Variability in Hemoglobin Levels and the Factors Associated with Mortality in Hemodialysis Patients: A 78-Month Follow-Up Study.

Some studies have described that when the hemoglobin levels of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients change, especially in those taking erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA), they are associated with unfavorable outcomes such as increased morbidity and mortality, mainly due to cardiovascular events. This prospective cohort study included patients with end-stage renal disease currently undergoing hemodialysis. The initial 6-month clinical evaluation provided data of the variability in hemoglobin, associated blood parameters, and the use of erythropoietin.

Acute kidney injury after coronary artery bypass grafting: assessment using RIFLE and AKIN criteria.

Objective: To compare the RIFLE (Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss and End-stage Renal Failure) and AKIN (Acute Kidney Injury Network) criteria for diagnosis of acute kidney injury after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Methods: Retrospective cohort. 169 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting from January 2007 through December 2008 were analyzed.

Reconstruction of the chest wall with external metal brace: alternative technique in poststernotomy mediastinitis.

Objective: To demonstrate the experience with the reconstruction of the chest wall utilizing metal brace to reduce the tension in the suture lines of myocutaneous flap in cases of mediastinitis.

Methods: From July 2001 to February 2006, 1389 heart surgeries were performed in our institution of which eight (0.6%) developed mediastinitis.

Is the RACHS-1 (risk adjustment in congenital heart surgery) a useful tool in our scenario?

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the RACHS-1 (Risk Adjustment in Congenital Heart Surgery) as a predictor of surgical mortality in a pediatric population of a public hospital of the Northeast of Brazil.

Methods: From June 2001 through June 2004, 145 patients undergone surgical treatment of CHD in our institution of whom 62% were female, and the mean age was 5.1 years.

Giant pericardial cyst: case report.

Pericardial cysts are uncommon congenital abnormalities. Most are asymptomatic and are found incidentally on chest roentgenograms. Giant cysts are an even more uncommon finding, and reports of their natural history, presentation and management are few.

Surgical removal of a posttraumatic intracardiac foreign body in a child.

The authors report the successful surgical removal of a foreign body (7 x 1 cm wooden stick) from the right atrial of a 8 year-old child 77 days after a transfixing chest trauma caused by falling over a fence. The clinical presentation was infective endocarditis confirmed by the presence of an intraatrial mass at echocardiography. The postoperative course was uneventful.