Vincent Parnell | PubMed Health

PubMed2005

Levels of recent thymic emigrant cells decrease in children undergoing partial thymectomy during cardiac surgery.

The human thymus is required for establishment of a T-cell pool in fetal life, but postnatal thymectomy is not known to cause immunodeficiency. T-cell emigration from thymus (thymic recent emigrants [TRECs]) is a continuous thymic-dependent process. We studied TREC levels pre- and post-partial thymectomy in children undergoing cardiac surgery. TRECs were quantitated by real-time PCR in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 24 children (0 to 12 years). TREC values were 47916 +/- 9271 pre-partial thymectomy and 33157 +/- 8479 post-partial thymectomy in 11 paired patients (P = 0.014). Interval between pre- and post-partial thymectomy was 8.8 days +/- 5.8 days. Another group of 8 children had 30384 +/- 9748 TRECs 16 days to 6 years post-partial thymectomy. There was a significant drop in TREC values post-partial thymectomy in the immediate postoperative period compared to prethymectomy TREC levels. While decreased thymic output may persist, the long-term implications were not evaluated in this patient population.

Cardiac Surgical Procedures↗

PubMed2003

Prolonged candidemia in infants following surgery for congenital heart disease.

OBJECTIVES: To describe a group of infants with complex congenital heart disease (CCHD) who had candidemia postoperatively and to perform a case-control study of risk factors. DESIGN: Descriptive and case-control study. SETTING: Tertiary-care medical centers. PATIENTS: Infants with CCHD who underwent cardiac surgery and developed candidemia. Controls were matched for congenital heart disease lesions, age, and postoperative hospital stay. RESULTS: Of 95 infants younger than 6 months with CCHD who underwent cardiac surgery between January 1999 and April 2001, 6 (6.3%) developed candidemia with 5 different species. The candidemia was prolonged (range, 12 to 32 days; median, 17 days). The interval between cardiac surgery and onset of candidemia was 12 to 57 days (median, 24 days). All had a central venous catheter inserted 8 to 50 days prior to the onset of candidemia. The mortality rate was 83%, compared with 13% for the group without candidemia. A univariate analysis of the potential risk factors revealed that duration of total parenteral nutrition (TPN), duration of antibiotics, intraoperative cardiopulmonary bypass time, and documentation of an intravascular thrombus were associated with candidemia. In multivariate analysis, long duration of TPN and documentation of a thrombus were associated with candidemia. CONCLUSIONS: Candidemia following cardiac surgery for infants with CCHD was persistent and associated with high mortality. The variety of species indicates that this was not a common-source outbreak. Risk factors associated with candidemia were duration of TPN and documentation of an intravascular thrombus.

Candida↗