[Surgical strategy and the results for hypoplastic left heart syndrome].

Objective: We retrospectively reviewed our surgical results in patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome( HLHS) to investigate the influence of surgical strategy on outcome.

Methods: Seventy-seven patients with classic HLHS were involved in this study. For the initial palliation, 23 patients underwent Norwood operation with modified Blalock-Taussig (BT) shunt, 23 patients underwent Norwood operation with right ventricle to pulmonary artery( RV-PA) shunt and 31 patients underwent bilateral pulmonary artery banding (BPAB).

Aortic valve replacement after esophagectomy with substernal gastric tube reconstruction.

A 67-year-old woman with a history of esophagectomy with substernal gastric tube (GT) reconstruction and left lower lobectomy required aortic valve replacement (AVR) for aortic valve regurgitation and stenosis. Through a median sternotomy (MS) with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), we performed AVR without injury to the GT. Careful peeling of the GT and detailed information of the operative field by multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) scan enabled us to carry out the operation safely in the usual operative view.

Clinical outcome after cardiac operations in patients with cirrhosis.

Background: To evaluate the clinical outcome after cardiac operations in patients with cirrhosis, a retrospective study was undertaken.

Methods: Between 1989 and 2003, 18 patients with cirrhosis who underwent cardiac operations were identified. Their preoperative status and postoperative clinical results were assessed.

Does off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting really preserve renal function?

It is well known that the use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) influences renal function and occasionally results in renal failure following cardiac surgery. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) without CPB may avoid this and preserve the perioperative renal function. The present study enrolled 52 patients undergoing CABG without CPB (OPCAB group) and matched them for renal function and prognostic variables with 53 patients undergoing conventional CABG (CABG group).