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Nurse-physician collaboration involves healthcare operators from different professions working together. The dual identity model predicts that nurse-physician interprofessional collaboration could improve if these operators feel they belong to both their professional category and care unit. This study tested this prediction by analyzing the effect of professional and team commitments on interprofessional collaboration between nurses and physicians in a hospital based in Northern Italy. A cross-section questionnaire survey was administered to 270 nurses and 95 physicians. Results indicate that interprofessional collaboration is positively affected by team commitment, while professional commitment had no effect. In accordance with the dual identity model, results indicate that interprofessional collaboration is higher when: (i) both professional and team commitment is high, and (ii) when team commitment is high and professional commitment is low. These results support dual identity model predictions and suggest that interprofessional collaboration can be increased by bolstering both team and professional commitment of nurses and physicians.

Background: The optimal conduit of second choice in surgical coronary revascularization remains a matter of debate. Radial artery grafts are believed to have a better patency rate than the saphenous vein grafts, although no conclusive results have been reported. This report describes the late result of a coronary revascularization with sequential venous bypass performed 30 years earlier., Methods: An 80-year-old woman was admitted for dyspnoea on exertion and recent-onset angina due to severe aortic valve stenosis. Thirty years earlier, the patient had undergone revascularization with coronary bypass grafting performed using a sequential saphenous vein graft anastomosed on first diagonal branch and on left anterior descending coronary artery. Coronary angiography showed the occlusion of the native left anterior descending artery and the good patency of the previous described sequential vein graft., Results: Surgical inspection confirmed the patency and the soft pliability of the venous graft and the surgeon decided to do not replace the previous graft with a pedicled LIMA (Left Internal Mammary Artery) graft. The patient underwent 21-mm biological Edwards Perimount Magna Ease prosthesis implantation. Postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged on the seventh day after surgery., Conclusions: This case report demonstrated the potential extreme long-term patency of a sequential saphenous vein graft in coronary bypass surgery, raising the question if vein grafts should be really considered the conduits of last resort for coronary artery bypass surgery. Long-term follow-up of randomized trials comparing radial artery versus saphenous vein grafts are warranted in order to give conclusive answers to this ongoing debate.

It is well known that graft patency determines prognosis in coronary artery bypass grafting. Numerous reports over the past 20 years have documented superior patency and prognosis when multiple arterial grafts are used. The use of the left internal thoracic artery to graft the left anterior descending artery has been widely accepted as the gold standard for surgical treatment of coronary disease for over 40 years. A considerable body of evidence suggests that the right internal thoracic artery behaves in the same way. Radial artery grafts are being studied in several randomized trials, but observational studies suggest a performance comparing favorably with the saphenous vein. The right gastroepiploic artery has been recognized as a suitable and reliable conduit for coronary bypass surgery. However, the use of multiple other arterial grafts is performed in less than 10% of surgical procedures, probably because of perceptions of technical complexity, prolonged time for conduit harvesting, and increased perioperative complications. As a result, most patients with multivessel coronary artery disease do not benefit from extensive revascularization with arterial conduits. The aim of this review is to summarize the current evidence for the extensive use of arterial conduits in the revascularization of multivessel coronary artery disease.

Cardiac injuries from blunt chest trauma are usually the result of motor vehicle accidents; cardiac injuries result in 20% of such accidents, but they are also associate to mild-to-moderate sports injuries.The severity of external injuries does not necessary reflect the severity of cardiac trauma. Blunt chest trauma can cause a variety of cardiac injuries such as myocardial contusion, myocardial rupture, pericardial trauma, valvular disruption and acute myocardial infarction.We report a case of traumatic rupture of the interventricular septum caused by a blunt chest trauma following a car crash and its successful surgical repair. In this particular case the clinical signs of interventricular shunt began evident 12-14 days after the accident.

The purpose of this study was to investigate retrospectively early and late outcomes of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in a large series of octogenarians. We retrospectively reviewed the data of 241 octogenarian patients who underwent CABG between April 2002 and April 2009 at our institution. Mean age was 84.7 ± 1.8 years. Patients affected by concomitant coexistent organic aortic, mitral, or tricuspid valve disease were excluded from the study. Patients with functional secondary ischemic mitral incompetence were included in the study. The majority of the patients were male. Angina pectoris functional class III/IV accounted for 164 patients (68%). Left ventricular ejection fraction ≤35% was diagnosed in 38 patients (15.8%). Early mortality rate was 5.8% (14 patients). Causes of death were cardiac related in 10 patients. Preoperative independent predictors of in-hospital mortality obtained with multivariate analysis were extracardiac arteriopathy, New York Heart Association class III/IV, and previous percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). The overall mean follow-up was 41.6 ± 25.9 months (range 1-87.6 months). Among the 222 contacted survivors, there were 16 (7.2%) deaths during the follow-up. The actuarial survival was 91.9% at 1 year and 83.5% at 5 years. On multivariate analysis, time to late death was adversely affected by preoperative extracardiac arteriopathy and previous PTCA. Advanced age alone should not be a deterrent for CABG if it has been determined that the benefits outweigh the potential risk. A careful selection of optimal candidates, based on the evaluation of their systemic comorbidities, appears mandatory in order to obtain the greatest benefit for these high-risk patients.

The purpose of this study was to review the outcome of dialysis-dependent patients undergoing cardiac surgery. We retrospectively reviewed 81 dialysis-dependent patients with a mean age of 62.5 ± 9.4 years who underwent cardiac operations. Mean EuroScore was 7.1 ± 3.9 (>9 in 18 patients). Surgery included coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in 43 patients (53.1%), valve surgery in 16 (19.7%), combined CABG plus valve surgery in 19 (23.5%) and major aortic surgery in three patients. In-hospital mortality rate was 13.6%. Most of the deaths occurred in patients who underwent valve procedures or combined surgery. Preoperative New York Heart Association class IV, previous acute myocardial infarction, combined surgical procedures, major aortic surgery, age >70 years, history of heart failure, female gender, the duration of dialysis ≥ 5 years and urgent/emergent surgery were associated with high relative risk for perioperative death. The actuarial survival was 72.2% at 5 years. Predictors of increased late mortality were heart failure, urgent/emergent surgery, the complexity of the surgical procedures (valve surgery, combined CABG + valve and major aortic surgery) and postoperative low cardiac output syndrome. In dialysis-dependent patients, CABG has an acceptable risk. Results in patients affected by valve lesions associated or not with coronary artery disease are improved by an early referral to surgery, before the onset of symptoms of heart failure.

Background and Aim of the Study: Cardiac surgery can be performed on elderly patients in good physical and mental health, thus improving their mortality, morbidity, and quality of life. Nevertheless, for some elderly patients aortic valve replacement (AVR) is still denied because of the presence of preoperative characteristics, such as older age and left ventricular dysfunction. The study aim was to review early and long-term results in patients aged > or = 80 years who underwent AVR for severe aortic stenosis, and to identify risk factors for in-hospital and late mortality., Methods: A total of 165 patients (mean age 82 +/- 2.1 years) underwent AVR for severe aortic stenosis, with or without concomitant coronary revascularization, at the authors' institution. The mean aortic valve area was 0.61 +/- 0.2 cm2. Preoperatively, 20 patients (12%) had a left ventricular ejection fraction < 35%. The mean EuroSCORE was 9.45 +/- 1.52., Results: Seven patients (4%) experienced low cardiac output syndrome, and acute renal failure occurred in 24. No perioperative myocardial infarction, stroke or sternal wound infection was detected. In total, 23 patients (14%) required prolonged ventilatory support. The in-hospital mortality was 3%. After a mean follow up of 43 +/- 35.6 months there were 18 late deaths: the cardiac-related mortality was 7%. The mean NYHA class was improved from 2.86 +/- 0.67 to 1.44 +/- 0.57 (p < 0.0001)., Conclusion: Conventional AVR remains the standard of care, and can be performed with satisfactory in-hospital mortality, long-term life expectancy and quality of life in high-risk elderly patients. Although the transcatheter aortic valve technique seems to be a promising option, its long-term value must be established in prospective, randomized trials.

We report a case of young male with a penetrating chest trauma due to a gunshot. The bullet was detected by conventional X-ray and localized within the lateral wall of the left ventricle by CT. During surgery the bullet was not found. Thereafter conventional X-ray showed migration of the bullet within the lung parenchyma., (Copyright 2010 Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Current techniques of myocardial protection are evolving with the use of less conventional modalities of cardioplegia and have reduced the morbidity and mortality of cardiac operations. Blood cardioplegic solutions appear superior to cold cardioplegia in terms of myocardial protection and adjuncts as glutamate/aspartate enhancement, antioxidant supplementation, nitric oxide donors and maintenance of calcium homeostasis seem effective. In the near future, further experimental and clinical investigations about pharmacological preconditioning, sodium-hydrogen exchangers inhibition and gene therapy need to be addressed to well define their potential role in the improvement of current techniques of myocardial protection that are suboptimal in high-risk clinical settings.

From 1984 to 1997, 112 patients have been operated at the Department of Cardiac Surgery of the Azienda Ospedaliera of Parma for acute dissection of ascending aorta. They were 73 males and 39 females of mean age 59.2 years (range 19-79); in the majority they presented a history of essential hypertension and atherosclerotic disease: the first diagnostic suspicion has been confirmed either by angio-CT scan or by CT scan plus aorthography and, from 1994, with transesophageal color doppler echocardiography that is becoming a valuable and precise tool wich can be used in emergency room. Bentall type composite repair or modified Bentall technique has been possible in 37 patients, while in the remaning 75, surgical aortic repair has been achieved by interposition of a dacron vascular prosthesis. Cardiac procedures that were performed in addition were coronary bypass grafthing, resuspension of the aortic valve, AVR. Total arch replacement with reimplantation of brachiocephalic vessels were performed in 6 patients and partial in 10, when intimal tear extended into the arc. Thirthythree in hospital deaths (29.4%) occurred (15 in S.O. and 18 in UCI). Follow up of the hospital survivors was conducted at a mean postoperative interval of 55 months (range 2 to 149 months with 6 late death related to aortic dissection). Our experience shows an increased incidence hypertension and aortic atherosclerosis, compared with marfan's syndrome as a source of acute aortic dissection in the late years, transesophageal echocardiography is a excellent tool for aortic dissection but it may miss dissection localized in other aortic portion, the need of an individualized and conservative surgical approach tailored to the pathology encountered.

Left ventricular free wall rupture is a catastrophic complication of acute myocardial infarction and prognosis will depend on the prompt diagnosis by echocardiography, extension of infarct size and prompt surgical treatment. From november 1984, 21 patients (14 M, 7 F, mean age 68.4 +/- 6 years) underwent emergency operation at our Institution. Surgical technique included resection of necrotic or scarred myocardium and repair by Teflon strips-reinforced sutures, or by patching with Dacron or autologous pericardium. Associated procedures were LV aneurysmectomy, CABG, LV endoaneurysmorraphy and mitral valve replacement. Hospital mortality was 33% (7/17 pts). The postoperative course was prolonged in one patient, who needed hemodialysis and in 5 patients who needed IAPB counterpulsation. The mean length of stay in UCI was 3-10 days. Mean follow up is 70.4 +/- 41 months and 3 patients died of non cardiac related death. We conclude that despite high hospital mortality, satisfactory results may be obtained by surgical repairy under emergency condition, with good-long term survival, depending on prompt diagnosis and infarct size extension.

Great advances in surgical techniques, perfusion technology and cardiac anesthesia have made heart surgery safer. However, the mayor advance over the past 15 years has been in the field of myocardial protection. Much remains to be done in this field and there is not complete agreement about the different methods of myocardial protection. At the Institute of Cardiac Surgery of Parma a research is developing to concern three different cardioprotective strategies, of which preliminary results are showing. Three groups of patients with the same clinical, surgical, anesthesiological features, who underwent cardiac surgery have been selected. In patients of group A intermittent cold hyperkalemic crystalloid cardioplegia has been used, in those of group B intermittent cold blood cardioplegia and in those of group C intermittent cold blood cardiolegia associated a warm glucose blood cardioplegic reperfusion before aortic unclamping. In all patients enzyme levels (CPK; CPK-MB; LHD; SGOT; SGPT) were measured 12, 24, 72, 120 hours postoperatively; data were collected, also, on spontaneous return to sinus rhythm, perioperative myocardial infarction and the need or not for inotropic agents. All data at first and then those of patients who underwent only coronary rivascularization (75% of patients) were statistically analyzed (one-way Fischer's test). It appears that the use of antegrade cold intermittent blood cardioplegia with reperfusion is more optimal for myocardial protection, how show lower levels of CPK-MB especially in the first postoperative period. In group C remains greater spontaneous resumption of normal sinus rhythm compare to group A and this suggests a best preservation of cellula-integrity and function with use of blood cardioplegia.

We report a case of a 74 old man presenting unstable angina and history of previous myocardial infarction. Coronary angiography showed significant stenoses of the left main and right coronary arteries and saccular aneurysm of the left anterior descending coronary artery. The patient underwent surgical treatment consisting in coronary artery bypass grafts and aneurysm resection. This procedure appears indicated, in author's opinion, when coronary aneurysm is saccular as in the described case.

Particular interest was given to 61 cases of aneurysm and all possible risks and failures of the surgical procedures were discussed. The importance of how diagnostic, technical and instrumental investigations greatly improved therapy was emphasized. The largest group of patients investigated statistically was composed of patients suffering from acute aortic dissection. Emphasis was put on how modern diagnostic technology resulted in a faster and safe procedure, keeping in mind, however, that many severe cases were still unsuccessful. With regard to traumatic lesions of the aorta, typical of young patients, the importance of a complete clinical and surgical approach was stressed in order to treat the visceral and scheletral lesions that are often present.

1. We tested the novel thiazole derivative, amthamine, for its ability to stimulate histamine H2-receptors in the human myocardium. 2. Experiments were carried out on isolated, electrically-driven pectinate muscle segments, excised from atrial appendages of patients undergoing corrective heart surgery. 3. Amthamine (0.3-100 microM) induced a positive inotropic activity, resembling histamine in terms of potency and efficacy. In comparison, impromidine was 10-30 times more active than histamine and amthamine, but its maximum effect was significantly lower, while dimaprit was as effective as histamine, but 10 times less potent. 4. The selective histamine H2-blocker, famotidine antagonized in a competitive fashion the amthamine-induced positive inotropic effect. pA2 value of famotidine against amthamine (7.21 +/- 0.45) was close to that measured against histamine (6.88 +/- 0.31) in the same conditions. 5. The effect of amthamine was not modified by beta-adrenoceptor blockade, excluding direct or indirect sympathomimetic activities of the compound. 6. These data provide evidence that amthamine is a selective and full acting histamine H2-receptor agonist in the human heart in vitro.

We describe the case of a patient with large posteroinferior left ventricular aneurysm following myocardial infarction. Contrast ventriculography, Doppler echocardiography, as well as radionuclide angiography indicated a small orifice that was in communication with the ventricular cavity. These data suggested the presence of left ventricular pseudoaneurysm. Thus a short-term surgical intervention was performed, but the diagnosis was not confirmed by surgical observation; indeed the presence of a true aneurysm was demonstrated. Our study confirms the diagnostic difficulties by invasive and non invasive techniques in the precise identification of postinfarct pseudoaneurysm. This observation suggests the remarkable interest of our radionuclide ventriculographic results, not usually observed. Thus, we point out the possibilities of several nuclear cardiology imaging in the study of diagnostic problems concerning the analysis of these conditions of myocardial pathology.

In this work have been reported the results about surgical treatment of 15 patients with massive pulmonary thromboembolism, treated with or without extracorporeal circulation. Despite the importance of drug therapy, surgical embolectomy has still mandatory indications that in Author's opinion could be much more extended.

The contractile effect of endothelin-2 was investigated in isolated human saphenous vein preparations. Spare segments taken from revascularized patients were set up in isolated organ chambers and mechanical activity was recorded under isometric conditions. Endothelin-2 (10(-11)-10(-7) M) evoked a dose-dependent contractile response, having the same efficacy as noradrenaline and 100 times its potency. Conversely, the "selective" ETB agonist, C-terminal hexapeptide endothelin (16-21), was completely ineffective. The activity of endothelin-2 was not modified by phentolamine, saralasin and indomethacin, thus excluding a direct or indirect activation of alpha-adrenoceptors and angiotensin receptors as well as the synthesis of cyclooxygenase products. Calcium removal from nutrient fluid depressed, but not fully abolished, the contractile effect of endothelin-2; furthermore, calcium channel blockers, verapamil and nifedipine, produced only a partial inhibition of the endothelin-2-induced contractions. These observations suggest that endothelin-2 induces a direct activation of specific receptors in the saphenous vein muscle and that both intracellular and extracellular calcium pools may be involved in the contractile effect of the peptide.

After a brief description of the intraoperative angioplasty technique carried out together with direct revascularization through bypass with venous segments or with internal mammary (IMA) we hereby report the immediate and mid-term results obtained in 18 patients with this treatment. The simplicity of execution, having the possibility to operate on still heart and under the direct vision of the lesion the rareness of any complication, the fact that the coronary segment is open also during all checks done after 3 years from the treatment, and finally the considerable improvement in clinical symptomatology, lead the authors to consider this therapeutical succession possible in some selected cases, for which surgical operation is necessary.

The contemporaneous surgical treatment of coronary and vascular disease is still controversial. In the attempt to bring our contribution at this chapter, we present a case series of 69 patients, among 2149 operated on myocardial revascularization between January 1982 and December 1990, submitted simultaneously to aortocoronary bypass and vascular procedures, i.e. carotid endarterectomy or limbs' revascularization. The immediate and late results achieved through the combined surgical approach have shown a mortality slightly greater than the staged procedure. However, the absence of neurological or abdominal complication and the improvement in term of survival and life's quality encourage us to continue with this surgical strategy, whenever the clinical status of the patients and the pathological aspect of the lesions permit it.

In order to minimize the need of homologous blood transfusion during cardiac surgery four different blood sparing methods have been tested in four groups of patients. In 62 patients (group A) blood from operative field has been collected and processed by the Autotrans (Dideco (R)) apparatus. Intraoperative autotransfusion has been performed in 50 patients (group B). Prostacyclin (Pgh2) has been administered to 36 patients (group C), starting before systemic heparinization, and continuing during extracorporeal circulation. Standard techniques have been employed in a control group of 84 patients (group D). The following parameters have been examined: preoperative blood counts; length of extracorporeal circulation postoperative bleeding (including I.C.U); homologous blood volume transfused; and only in group A the mean number of blood units collected. Significant reduction of bank-blood consumption has been achieved only in B group (intraoperative autotransfusion) while in the remaining groups blood saving was not statistically significant.