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E Vaissier

Publications and source records attributed to E Vaissier.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

[Video-surgery for pericardial effusion. Technique and results].

Videosurgery is a relatively non-invasive method of draining the pericardium by the creation of a pleuropericardial window. It provides an excellent view of the thoracic cavity and allows selection of pericardial and pleural, pulmonary or mediastinal biopsy sites. The authors report their preliminary results with this technique. Between May 1994 and May 1995, 22 patients with pericardial effusions were operated by videosurgery at the Pitié Hospital. None of the patients had clinical signs of tamponade. The technique consists in introducing, through 2 or 3 thoracic incisions of 15 mm, trocarts allowing passage of an endoscopic camera and different surgical instruments. Access to the thoracic cavity enabled assessment of the pleura, evacuation of pleural effusions (n = 8) and biopsy of pleural nodules (n = 2). One pulmonary biopsy was performed. Opening the pericardium enabled evacuation of pericardial effusions averaging 622 ml. Pericardial biopsies showed appearances suggesting tuberculosis (n = 2), lupic vasculitis (n = 1) and post-radiation pericarditis (n = 1). In other cases, a histologic diagnosis of non-specific pericarditis was made. A biopsy of a pleural nodule showed undifferentiated carcinoma in one case. A pulmonary biopsy revealed the presence of relatively undifferentiated carcinoma. There were no complications related to the technique. There was one recurrence of pericardial effusion at one month in a patient with carcinoma of the lung who had previously had subxiphoid drainage. There were no cases of secondary pericardial constriction. Therefore, videosurgery is a relatively non-invasive and effective technique of pericardial drainage and biopsy. When there is no emergency, it is probably the method of choice in the treatment and diagnosis of pericardial effusions.

Adult↗

Extra-annular procedures in the surgical management of prosthetic valve endocarditis.

Severe acute endocarditis can be associated with major destruction of the annulus. Meticulous surgical debridement of friable necrotic material is always necessary and major damage to the annulus of the valve may impair secure seating of the prosthesis. Extra-annular implantation of a prosthesis may be a life-saving procedure when annular implantation is impossible. Between 1978 and 1989, 36 patients underwent extra-annular complex procedures for annular abscesses. The infection involved the aortic prosthesis and the annulus in 22 patients, and the mitral prosthesis and the annulus in 14 patients. In cases of aortic root abscess, a subcoronary valved graft (11 patients), a supracoronary valved conduit (ten patients) or a left ventricle-abdominal aorta valved conduit (one patient) were implanted. In cases of mitral valve endocarditis with extensive annular abscess, intra-atrial insertion of a mitral prosthesis was performed. In such cases, repair of the aortic root with a valved conduit or intra-atrial implantation of a mitral valvular prosthesis can be life saving and can be expected to give excellent long-term results.

Abscess↗

[Infectious complication after lung transplantation for cystic fibrosis].

The infectious complications after lung transplantation have been studied in 26 patients suffering from mucoviscidosis who had transplants in the Ile-de-France between July 1987 and October 1990. We counted 99 infections (74 bacterial infections, 23 viral infections and two fungal infections) during a cumulative observation period of 127 months. The majority of the infections (48%) were localised to the grafted lung. These infections were responsible for 61% of deaths (50% secondary to bacterial infections and 11% to viral infections). The risk of infection remains even after a considerable time after transplantation in this series. These studies underline the importance of infectious complications in the mortality and morbidity of lung transplant patients suffering from mucoviscidosis.

Adolescent↗

Chronic disease of the ascending aorta. Surgical treatment and long-term results.

Between January 1979 and December 1991, we operated on 339 patients for chronic disease of the ascending aorta. The operation was elective in all. Endocarditis and its sequelae have been excluded. Thirty-one patients had a previous operation on the ascending aorta or the aortic valve; 268 patients had aneurysms of the ascending aorta without dissection; 72 had chronic aortic dissections, of whom 33 had a preexistent aneurysm. The patients included 272 men and 67 women. Mean age was 53.58 +/- 7 years. Eight percent of the patients had clinical stigmata of Marfan's disease. A tubular graft replacement was used in 7 patients, a tubular graft and valve replacement in 72 patients, and a composite valve graft replacement with reattachment of the coronary arteries using a 8 mm Dacron graft was performed in 260 patients. Concomitant procedures were used in 74 patients: coronary artery bypass grafts in 25, mitral valve replacement in 9, and aortic arch reconstruction in 40. The 30-day mortality rate was 7.6% (n = 26). For the whole group, multivariate analysis using stepwise logistic regression showed that operative risk factors were concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting, age (increased), aortic valve regurgitation, and previous cardiac surgery. Follow-up was conducted in 303 patients, and risk factors for late mortality were studied. Long-term survival was 59.6% +/- 3.7% at 9 years. It was 67% +/- 3.5% at 9 years for patients without aortic arch reconstruction and 56% +/- 4.5% for patients with aortic arch reconstruction (p = 0.0018). Reoperation was needed in 14 patients. Actuarial freedom from reoperation was 90% +/- 0.2% at 9 years for all the patients. Only one patient with composite valve graft replacement and reattachment of the coronary arteries had required reoperation for problems related to this procedure. This technique is used routinely by our team, especially in patients with large chronic aneurysms, dissected or not, and in those who had previous operations. The long-term results are good.

Aortic Dissection↗

Heart transplantation: update.

Clinical application of heart transplantation goes beyond 25 years experience. The main indications for cardiac transplantation remain idiopathic cardiomyopathies and ischemic diseases. To obtain a suitable donor has become progressively more difficult due to the increase of transplants performed and the shortage of donors. Advances in the detection of early rejection, improved organ preservation procedures, and the introduction of new immunosuppressive therapy protocols have produced dramatic results in heart transplantation. Late graft atherosclerosis remains a serious threat despite retransplantation and, in some cases, mechanical cardiac support.

Adolescent↗

[Infectious complications of heart-lung transplantation].

This study describes the infectious complications in 68 heart-lung transplant patients. We focused interest on early post-transplant infections so called nosocomial pulmonary infections, their exacerbating cofactors their clinical expression, and elements of diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore we describe the principal infections seen during long-term followup, which are opportunist infections caused most often by immunosuppression: Cytomegalovirus infections have a high incidence with serious clinical consequences in heart-lung transplant patients. As well as pneumocystis carinii infections and fungal infections, such as aspergillosis.

Adolescent↗

Heart and heart-lung transplantation in the 1990s.

After 22 years of clinical application in our unit, heart transplantation is now an accepted therapeutic method. Its indications are well established, its surgical technique and post-operative control and treatment well defined, mostly due to better diagnosis of the rejection episodes with the aid of echocardiography and endomyocardial biopsy and the use of cyclosporin. The results are remarkable with a survival rate of 70% at 5 years, and a full rehabilitation into family, social and often professional life for almost all the survivors. Its use has dramatically changed the prognosis of patients with irreversible cardiac failure but underlines the lack of a sufficient number of donors' hearts. The heart-lung transplantation, making use of the progress of heart transplantation, has been used successfully since 1982 and for the first time in Europe by our group. Improvement in the selection of recipients, lung preservation, surgical technique and post-operative management have brought a new and real hope to patients not only irreversible cardiopulmonary lesions but also terminal pulmonary disease.

Heart Transplantation↗

[Immediate and long-term results of coronary surgery under age 40].

The results of coronary artery surgery in young adults have not been extensively studied. We analysed the results of 221 patients under 40 years of age operated between 1979 and 1989 at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. The patients were 200 men and 21 women with an average age of 36.2 years. The most common cardiovascular risk factors were smoking (69.6%) and hyperlipidaemia (52%). One hundred and eighteen patients (53.4%) had previous myocardial infarction (MI). Triple vessel disease was present in 129 cases, double vessel disease in 59 cases and single vessel disease in 33 cases. Twenty three patients had significant left main coronary disease. The number of bypass grafts per patient averaged 2.3. The operative mortality was 2.07% (6 cases), death being due to myocardial infarction in 4 cases. Perioperative myocardial infarction was diagnosed in 12 cases (5.05%). One hundred and ninety nine patients were followed up for an average of 7.4 years. Seven of the 17 late fatalities were of cardiac origin. The actuarial 9 year survival rate was 84%. Five patients were reoperated after an average of 6.4 years. Eighty five per cent of patients were asymptomatic at the last follow-up examination. In conclusion, the symptoms of coronary artery disease in young adults can be effectively treated with a low operative risk by myocardial revascularisation surgery. Long-term follow-up remains essential to define the outcome in these patients. Systematic use of internal mammary artery bypass grafting should improve these results in the future.

Adult↗

Surgical treatment of chronic aortic dissections.

Between January 1976 and March 1987, 78 patients underwent surgery for chronic aortic dissection at our institution. The ascending aorta was involved in 66 cases (Stanford type A) and was not involved in 12 cases (Stanford type B), wherever the initial dissection was suspected. Aortography remains the main preoperative investigation. The surgical technique varies according to the type of dissection. It seems essential to exclude the primary intimal tear and all dilated segments of the aorta must be replaced. The overall operative mortality was 11.5% (7.5% in type A, 33.3% in type B dissection). Sixty-three patients have been followed for a period varying between 6 months and 10 years (mean 5 years). The overall survival at 6 years is 60% +/- 5.6%. Because of the ultimate risk of aneurysmal dilatation of the false channel, these patients must be followed by CT scanning, colour flow Doppler echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging, and in some cases, aortography.

Aortic Dissection↗

Approach to advanced aortic root infection.

Among our first 11,620 cases of valvular replacement, we observed 285 cases of valvular endocarditis and 59 cases (20.7%) in which the importance of the infectious lesions of the aortic or mitral annulus required complex valvular repair. In 23 patients with aortic valvular endocarditis, the presence of an abcess of the aortic annulus required its closure with a patch resulting in one early and one late death and five reinterventions with one death. Twenty patients are alive and well, 1 to 9 years after operation. In 11 patients, the extent of annular abcesses required the insertion of a subcoronary valved conduit. After a maximum follow-up of 8 years there were two early deaths, two late deaths, one reoperation, and seven good results. Twelve patients had a supracoronary valved conduit resulting in four early deaths, one late death, and two reoperations; seven are alive and well, 2 to 6 years later. Three patients previously operated on had a left ventricular abdominal aorta valved conduit, two of them are alive and well up to 6 years later. Severe infectious lesions of the valvular rings (aortic root) can require complex repairs that can be lifesaving and provide excellent long-term results.

Abscess↗

[Results of thrombo-endarterectomy of chronic pulmonary embolism].

Between 1973 and 1987, 33 patients underwent pulmonary thromboendarterectomy for chronic pulmonary embolism. Twenty-six patients were in Class III of the NYHA Classification, 5 in Class IV with overt right ventricular failure and 2 in Class II. The average pO2 was 60 mmHg under basal conditions without oxygen therapy. The amputation of the pulmonary vascular tree was greater than 50 per cent in all patients. The average systolic pulmonary artery pressure was 70 mmHg. Twenty patients were operated by a lateral thoracotomy without CPB and 6 by sternotomy with CPB under normothermia with or without cardiac fibrillation. The later method avoids having to open the pleura and seemed to give better haemodynamic control. Interruption of the inferior vena cava was systematic in all cases. The global operative mortality was 20 per cent but this seemed to be less in the patients operated by sternotomy under normothermic CPB (no deaths in 6 patients). The authors consider that this technique should be studied in a larger series of patients. Eighteen patients are still being followed up; the clinical and scintigraphic and/or angiographic improvement is clearcut in the majority of cases.

Chronic Disease↗