Cholesterol gallstones and aspirin.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Morán.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Aortic replacement is the treatment of choice and improves the natural history of dissections involving the ascending aorta. Forty patients (23 male), aged 49.4 years, have been operated at the hospital Clínico de la Universidad Católica. Twenty six presented with acute dissections. Angiography conformed the dissection in 63.3% and computed axial tomography in 84.6% of patients; lately, transesophageal echocardiography has become the most sensitive diagnostic method. Twenty three patients (57.5%) were subjected to emergency operations and 17 to semielective procedures. In 24 patients (60%) ascending aorta was replaced and in 16 a composite graft was used. Operative mortality was 27.5%. Univariate analysis showed that the period in which the operation was performed and the presence of limb ischemia were the only independent predictors of operative mortality. Long term follow up was achieved in 26 patients (89.6%). Actuarial 5 year survival without considering operative mortality was 87.9%. It is concluded that patients with acute dissections involving the ascending aorta should be operated as soon as the imaging diagnosis is complete and, since this is a palliative procedure, a close follow up is required for early detection of complications.
The natural course of post myocardial infarction ventricular septal defect is towards cardiogenic shock and death. 50% in the first week, over 90% a year latter. Between 1973-1989, 28 patients where operated on. Before surgery 14 patients (53%) where in Killip IV, 5 patients (19%) in III, 5 patients (19%) in II and 2 patients in I. The repair was accomplished under hypothermia and cardioplegia, with the insertion of a Teflon patch to close the defect in 20 patients (70%). Complementary procedures (CABG, Pacemaker, repair of dissections) were performed in 12 patients (47%). Three patients (10%) could not be weaned from the pump; another 10 (36%) died before discharge: 2 with multisystem failure and sepsis, the other 8 with cardiogenic shock (4 with residual VSD). The only independent predictor of operative mortality, by univariate analysis, was preoperatory cardiogenic shock. All 15 survivors (100%) where followed between 5 months and 14.5 years (mean 104.5 months). Two patients died at 4 years, one at 10, another at 10.5 years. The actuarial probability of being alive after discharge was 100% at 4 years, 75% at 5, and 50% at 10 years. At last follow up only 2 patients had mild dyspnea, the remaining where asymptomatic. Surgical treatment provides an opportunity to improve this otherwise dismal survival and offers a surprising good long term result. An early diagnosis and efficient repair, before the onset of cardiogenic shock, should provide better results.
1. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is an important enzyme of the cholinergic system in mammals. 2. We report here the subcellular association of the AChE molecular forms in the normal human heart auricle. 3. Both globular (G) and asymmetric (A) forms were identified using velocity sedimentation and sequential extraction procedures. 4. G forms corresponds to 84% and A forms account for 16% of the total AChE activity. 5. Of G forms 64% of AChE activity correspond to the G1 monomer and of the A forms the class I-A account for 80% of AChE activity. 6. In addition, treatment of the cardiac membranes with the enzyme phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase c (PIPLC) results in the solubilization of AChE activity. 7. This means that a G2 AChE dimer with a glycolipid anchoring domain is present in the human heart.
We followed 25 patients operated on for Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome between August 1985 and October 1989. Their mean age was 37 +/- 12 years and arrhythmia had been present for 5 to 30 years. A mean of 3.3 +/- 1.2 antiarrhythmic agents had failed in controlling recurrences. Tachycardia was orthodromic in 21 patients and antidromic in 1, while 3 patients presented rapid atrial fibrillation with hemodynamic deterioration. Drug refractoriness (n = 23) or intolerance (n = 2) were the main surgical indications. The location of accessory pathways was lateral in 19 patients, anteroseptal in 3, posteroseptal in 2, postero lateral in 1 and right lateral in 1 patient. One patient had a double pathway. There was no surgical mortality. After a follow-up period ranging from 1 to 50 months recurrence of arrhythmia was observed in one patient and electrophysiologic evaluation showed persistence of a left lateral pathway in another. The remaining 24 patients are free of symptoms at the end of follow up. Thus, surgical treatment is a curative therapy for most patients with WPW.
We compared the short- and long-term results of isolated aortic valve replacement in 98 patients receiving a Starr-Edwards (SE) prosthesis from 1965 to 1974 and 80 pts receiving a Bjork-Shiley (BS) prosthesis from 1973 to 1981 at our institution. Operative mortality was 20% (SE) and 6% (BS). Follow-up information was obtained in 88% (SE) and 96% (BS) of pts discharged alive. The mean period of follow up was 8.2 and 6.7 years respectively. The 5 and 10 year actuarial survival rates were 72% and 61% (SE) vs 89% and 83% (BS). Complications per 100 pt-years among pts with SE and those with BS were: systemic emboli 2.8 vs 0.6, major hemorrhagic events 1.25 vs 1.36, perivalvular leak 1.6 vs 1.15, endocarditis 0.31 vs. 0.39, prosthetic thrombosis 0 vs 0.58 and ball variance 0.47 vs 0, respectively. Some of these differences may reflect shortcomings of the initial surgical experience during the period in which the SE prosthesis was used, rather than different performance of both valves.
Interest in cardiac transplantation started with the investigations of Carrel in 1905. Clinical experience started in 1967 but early results were discouraging mainly due to difficulties with diagnosis and treatment of rejection. The introduction of cardiac biopsy to diagnose and cyclosporine to treat rejection vastly improved the success of the procedure. Large number of patients have been operated in different centers and criteria for selecting or excluding patients have emerged. Selection of the donor and improvements in surgical technique have also contributed to better results. Currently, 80% survival in the first year and 70% at 5 years are to be expected, and cardiac transplantation is a definite therapeutic option for selected patients with end-stage cardiac disease. However, significant problems remain to be solved, such as cyclosporin nephrotoxicity, secondary hypertension and occlusive vascular disease of the transplanted heart.
A 19 year old patient with incessant supraventricular tachycardia was submitted to electrophysiologic study. An ectopic left atrial focus was demonstrated. Intraoperative mapping localized the focus to the upper left atrial quadrant. Successful surgical isolation of the focus was possible. The patient is currently asymptomatic and arrhythmia free.
Limitation of infarct size has been proven to improve the prognosis in patients with recent myocardial infarction (MI). Emergency coronary bypass surgery may be used for this aim. We operated on 44 such patients within 15 days of onset of MI. Operation was done within 6 hr in 11 patients and later on in the other 33, due to post infarction angina or incomplete MI. One patient died in the perioperative period. Thirty nine patients were followed at a mean of 33 months: 2 have angina, one dyspnea and the rest is asymptomatic. We believe that bypass surgery is an effective treatment in selected patients with recent MI.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Two patients with Björk Shiley mitral valve replacement had migration and embolization of the occluding disc. One patient suffered migration of the disc a few hours after surgery and the other had a strut fracture with disc translocation six years after the initial operation. Clinical signs in both cases were pulmonary edema, cardiogenic shock, and absence of prosthetic sounds. Both patients were reoperated on an emergency basis, recovering after a complicated postoperative course. They are on functional Class I, 8 and 1 years later, respectively, with their dislodged discs still in the abdominal aorta. The only hope for survival in these patients is emergency reoperation, once the prosthetic mitral valve dysfunction is confirmed.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Of 267 patients having a tined endocardial lead implanted from 1978 to December 1983, three (1.1%) developed pulse generator pocket infection. Proper treatment of this complication involves removal of the pulse generator, continued external pacing via the implanted lead, pocket drainage and administration of specific antibiotics until the infected area clears. In two patients, the electrode could not be removed by traction. A sternotomy was performed, the pericardium was opened, the endocardial electrode was located by palpation, and a purse string suture (PSS) was prepared around it on the right ventricular wall. A new myocardial electrode with its corresponding generator was then implanted to reestablish pacing. Through the PSS the myocardium was incised, the distal end of the endocardial lead was exteriorized and severed, and the PSS was tied. The remaining lead was withdrawn proximally and the surgical wounds were closed. The results of this procedure have been been excellent, allowing the removal of the entrapped leads, with continuous pacing and without the need for extracorporeal circulation.