Ministernotomy Versus Standard Sternotomy for Aortic Valve Replacement.

Background: Minimally invasive aortic valve surgery is becoming more popular everyday. The most used approach is mini-sternotomy. There are several promoted benefits related with minimal invasive approaches in comparison with standard sternotomy.

Positive end-expiratory pressure and the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing general anaesthesia.

Aim Of The Study: To evaluate the effect of intraoperative positive end-expiratory pressure and driving pressure on the development of postoperative pulmonary complications.

Method: The prospective study included 83 patients undergoing abdominal surgery and receiving general anaesthesia. Patients were divided into two groups: with low intraoperative positive end-expiratory pressure (0-2cm HO) and with high intraoperative positive end-expiratory pressure (8-10cm HO).

Expression of HLA-DR by mesenchymal stromal cells in the platelet lysate era: an obsolete release criterion for MSCs?

Background: According to the definition of the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT), mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) do not express HLA-DR. This phenotypic marker as a release criterion for clinical use was established at a time when MSCs were expanded in fetal bovine serum (FBS)-containing media. Replacement of FBS with platelet lysate (PLs) as a medium supplement induced a significantly higher fraction of MSCs to express MHC class II antigens.

Real-world data suggest effectiveness of the allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells preparation MSC-FFM in ruxolitinib-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease.

Background: Patients with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD) not tolerating/responding to ruxolitinib (RR-aGvHD) have a dismal prognosis.

Methods: We retrospectively assessed real-world outcomes of RR-aGvHD treated with the random-donor allogeneic MSC preparation MSC-FFM, available via Hospital Exemption in Germany. MSC-FFM is provided as frozen cell dispersion for administration as i.