Sternal fractures and delayed cardiac tamponade due to a severe blunt chest trauma.

Sternal fractures caused by blunt chest trauma are associated with an increased incidence of cardiac injury. Reports of the incidence of cardiac injury associated with sternal fracture range from 18% to 62%. Delayed cardiac tamponade is a rare phenomenon that appears days or weeks after injury.

Security and cost comparison of INR self-testing and conventional hospital INR testing in patients with mechanical heart valve replacement.

Background: International normalized ratio (INR) self-testing can improve the management of anticoagulation therapy with warfarin for the patients following mechanical heart valve replacement. Several reviews and studies have demonstrated self-management as an option to improve patient's outcome considerably after mechanical heart valve replacement. We sought to analyze the security, economy and discuss the prospect of self-testing of anticoagulation therapy in patients following mechanical heart valve replacement in China, and evaluate the accuracy and stability of CoaguChek XS portable INR-testing device.

Portal vein thrombosis after aortic valve replacement surgery in a patient with antithrombin III deficiency--case presentation.

We presented an unique case of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) after aortic valve replacement due to antithrombin III (ATIII) deficiency. PVT after aortic valve replacement (AVR) is a serious complication, which has not previously been reported.