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Biomedical subjects

Balram Airan

Publications and source records attributed to Balram Airan.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Histopathology and morphometry of radial artery conduits: basic study and clinical application.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the pathohistology, morphometry, and risk factors for the development of intimal hyperplasia, calcification, and arteriosclerosis in the radial artery and to compare the morphometry of the distal and proximal radial arteries. METHODS: A total of 190 proximal and distal radial artery specimens obtained from patients who underwent myocardial revascularization were exposed to histopathologic and morphometric analysis. The severity of disease was evaluated on the basis of the percentage of luminal narrowing, intimal thickness index, and intima-to-media ratio. RESULTS: Sixty-two proximal (32.6%) and 22 distal (11.5%) radial artery segments were indicated as histologically normal. Morphometric analysis (Z test) revealed a lesser degree of intimal hyperplasia and luminal narrowing in the proximal segments compared with the distal segments (p < 0.001). The incidence of intimal hyperplasia, medial calcification, and arteriosclerosis in the distal radial arteries was 76.3%, 6.3%, and 5.78%, respectively. Using multivariate logistic regression, we have identified three significant predictors for intimal hyperplasia. Expressed as an odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval, these included (i) age greater than 50 years (1.052; 1.000-1.106, p = 0.052), (ii) smoking (14.073; 5.293-37.414, p = 0.000), and (iii) hypertension (2.777; 1.171-6.583, p = 0.020). Factors associated with an increased likelihood of medial calcification and arteriosclerosis included a history of smoking, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, peripheral arterial disease, and chronic renal failure (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The great majority of radial artery conduits indicate preexisting intimal hyperplasia mostly affecting the distal portion. Therefore in cases of longer diseased segments of radial arteries, the discarded segments should be the distal end. Care should be taken when selecting radial artery as a conduit in myocardial revascularization, particularly in elderly males, diabetics, smokers, hypertensive patients, and in those with associated peripheral vascular disease.

Adult↗

Viable extracardiac total right heart bypass: technical considerations and mid-term results.

BACKGROUND: Direct connection of both caval veins to the pulmonary arterial system would be the ideal right heart bypass by virtue of elimination of prosthetic material and extensive atrial suture lines. However, it can be applied only to selected patients with peculiar anatomical arrangements. We decided to perform total extracardiac right heart bypass using pedicled in situ pericardium in situations when a direct connection was not possible. METHODS: A cohort of five patients, aged 3.5, 4, 10, 10 and 31 years, respectively, with complex cyanotic congenital heart diseases were candidated to extracardiac total cavopulmonary connection using viable in situ pericardium. Aortic cross-clamp was completely avoided in all patients. RESULTS: There was no early or late death. Postoperatively, all patients are in functional class I and in normal sinus rhythm at a mean follow-up of 30 months (S.D.=+/-19 months). Postoperative serial echocardiograms revealed wide, unrestricted anastomoses, unobstructed venous flow to both pulmonary arteries with cardiac pulsations and respiratory variations in the pulmonary arteries due to compressible lateral tunnel. Cavopulmonary angiograms (n=5) in late postoperative period have demonstrated a smooth, nonturbulent, somewhat pulsatile flow without pressure gradient. CONCLUSIONS: The technical advantages and haemodynamic benefits of this operation are encouraging. A longer follow-up is needed to confirm the early results, especially late atrial dysrrhythmias, pulmonary venous obstruction, thromboembolic complications and growth of the conduit.

Journal Article↗

Open mitral commissurotomy in the current era: indications, technique, and results.

BACKGROUND: The present retrospective study is focused on indications, techniques, and results of open mitral commisurotomy in the current era. METHODS: Of the 1,280 patients undergoing open-heart surgical procedures for rheumatic mitral stenosis between January 1990 and July 2000, 276 (21.6%) patients underwent open mitral commissurotomy. Major indications included presence of left atrial thrombus/clot (n = 82, 29.7%), severe subvalvular disease (n = 110, 39.8%), mitral valve calcification (n = 42, 15.2%), mild mitral regurgitation (n = 28, 10.0%), associated aortic valve disease (n = 55, 19.9%), organic tricuspid valve disease (n = 20, 7.2%), and failure or restenosis after closed or balloon mitral valvuloplasty (n = 55, 19.9%). Age of patients ranged from 7 to 67 years (mean, 30.2 +/- 12 years). The majority (76%) were in New York Heart Association class III or IV, and 6.9% were in congestive heart failure. Atrial fibrillation was present in 134 (48.6%) patients. Mitral valve area ranged from 0.3 to 0.7 cm2 (mean, 0.52 +/- 0.12 cm2). Mid-diastolic gradients across the mitral valve ranged from 8 to 34 mm Hg (mean, 14.5 +/- 6.2 mm Hg), and end-diastolic gradients ranged from 8 to 42 mm Hg (mean, 15.2 +/- 5.7 mm Hg). Open mitral commissurotomy was performed using standard cardiopulmonary bypass. Associated aortic valve procedure was performed in 55 patients, and either tricuspid valvotomy or repair was performed in 28 patients. RESULTS: There were four early deaths. All these patients had associated aortic valve procedure (Ross procedure in 2 and homograft aortic valve replacement in 2). Three patients developed severe mitral regurgitation in early postoperative period (< or = 30 days) and required reoperation. Predischarge echocardiography showed mitral valve area from 1.4 to 3.5 cm2 (mean, 2.6 +/- 0.6cm2) and moderate mitral regurgitation in 4 patients. Follow-up ranged from 1 to 130 months (mean, 64.5 +/- 28.6 months). There was no late death. There were three reoperations for mitral valve failure, and an additional 2 patients developed severe mitral stenosis (mitral valve area < 1.0 cm2). In operative survivors, freedom from mitral valve failure at 10 years was 87.0% +/- 3.5%. In patients with isolated open mitral commissurotomy, the incidence of thromboembolism was 0.5%/patient-year. CONCLUSIONS: Open mitral commissurotomy provides excellent early and long-term results in a selected group of patients.

Adolescent↗

Isolated idiopathic pulmonary artery aneurysm.

Aneurysm formation of the main pulmonary artery is rare. Its natural history is not well understood and there are no clear guidelines on optimal treatment. A 20-year-old woman with a huge saccular aneurysm of the main pulmonary artery, underwent repair with a pericardial patch and concomitant reconstruction of the pulmonary valve. The patient was doing well on follow-up at 6 months; echocardiography revealed a good repair with mild to moderate pulmonary regurgitation.

Adult↗

Redo mitral valve surgery-a long-term experience.

BACKGROUND: Our experience with reoperative mitral valve (MV) surgery over a 27-year period is presented here. METHODS: From January 1975 to June 2002, 11,908 operations were performed for MV disease. Out of these 744 were reoperations. The mean age at primary operation was 23.6 +/- 10.1 years (range 2 to 53 years) and at reoperation was 36.0 +/- 11.0 years (range 6 to 65 years) with a mean interval of 11.5 +/- 2.5 years. Mitral valve replacement (MVR) was performed following previous closed mitral valvotomy (CMV) in 408 patients, open mitral commissurotomy (OMC) in 21 patients, and MV repair in 58 patients, MVR in 80 patients, homograft mitral valve replacement (HMVR) in 11 patients. The reasons for reoperation were mainly progression of lesions. Valve thrombosis and endocarditis were indications for reoperation following MVR. Twenty-eight patients underwent redo CMV, 53 patients underwent OMC, and 14 patients underwent MV Repair. RESULTS: Early mortality was 5.64% (n = 42). Hemorrhage and low cardiac output were the major causes. Follow-up was 124.8 +/- 30.5 months (2 to 300 months). Follow-up was 88%. There were no late deaths in the valve repair group. There were three episodes of thromboembolism in this group (0.3% per patient-year). In the valve replacement group there were six late deaths; three due to valve thrombosis, one due to infective endocarditis, and two due to anticoagulant-related hemorrhage. There were 13 episodes of thromboembolism in this group (0.6% per patient-year). CONCLUSION: Redo MV surgery is safe and can be undertaken with acceptable mortality and morbidity.

Adolescent↗

Ventricular septal defect with congenital mitral valve disease: long-term results of corrective surgery.

BACKGROUND: A retrospective analysis of the mortality, morbidity and long-term follow-up of patients undergoing corrective surgery for ventricular septal defect and congenital mitral valve disease is presented. METHODS AND RESULTS: Between January 1991 and December 2000, 69 consecutive patients aged 2 months to 45 years (median 18 months) underwent repair of ventricular septal defect and associated mitral valve disease. In 52 patients (75%), the ventricular septal defects were located in the perimembranous and subarterial area. Forty-six patients had congenital mitral incompetence and 23 had congenital mitral stenosis. The ventricular septal defect was repaired through the right atrium in all. Sixty-five patients underwent reconstruction of the mitral valve and 4 underwent primary mitral valve replacement. Another 4 patients underwent mitral valve replacement after a failed repair. Associated procedures included: patent ductus arteriosus ligation (n=12), aortic valve replacement (n=6), coarctation repair (n=13), interrupted aortic arch repair (n=1), atrial septal defect closure (n=17) and Takeuchi repair (n=1). There were 6 early deaths (8.6%). Three deaths were due to pulmonary arterial hypertensive crisis and one due to residual mitral stenosis. One death was due to intractable congestive heart failure. Another patient died due to persistent low cardiac output. Follow-up ranged from 6 months to 120 months (mean 64.4+/-33.6 months). Reoperation was required in 22 patients, mainly for recurrent/residual mitral valve dysfunction or hemodynamically significant left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. There were 4 late deaths, 2 due to residual mitral stenosis and the other 2 as a result of a thrombosed prosthetic valve. At 10 years, the actuarial survival rate was 850+/-5.0%, and freedom from reoperation was 45%+/-10.0%. CONCLUSIONS: Reconstruction of the mitral valve along with closure of VSD is possible in most cases. However, careful follow-up is recommended to detect changes in the mitral valve status over a course of time.

Adolescent↗

Giant pulmonary artery aneurysm with right ventricular outflow tract obstruction.

Aneurysm of the main pulmonary artery is rare. Its natural history is not well understood and there are no clear guidelines regarding its optimal treatment. We present a case of a huge saccular aneurysm of the main pulmonary artery which was associated with infundibular and valvular pulmonary stenosis. It was repaired using a pericardial patch with concomitant pulmonary valvotomy and infundibular resection. Postoperative recovery was uneventful and the patient is doing well. Follow-up echocardiogram revealed good repair.

Aneurysm↗

Surgical outcome of staged univentricular-type repairs for patients with univentricular physiology and pulmonary hypertension.

BACKGROUND: There is no consensus about the most appropriate limits of pulmonary artery pressure and vascular resistance in case of patients undergoing univentricular or one and one-half ventricular repair. This study was conducted to analyze the mortality and morbidity of a heterogenous group of patients with a functionally univentricular heart and pulmonary artery hypertension, undergoing pulmonary artery banding followed by univentricular-type repairs. METHODS AND RESULTS: Out of 254 patients undergoing pulmonary artery banding for a functionally univentricular heart with increased pulmonary blood flow, 148 patients underwent definitive second stage surgery. Post-band hemodynamic evaluation revealed persistently high pulmonary artery pressure (> 18 mmHg), and pulmonary vascular resistance (>2.0 Woods units/m2) in 78.3% patients. Sixteen patients with moderate right ventricular hypoplasia were given a one and one-half ventricle repair (Group I), 82 patients a bidirectional Glenn connection (Group II), and 50 patients a fenestrated total cavopulmonary connection (Group III). The overall mortality following second stage surgery for the high pulmonary artery pressure group (n=116) was 30.17%, while none of the low pulmonary artery pressure group died (p=0.0009). Pulmonary hypertensive crises and/or systemic desaturation were the main causes of death at second stage repair. All mortality occurred in patients with mean pulmonary artery pressure > 18 mmHg and pulmonary vascular resistance > 3.5 Woods units/m2. Survivors from this group had persistent morbidity in the form of superior vena caval syndrome and suboptimal oxygen saturation (70-75%). CONCLUSIONS: It is advisable not to proceed with definitive second stage repair if post-pulmonary artery banding mean pulmonary artery pressure is over 25 mmHg and pulmonary vascular resistance exceeds 4.0 Woods units/m2. These patients may possibly be deemed to have undergone definitive palliation during their pulmonary artery banding.

Cardiac Surgical Procedures↗

Transatrial permanent pacing lead implantation in a patient of Ebstein's anomaly after one and half repair.

Several innovative approaches have been described to achieve endocardial pacing in patients with operated complex congenital heart diseases. We report herein a case of Ebstein's anomaly who underwent a Hardy's repair with a bidirectional Glenn shunt, tricuspid valve annuloplasty and atrial septal defect closure following which she developed complete heart block. The chest was reopened through the previous midsternotomy and a screw-in lead implanted transatrially that resulted in optimal pacing thresholds. This technique offers a viable alternative for endocardial pacing in peri-operative patients requiring permanent pacing.

Adult↗

Congestive heart failure in unoperated tetralogy of Fallot: can hypoxia be a cause?

A 10-year-old boy with tetralogy of Fallot and congestive heart failure underwent a right-sided modified Blalock-Taussig anastomosis because of severe biventricular dysfunction and repeated hypercyanotic spells. Postoperatively, there was improvement in systemic oxygen saturation and myocardial function. We postulate that congestive heart failure occurred because of severe myocardial hypoxia and its elimination resulted in markedly improved cardiac performance.

Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation↗