left atrium.

Methods: Between June 1986 and September 2008, 95 consecutive patients were operated with anomalous drainage in the superior right vena cava and high right atrium.

[Coronary aneurysm after drug-eluting stent implantation].

The use of drug-eluting stents aiming at by-pass the disadvantage of stainless steel stents have been associated to late thrombosis after withdrawal of anti-platelet agents. We report a case with another complication, the development of a coronary aneurysm in the stent area more than three years after index procedure. Late chronic local inflammatory responses may be responsible for the weakening, erosion and aneusrysm formation.