Relation of body mass index to late survival after valvular heart surgery.

Limited data have suggested that an "obesity paradox" exists for mortality and cardiovascular outcomes in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Much less is known about the role of the preoperative body mass index (BMI) in patients undergoing valve surgery. We evaluated 2,640 consecutive patients who underwent valve surgery between April 2004 and March 2011.

Midterm benefits of preoperative statin therapy in patients undergoing isolated valve surgery.

Background: Recent data have suggested that statins are associated with reduced early mortality and cardiovascular events after valvular heart surgery. The midterm effects of preoperative statin therapy in the setting of valvular heart surgery are presently unclear.

Methods: All patients (n=2,120) who underwent a valvular procedure between April 2004 and April 2010 were identified.

Measuring the optical properties of astrophysical dust analogues: instrumentation and methods.

Dust is found throughout the universe and plays an important role for a wide range of astrophysical phenomena. In recent years, new IR facilities have provided powerful new data for understanding these phenomena. However, interpretation of these data is often complicated by a lack of complementary information about the optical properties of astronomically relevant materials.

Perioperative statin therapy reduces mortality in normolipidemic patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Objective: Statins might have pleiotropic effects, independent of their ability to reduce lipid levels. Recent data have suggested that statins improve early survival and cardiovascular outcomes after coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The effectiveness of statin therapy in normolipidemic cardiac surgery patients is as yet unclear.