ABSTRACT
Objectives: Nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a risk factor for surgical site infections (SSIs). However, few studies have evaluated the rate of nasal carriage of MRSA and its effect on SSIs in patients undergoing general thoracic surgery. We investigated the importance of preoperative screening for nasal carriage of MRSA in patients undergoing general thoracic surgery.Patients and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 238 patients with thoracic diseases who underwent thoracic surgery. We reviewed the rates of nasal carriage of MRSA and SSIs.Results: Results of MRSA screening were positive in 11 of 238 patients (4.6%), and 9 of these 11 patients received nasal mupirocin. SSIs occurred in 4 patients (1.8%). All 4 patients developed pneumonia; however, MRSA pneumonia occurred in only 1 of these 4 patients. No patient developed wound infection, empyema, and/or mediastinitis. SSIs did not occur in any of the 11 patients with positive results on MRSA screening.Conclusions: The rates of nasal carriage of MRSA and SSIs were low in this case series. Surveillance is important to determine the prevalence of MRSA carriage and infection in hospitals, particularly in the intensive care unit. However, routine preoperative screening for nasal carriage of MRSA is not recommended in patients undergoing general thoracic surgery.
ABSTRACT
We reviewed our experience with 4 cases of chronic dissecting aortic aneurysm (DeBakey IIIb) with the false lumen extending into the abdominal aorta and major branches being perfused from the false lumen. In such cases, resection of the intrathoracic portion of the aneurysm and closing of the distral false lumen may exclude visceral perfusion from the false lumen. In order to ensure continued perfusion of true and false lumens after repair, we performed “double barrel” anastomosis for distal anastomosis in graft replacement of the descending aorta. Follow-up periods ranged from 8 to 21 months, 17 months on average. Postoperatively, neither apparent expansion of the false lumen nor compression of the true lumen was found in these cases. The advantage of this procedure is the effective restoration of visceral perfusion. We emphasize that this procedure is one of the choices of procedures, as a two-staged approach for chronic aortic dissection presenting with visceral perfusion from the false lumen and without an enlarged abdominal aorta, though more patients and longer follow-up are required to fully evaluate this procedure.