Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R A Albus.
A diversity of techniques for delayed closure of the sternum have been advocated for management of hypotension due to cardiac compression after cardiopulmonary bypass. A simple technique utilizing materials readily available in any operating room has been described. It provides for expansion of the cardiac space and sterile coverage of the mediastinum when the skin cannot be approximated.
Two hundred nine children with congenital heart defects characterized by excessive pulmonary blood flow underwent pulmonary artery banding at The Hospital for Sick Children from January, 1972, through December, 1982. The indications for banding, rather than complete repair, varied with the type of cardiac defect as well as with the year of presentation to our hospital. A simplified method of estimating required band circumference has been developed for infants with ventricular septal defect, with or without major intracardiac mixing disorders. Infants with simple defects without intracardiac bidirectional mixing disorders receive a band at a circumference of 20 mm + 1 mm for each kilogram of body weight, whereas infants with bidirectional mixing disorders receive a band at a circumference of 24 mm + 1 mm for each kilogram of body weight. The overall operative mortality varies with the underlying cardiac defect and with associated medical conditions but is relatively low in the less-complicated cases. The use of a formula to predict a starting band circumference, with loosening only as required by cyanosis or bradycardia, allows predictable control of congestive symptoms and pulmonary hypertension in the majority of infants. The cumbersome measurement of pulmonary artery pressure and the unpredictable changes in pressure during anesthesia are avoided. Pulmonary artery banding remains an effective means of achieving satisfactory palliation in infants with congenital heart disease and excessive pulmonary blood flow.
A neonate had paralysis of the right hemidiaphragm secondary to brachial plexus birth trauma. Conventional diaphragmatic plication, performed on two separate occasions, failed to correct the ventilatory impairment, and mechanical ventilatory dependence persisted. Ventilatory insufficiency was subsequently corrected by total replacement of the right hemidiaphragm with Marlex mesh. This procedure ablated paradoxical motion of the right hemidiaphragm and arrested detrimental shifts of the mobile infantile mediastinum. The good result was immediate and long-lasting; there was no major prosthesis-related growth deformity 31/2 years later. Prosthetic fixation of the paralyzed diaphragm is not indicated as a primary procedure, but should be reserved for the occasional patient in whom conventional plication has failed.
There is a tendency to equate left main (LM) and left main equivalent (LME) coronary artery disease in terms of the surgical risk and benefit. Eighty-seven patients with LM disease were compared to 78 patients with LME disease as to operative mortality rate and long-term benefits. One hundred percent follow-up was obtained. Although the two groups were similar preoperatively with regard to age, sex, and ventricular function, the operative results in the two groups differed. There was a significantly higher operative mortality rate in the LM group of patients (12.6% versus 2.5%). However, the incidence of graft patency and relief of symptoms was lower in the LME group of patients. The late mortality rate was 4% in both groups. LME disease appears to represent a subgroup of patients with three-vessel disease and cannot be equated with LM disease.