Background: Novel oral anticoagulants are used in atrial fibrillation. Idarucizumab has been approved for reversal of dabigatran in situations of life-threatening hemorrhage or emergency surgery.
Objectives: We report a single center experience of ten patients on dabigatran therapy who were given idarucizumab prior to heart transplantation.
Rupture of Valsalva sinus remains a very rare and deadly complication of Valsalva sinus aneurysm with a high mortality rate. We report here the case of a 47-year-old man who presented to the emergency department with acute exercise-induced dyspnea, chest pain, and fever. Transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) highlighted a rupture of the right Valsalva sinus in the right atrium due to infective endocarditis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) can occur after continuous flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation as a single arrhythmic event or as electrical storm (ES) with multiple repetitive VA episodes.
Objective: We aimed at analyzing the incidence, predictors, and clinical impact of ES in LVAD recipients.
Methods: Patients analyzed were those included in the multicenter ASSIST-ICD observational study.
Background: Left ventricular assist device (LVAD)-associated infections may be life-threatening and impact patients' outcome. We aimed to identify the characteristics, risk factors, and prognosis of LVAD-associated infections.
Methods: Patients included in the ASSIST-ICD study (19 centers) were enrolled.
Temporary mechanical circulatory support (TCS) is recommended for patients with profound cardiogenic shock (CS). Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and Impella are possible TCS devices, but the device choice and the implantation timing are not definitely established, specifically during acute myocardial infarction. We have analyzed the respective use of ECMO or Impella (2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeripheral veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) exposes the patient to a pulmonary blood flow bypass and a left ventricle afterload increase. Impella, a catheter-mounted microaxial rotary pump, has been proposed for left ventricle (LV) unloading in combination with VA ECMO. In order to assess the effect of Impella on pulmonary flow and LV preload, we checked Doppler pulmonary artery velocity-time integral (pVTI) and LV diastolic diameter (LVED) by transesophageal echocardiography and end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO2) during a step-by-step increase in Impella flow (Impella ramp test).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Cardiogenic shock refractory to standard therapy with inotropes and/or intra-aortic balloon pump is accompanied with an unacceptable high mortality. Percutaneous left ventricular assist devices may provide a survival benefit for these very sick patients. In this study, we describe our experience with the Impella 5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA coronary artery bypass involves taking blood vessels from another part of the patient's body to bypass one or several major coronary stenoses. Coronary artery bypass using cardiopulmonary bypass and off-pump coronary artery bypass are the two methods used to revascularise the heart after a myocardial infarction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The main goal of this study was to evaluate if the edge-to-edge mitral repair could be a limiting factor for exercise tolerance and to compare these results to those of classical techniques.
Methods: Between 2000 and 2002, 54 consecutive patients were operated on for mitral valve regurgitation (MR). Twenty-five patients were operated with Alfieri's technique (group A) and 29 patients with Carpentier's technique (group C).
This clinical feasibility study was planned to evaluate pericardioscopy as a means of control of the pericardial cavity during drainage for pericardial effusion by a surgical sub xyphoid approach. Seventeen patients who underwent an operation for surgical drainage of the pericardium (11 medical and 6 postoperative pericardial effusions) benefited from a pericardial exploration with a mediastinoscope or rigid thoracoscope (Karl Storz, Germany). In 7 of the 11 medical cases, a severe inflammation of the pericardium associated with false membranes was visualized; in 3 cases, the pericardium was considered as normal; and in 1 case, pericardial metastases were visualized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntraoperative map-guided procedures have been widely advocated as the best surgical strategy for the treatment of ventricular tachycardia (VT), though favorable results have been reported with subendocardial resection without mapping. This study examined the very long-term results of encircling cryoablation without mapping during surgery for anterior left ventricular aneurysm complicated by VT. Between 1985 and 2003, this procedure was performed in 52 patients, 7 of whom (13.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbstract Background: Selective coronary angiography is the standard but invasive procedure for postoperative assessment of coronary artery bypass graft patency. The aim of this prospective study is to evaluate the multislice computed tomography (CT) as a means of postoperative patency assessment and anastomotic site control of arterial and venous coronary bypass grafts performed with off-pump coronary artery bypass techniques. Methods: Over a 6-month period, 20 patients underwent isolated coronary artery bypass (beating heart technique) and benefited, 7 days later, from a patency and anastomotic site control by multidetector angio multislice CT with cardiac gating.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims Of The Study: The study aim was to compare long-term results of bioprostheses implanted in the aortic position, with and without patient-prosthesis mismatch (defined as effective orifice area (EOA)/body surface area (BSA) < or =0.85 cm2/m2).
Methods: Between 1986 and 1990, 90 consecutive patients (mean age 72.