Postoperative hyperbilirubinemia and Gilbert's syndrome in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

We report a series of seven patients with Gilbert's syndrome undergoing cardiac surgery. Early and transient increase of total, direct, and indirect bilirubin without other complications was observed. Although this is a benign process, we believe that this disease should be routinely included in the differential diagnosis of postoperative jaundice after cardiopulmonary bypass.

Floating thrombus in the ascending aorta causing repeated arterial embolisms.

Free-floating thrombus in an otherwise normal ascending aorta is a rare finding. We report the case of a 61-year-old woman admitted for brain and peripheral arterial embolisms. Echocardiography was not able to detect the source of embolus.

Relation of Skin Flora of Hands with Glove Perforation and Contamination in Cardiac Surgery.

Background And Objectives: Surgical scrub reduces the number of microorganisms, but fails to sterilize hands, and therefore the use of sterile gloves is recommended. Glove perforation allows bacteria passage from the surgeons´ hands to the patient´s tissues. We analyze the relationship between skin flora of hands, glove perforation and contamination.