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Biomedical subjects

J C Callaghan

Publications and source records attributed to J C Callaghan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Antimicrobial prophylaxis for open heart operations.

Between 1986 and 1988, 450 adults undergoing coronary artery bypass, cardiac valve replacement, or both were enrolled into a prospective, randomized, comparative trial of cephalothin versus cefamandole as perioperative prophylaxis. They were assessed during their hospitalization and at 6 weeks and 6 months after discharge for postoperative infectious complications. Eleven patients had major postoperative infections including 5 with sternal wound infections (three bacteremic), 6 with bacteremia, 1 with prosthetic valve endocarditis, and 3 with severe venous donor graft site infections. Eight major infections occurred in patients receiving cephalothin prophylaxis and three in patients receiving cefamandole, with all five sternal wound infections occurring in the cephalothin group. Postoperative pathogens responsible for the major infections included gram-negative aerobes in 5 patients, Staphylococcus aureus in 4, and Staphylococcus epidermidis in 2. Preoperative colonizing staphylococcal isolates were not predictive of postoperative staphylococcal pathogens. Although there was no statistically significant difference in rate of major postoperative infectious complications using either cephalothin or cefamandole prophylaxis, there was a trend in favor of cefamandole. Gram-negative aerobes are becoming increasingly important pathogens in this setting.

Aged

Transiliac bypass for infected femoral end of an aortofemoral graft.

Infection of an aortofemoral fabric graft is among the most serious complications of vascular surgery and necessitates removal of the graft. The authors chose a transosseal (iliac bone) approach to permit a new graft to be carried down to the periphery without the risk of contamination or pressure on it from the patient's position. They performed this procedure in a 71-year-old man. He underwent a transiliac bypass before the infected limb of an aortobifemoral graft was removed. He was well 11 months after the operation and the graft was functioning well with no evidence of infection.

Aged

Six year clinical study of use of the Omniscience valve prosthesis in 219 patients.

A 6 year experience of cardiac valve replacement with the Omniscience prosthesis is described. A total of 253 valves were inserted in 219 patients. The survivors were followed up for a total of 536 patient-years and for a mean of 2.8 years. The follow-up was 97.6% complete. Analyses were performed in accordance with recommended criteria regarding definitions of complications and grading thromboembolic events for severity and analysis of anticoagulant status. Results are described both in terms of actuarial and linearized rates. For the patients at risk, actuarial survival at the end of 5 years was 87.9 +/- 3.1% overall, 90.4 +/- 3.0% for single valve (aortic 88 +/- 5%, mitral 93.3 +/- 4%) replacement and 71 +/- 11% for multiple valve replacement. The actuarial rates of freedom from complications were as follows: endocarditis 95.7 +/- 1.8% (aortic 94 +/- 3.5%, mitral 100%), periprosthetic leak 98 +/- 1% (aortic 96.2 +/- 2.6%, mitral 100%), thromboembolism 95.2 +/- 2.3% (aortic 90.9 +/- 4.6%, mitral 96.7 +/- 3.3%), valve thrombosis 98.7 +/- 0.9% (aortic 100%, mitral 100%), anticoagulant-induced bleeding 90.3 +/- 2.6% and all valve-related complications 79.4 +/- 3.6% (aortic 78.8 +/- 3.6%, mitral 85.9 +/- 4.5%). The functional improvement in patients was very satisfactory and the risk of reoperation was 1.1% per patient-year. Over a 6 year time frame, the Omniscience valve has given excellent clinical performance.

Actuarial Analysis

Coronary artery bypass in patients under 40 years of age.

Coronary artery bypass surgery was performed in 92 patients, ranging in age from 20 to 40 years. The male-to-female ratio was 5:1. The operative mortality was 3.3%. Sixty-two patients were followed up for a mean of 3.5 years. Complete relief of angina was reported by 79% of patients and an additional 10% experienced some improvement. The survival rate at 3.5 years was 97%. The results favour myocardial revascularization in young adults.

Adult

Extended aortic bypass.

At the University of Alberta Hospital, six patients recently underwent placement of Dacron bypass grafts from the ascending aorta to the infrarenal abdominal aorta or femoral arteries for a variety of vascular problems. The operations were performed in patients with (1) multiple aortic coarctations, (2) congenital aortic arch interruption and congenital mitral stenosis, (3) recoarctation of the thoracic aorta after previous coaractation repair (two patients), (4) aortoiliac occlusive disease in a patient with multiple previous abdominal operations including an abdominal-perineal resection and left lower quadrant colostomy, and (5) idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis and multiple previous operations on the abdominal aorta. Surgical access was through midline sternotomy and laparotomy incisions, and groin incisions were used as required. Careful attention was paid to placing as much graft as possible in an extraperitoneal position. All patients survived the operation and had essentially uneventful postoperative courses with good results. This technique has previously been described. However, attention is drawn to it once again as an excellent means of bypassing the thoracic and abdominal aorta in selected patients with complex vascular problems.

Adult

Hypothermic coronary perfusion for myocardial protection during aortocoronary bypass.

Numerous methods have been used in an attempt to prevent myocardial injury that results from the interruption of aortic flow during cardiac operations. The authors describe a relatively simple means of inducing cardioplegia during coronary bypass surgery by coronary perfusion with cold lactated Ringer's solution through the aortic root. When the results following the employment of hypothermic coronary perfusion for intraoperative cardioplegia were compared with those obtained without its use, the procedure was found to confer a degree of intraoperative myocardial protection and appeared to lead to a decrease in intraoperative myocardial infarction, subendocardial ischemia and intraoperative mortality.

Coronary Artery Bypass

Myocardial protection during aortic valve replacement: normothermia versus hypothermia.

The operative results in 32 patients who underwent aortic valve replacement with aortic occlusion and normothermic myocardium (group 1) were compared with 54 similar patients in whom the myocardium was protected by hypothermic coronary perfusion through the aortic root (group 2). The operative mortality and the incidence of heart failure, subendocardial ischemia and myocardial infarction were the same in the two groups. The maximal concentrations of cardiac enzymes after operation in group 2 patients were significantly lower than those in group 1. The postoperative cardiac performance was significantly different in that only 5.6% of group 2 patients required inotropic agents after operation compared with 25% of group 1 patients. The patients in group 2 were easier to defibrillate after cardiopulmonary bypass.

Adult

Survival after late disc dislodgement of a mitral Wada-Cutter prosthesis.

A 33-year-old woman, 6 years after placement of a Wada-Cutter prosthesis, suffered from free mitral regurgitation secondary to the dislodgement of the disc occulder into the left atrium. She was operated on approximately 14 hours after the onset of symptoms and survived; this patient is the third reported survivor following dislodgement of a Wada disc.

Adult

Hypothermic coronary perfusion for intraoperative cardioplegia.

Hypothermic asanguineous perfusion has been used to arrest 170 hearts at the beginning of 1/2 to 2 hours of intraoperative coronary ischemia. This method of producing cardioplegia has facilitated valve replacement and coronary artery bypass operations. Inadequate myocardial protection has not been experienced since we began using this method of arresting the heart for cardiac operations.

Adult

Long-term survival after tricuspid valve replacement. Results with seven different prostheses.

The experience with tricuspid valve replacement (TVR) with seven different prostheses, alone or combined with replacement of other valves, in 73 patients (64 rheumatic and nine nonrheumatic) between 1964 and March, 1975, at the University of Alberta Hospital has been reviewed. Early and late mortality rates in rheumatic patients were 41 and 23 percent, respectively (36 percent being alive after a mean of 5.6 years), compared to 33 and 11 percent, respectively, in the nonrheumatic patients (56 percent being alive after a mean of 2 years). Of all survivors, 88 percent were functionally improved. Among the rheumatic patients: (1) 88 percent had organic tricuspid disease; (2) of the 39 patients with tricuspid insufficiency who underwent corrective mitral surgery 7 years before TVR, the tricuspid insufficiency had progressed over the 7 years; (3) the number of patients with tricuspid insufficiency had increased (39 versus 59) over the same 7 year period; (4) a high early mortality rate was encountered in those who were preoperatively in New York Heart Association (N.Y.H.A.) Class IV, or who had cardiomegaly, or pulmonary hypertension, or poor ventricular function, or organic disease, or reoperation; (5) the percentages of survivors with different prostheses were: Starr-Edwards, 31 percent; Beall-Surgitool, 14 percent; Kay-Shiley, 46 percent, Björk-Shiley, 50 percent; Lillehei-Kaster, 100 percent; Cutter-Smeloff and Wada-Cutter, nil. Among the nonrheumatic patients, two with the Cutter-Smeloff, two with the Beall-Surgitool, and one with the Lillehei-Kaster were alive after 14, 37, and 15 months, respectively. Among all survivors of TVR, late thrombus and pannus developed on both ball and disc prostheses (Starr-Edwards, two; Cutter-Smeloff, one; Lillehei-Kaster, one). These findings suggest that TVR should be performed earlier in rheumatic patients to reduce the operative mortality rate and that the Lillehei-Kaster prosthesis is probably most suitable for TVR.

Adolescent

Surgical treatment of Ebstein's anomaly.

Neither the role of surgery in Ebstein's anaomaly nor the surgical procedure of choice for its correction are clearly defined. Whether or not the artrialized right ventricle, which plays a major role in the functional abnormalities, should be obliterated in all cases remains unresolved. Of the 26 patients with Ebstein's anomaly seen at the University Hospital between 1953 and 1975, four were treated surgically at this center. All had closure of the atrial septal defect, reconstruction of a tricuspid annulus in the normal position, and insertion of a tricuspid prosthesis and an epicardial ventricular pacemaker. The two patients who also had the atrialized chamber obliterated improved dramatically. Thus, obliteration of the atrialized right ventricle appears to be associated with a better operative result.

Adolescent

Accidental pneumatic rupture of the esophagus.

A case of accidental pneumatic rupture of the thoracic esophagus in a 6-year-old boy is reported. Early operation with transthoracic esophageal repair resulted in survival of the patient, and follow-up at 18 months has demonstrated normal esophageal function and anatomy. A search of the literature has yielded 11 similar cases.

Child

Long-term survival after isolated replacement of mitral valve with ball-valve prosthesis.

In 111 patients whose diseases mitral valve was replaced with a ball-valve prosthesis the actuarial survival rate, including the hospital mortality of 10.8%, was 66% after 5 years and 59% after 8 years of follow-up. This suggests that in patients with moderate or severe symptoms due to mitral valve disease, replacing the valve can prolong life. However, in patients with no cardiac symptoms or with sinus rhythm and mild symptoms, it is doubtful that mitral valve replacement can prolong life, for the prognosis in these patients is favourable without operation.

Female

Experience with the radial artery graft for coronary artery bypass.

Forty-eight radial artery grafts and 22 saphenous vein grafts in 37 patients undergoing coronary bypass procedures were studied early postoperatively. Most of the saphenous vein grafts were patent, but one-half of the radial artery grafts were occluded. Failure of the radial artery grafts could not be attributed to unfavorable runoff in the recipient vessels. Radial arteries carrying higher flows and those to vessels having more severe degrees of proximal stenosis occluded with a higher frequency. The radial artery should not be used for coronary bypass.

Aged

Long-term survival after aortic valve replacement using Smeloff-Cutter prosthesis.

The long-term prognosis of 187 consecutive patients who received single aortic valve replacement using Smeloff-Cutter prosthesis was studied. Of the 163 patients who survived the operation, a long-term follow-up (up to eight years) was obtained in 153 patients (95%). A total of 34 patients (22%) died during the follow-up period. Including the hospital mortality, the actuarial survival rate of our patients with Smeloff-Cutter prosthesis was 0.69 after the fifth year and 0.611 after the eighth year of follow-up. This is similar to the actuarial survival rate of patients with Starr-Edwards prosthesis but it appears significantly better than the expected survival rate of symptomatic patients with aortic stenosis treated without surgery. Thus, this result supports the contention that aortic valve surgery in properly selected patients can prolong life expectancy in addition to relieving symptoms in patients with aortic valve disease. The majority of surviving patients reported to have improved (88%) since the operation and to be symptom free (82%).

Aortic Valve