Long-Term Success in Dental Implant Revisions: A 31-Year Case Study of Alveolar Atrophy Management in an Elderly Woman.

BACKGROUND In the early 1980s, Brånemark described the use of cylindrical titanium dental implants integrated with bone. Since then, significant advances in dental implant technology have resulted in improved function and cosmetic appearance. This report describes an 87-year-old woman with a 31-year history of revision implant dentistry, initially for severe alveolar atrophy of the premolar and upper molar teeth.

Platelet reduction after stentless pericardial aortic valve replacement.

The aim of the study was to investigate the multi-factorial phenomenon of possible postoperative thrombocytopenia after aortic valve replacement (AVR) with the freedom SOLO (FS) bioprosthesis. A total of 254 patients underwent AVR with FS bioprosthesis in two cardiac surgery institutes. Platelet counts were measured preoperatively, immediately postoperatively and daily until the 11th day postoperatively.

Heart valve surgery in a very high-risk population: a preliminary experience in awake patients.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Heart valve surgery in high-risk patients is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Epidural anesthesia without mechanical ventilation has been proposed to reduce invasiveness. An analysis was conducted in very high-risk heart valve patients of mid-term survival free from complications, and patient satisfaction of regional anesthesia use, without mechanical ventilation.

Massive mitral and pulmonary valve incompetence in a patient with left ventricular, non-compacted myocardium.

The case is reported of a patient who underwent cardiac surgery for pulmonary valve stenosis as a child, and presented as an adult with signs and symptoms of severe congestive heart failure. The left ventricle showed an increased trabecular pattern in the region of the apex, the mitral annulus was severely dilated with mitral incompetence, the right ventricular out-flow tract (RVOT) was largely dilated with aneurysm of both pulmonary arteries, and there was evidence of pulmonary valve incompetence. Previously, rare cases have been reported of persistent left ventricular non-compaction in patients with congenital left or RVOT obstruction.

Nanoscale radiofrequency control technology for endoscopic radial artery harvesting: a case report.

A recent revival in the use of the radial artery for bypass surgery stimulated the development of minimally invasive harvesting techniques since the endoscopic approach has several advantages when compared to the open technique. A novel nanoscale radiofrequency-controlled device has been recently introduced in the surgical armamentarium as a vesselsealing system, albeit to date it has been mainly used in the urological setting. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the literature about the use of such an innovative device for endoscopic harvesting of the radial artery, along with a stainless steel resterilizable retractor conventionally used for endoscopic vein harvesting.

Improved graft patency rates and mid-term outcome of diabetic patients undergoing total arterial myocardial revascularization.

Objectives: Diabetes negatively affects the outcome of patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) or coronary surgery. However, data are lacking with respect to the impact of arterial revascularization in the diabetic population.

Methods: Between 1999 and 2003, 100 of 491 diabetics underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) with total arterial grafting (Group 1, G1); these patients were compared with 100 diabetics undergoing conventional CABG with saphenous veins (Group 2, G2), who were matched for Euroscore and other risk factors such as age, obesity, hypertension, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), previous myocardial infarction and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).