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Hybrid myocardial revascularization combines coronary surgery with percutaneous intervention as an alternative therapy for ischemic heart disease. The order and sequence of the hybrid approach is not yet clearly defined. We report on the benefits of an enhanced surgical suite equipped with a carbon fiber operating table and digital C-arm for robotic-assisted hybrid revascularization in a single operative sequence. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of concurrent robotic-assisted hybrid revascularization utilizing an enhanced operative suite.

Background: Pressure to expand the donor pool has required the use of lungs from older donors or from more-distant procurement areas. The long-term consequences of this policy have not yet been fully addressed. The effect of donor age and donor ischemic time on intermediate survival and important secondary end points after lung transplantation was therefore examined., Methods: A cohort of 1,800 lung transplant recipients with complete 2-year follow-up, operated on in the United States between April 1, 1993, and March 31, 1996, was studied to assess survival. For analysis of secondary end points, the cohort was limited to 1,450 patients., Results: Donor age when analyzed independently did not significantly affect intermediate survival (p = 0.4). Secondary end points were also not affected by age, with the exception of the incidence of hospitalization for rejection in the univariate analysis (p = 0.02) and in the multivariate analysis (p = 0.04). Moreover, there was not a significant impact of donor age or ischemic time independently on survival in the multivariate analysis. Similarly, when the interaction between ischemic time and donor age was examined in all of the multivariate models, none of the secondary end points were found to be significantly influenced. However, the combined interaction between donor age and ischemia time demonstrated a significantly worse survival at 2 years (p = 0.02) with donor age of > 50 years and donor ischemic time > 7 h., Conclusions: Donor age and donor ischemic time did not independently influence survival or important secondary end points after lung transplantation. However, intermediate-term survival was affected by the use of older donors when combined with a prolonged ischemic time. The impact of this combination should be considered when attempting to expand the donor pool.

The efficacy of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) as an adjunct to narcotic medications for the management of postoperative pain was assessed in a prospective, randomized, controlled study of patients following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery with the right or left internal thoracic artery (ITA). Forty-five male patients (mean age, 57 +/- 6 years) were randomly assigned to (1) TENS, (2) placebo TENS, or (3) control treatments (n = 15 each), following extubation and during the 24- to 72-h postoperative period. Two-way analysis of variance tests indicated no significant differences among treatment groups for (1) pain with cough, (2) narcotic medication intake, (3) FVC, (4) FEV1, and (5) PEFR (p > 0.05). However, pain at rest reported by the TENS group was significantly lower than that reported by the control group (treatment main effect; p < 0.04), although no significant differences were observed between the TENS and placebo or between the placebo and control groups (p > 0.05). All six criterion measures were characterized by significant changes over time for the entire group (n = 45; time main effect; p < 0.01), as follows: pain and medication intake were similar on days 1 and 2, but were significantly less on day 3, and pulmonary functions were significantly lower than preoperatively on day 1, decreased further on day 2, and despite an improvement on day 3, remained significantly lower than preoperative values (p < 0.01). This study suggests that the addition of TENS, applied continuously during the immediate postoperative period following CABG with ITA, may not be advantageous in pain management or the prevention of pulmonary dysfunction.

A case control study was performed to determine whether previous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) insertion adversely affects outcome after heart transplantation. Six male heart transplant recipients who had undergone ICD insertion 12 +/- 5 months before heart transplantation were compared to a cohort of six heart transplant recipients who were matched according to age, preoperative status and hemodynamics, date of transplantation, graft ischemic time, history of a previous cardiac operation, and duration of follow-up. There were no significant differences in operating room time, chest tube drainage, time to extubation, and the duration of intensive care unit or hospital stay between the two groups. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in the number of units of packed cells, fresh frozen plasma, platelets and cryoprecipitate transfused. The number of treated rejection episodes and the number of patients requiring intravenous antibiotics for infection in the first 90 days was identical between groups. It was concluded that heart transplantation after ICD implantation did not appear to carry more risk than heart transplantation after a previous cardiac operation. Our limited experience supports the potential use of the ICD in patients with life-threatening ventricular dysrhythmias who are awaiting transplantation.

An unusual case of Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis confined to the mural left atrium is presented. Echocardiographic studies revealed a 1.5 x 2.0-cm vegetation mimicking a myxoma situated in the path of a mitral regurgitant jet on a color Doppler test. Emboli to upper and lower extremities and brain complicated the patient's preoperative course. Surgical excision and pathologic examination confirmed this rare occurrence.

To reduce perioperative hemorrhage following heart-lung transplantation, several technical modifications were introduced in June 1988 to secure better posterior mediastinal hemostasis. The intraoperative and postoperative use of blood and blood products, as well as the chest tube drainage in the first 24 hours postoperatively, were compared in the seven patients operated on since June 1988 with the nine patients operated on before that date. Significant (p less than 0.05) reductions were demonstrated in the intraoperative and postoperative transfusion of packed cells, in the postoperative administration of fresh frozen plasma, and in the chest tube drainage within the first 24 hours postoperatively. The one-month and total hospital mortality rates were 6 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively. It is concluded that newer techniques to obtain optimal posterior mediastinal hemostasis have significantly reduced blood loss following heart-lung transplantation in our experience and have contributed to our excellent early postoperative results.