Limited versus full sternotomy for aortic valve replacement.

Background: Aortic valve disease is a common condition easily treatable with cardiac surgery. This is conventionally performed by opening the sternum ('median sternotomy') and replacing the valve under cardiopulmonary bypass. Median sternotomy is well tolerated, but as less invasive options become available, the efficacy of limited incisions has been called into question.

Reducing Trainee Service Provision Burden: An Audit of Cardiac Surgical Follow-Up.

Objective: To standardize the discharge policy for outpatient appointments and reduce the burden of service provision placed on trainee surgeons.

Design: Retrospective audit of practice followed by a prospective audit following our intervention.

Setting: Cardiac surgery outpatient clinic at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, a large tertiary cardiothoracic center in the United Kingdom.

Limited versus full sternotomy for aortic valve replacement.

Background: Aortic valve disease is a common condition that is easily treatable with cardiac surgery. This is conventionally performed by opening the sternum longitudinally down the centre ("median sternotomy") and replacing the valve under cardiopulmonary bypass. Median sternotomy is generally well tolerated, but as less invasive options have become available, the efficacy of limited incisions has been called into question.

A meta-analysis of platelet gel for prevention of sternal wound infections following cardiac surgery.

Deep sternal wound infection and bleeding are devastating complications following cardiac surgery, which may be reduced by topical application of autologous platelet gel. Systematic review identified seven comparative studies involving 4,692 patients. Meta-analysis showed significant reductions in all sternal wound infections (odds ratio 3.

Stem cells accumulate on a decellularized arterial xenograft in vivo.

Background: Surgical interest in complete arterial revascularization is expanding, but some patients lack suitable conduits for this goal. The field of stem cell biology is rapidly expanding and, together with the concepts of tissue engineering, offers the promise of growing autologous grafts in the laboratory. We aim to develop a model using human arteries as vascular grafts in a murine model and to assess the cellular accumulation on these grafts.

Outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve implantation compared to surgical aortic valve replacement following previous surgery.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Surgical aortic valve replacement remains the 'gold standard' treatment for aortic valve disease. An increasing number of elderly patients with multiple comorbidities are referred for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), partly due to the perceived high risks of surgery. These include in particular patients who have had previous cardiac surgery.