Resultados alejados de la cirugía reconstructora de la insuficiencia mitral / Long term results of reconstructive surgery for mitral insufficiency

Background: Surgical repair is the procedure of choice for mitral insufficiency since it preserves better left ventricular structure and function. Aim: To assess the long term clinical and echocardiographic results of mitral valve reconstructive surgery. Material and methods: A review of clinical and echocardiographic data of 68 patients (34 male, age range 17 to 82 years), subjected to surgical mitral valve repair between december 1991 and march 1998. Preoperative functional capacity of these patients was 2.96 ñ 0.7. Surgical repair was assessed using transesophagic echocardiography in all subjects. Results: The etiology of mitral insufficiency was degenerative in 43 patients, rheumatic in 10, infectious in 6, ischemic in 5 and miscellaneous in 4. The most frequent pathological findings were dilatation of the mitral ring in 42 percent of patients, chordae tendinae rupture in 32 percent and enlargement in 24 percent. A mitral anuloplasty was done in 90 percent of patients, a cuadrilateral resection of posterior leaflet in 52 percent and chordae tendinae transference in 12 percent. An additional surgical procedure was done in 34 percent of subjects. Three patients died during hospitalization (4.4 percent). During the follow up of 36.5 ñ 22.3 months, five patients died and one required a mitral valve replacement. The actuarial survival probability was 95.3 ñ 2.6 percent at one year and 83.5 ñ 6.5 percent at five years. The reoperation free survival was 100 percent at one year and 97.4 ñ 2.5 percent at five years. At the end of follow up the functional capacity improved to 1.25 ñ 0.4. echocardiography showed absence of mitral insufficiency in 48.4 percent of patients, minimal, mild and moderate insufficiency in 35.5, 14.5 and 1.6 percent of patients respectively. Conclusions: Surgical valve reconstruction in mitral insufficiency has satisfactory long term results and should be the procedure of choice for eligible patients

Cirugía coronaria mínimamente invasiva / Minimally invasive coronary artery surgery

Background: There is a growing interest to perform a left internal mammary artery (LIMA) graft to the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) on a beating heart through a minimally invasive access to the chest cavity. Aim: To report the experience with minimally invasive coronary artery surgery. Patients and methods: Analysis of 11 patients aged 48 to 79 years old with single vessel disease that, between 1996 and 1997, had a LIMA graft to the LAD performed through a minimally invasive left anterior mediastinotomy, without cardiopulmonary bypass. A 6 to 10 cm left parasternal incision was done. The LIMA to the LAD anastomosis was done after pharmacological heart rate and blood pressure control and a period of ischemic pre conditioning. Graft patency was confirmed intraoperatively by standard Doppler techniques. Patients were followed for a mean of 11.6 months /7-15 months). Results: All patients were extubated in the operating room and transferred out of the intensive care unit on the next morning. Seven patients were discharged on the third postoperative day. Duplex scanning confirmed graft patency in all patients before discharge; in two patients, it was confirmed additionally by arteriography. There was no hospital mortality, no perioperative myocardial infarction and no bleeding problems. After follow up, ten patients were free of angina, in functional class I and pleased with the surgical and cosmetic results. One patient developed atypical angina on the seventh postoperative month and a selective arteriography confirmed stenosis of the anastomosis. A successful angioplasty of the original LAD lesion was carried out. Conclusions: A minimally invasive left anterior mediastinotomy is a good surgical access to perform a successful LIMA to LAD graft without cardiopulmonary bypass, allowing a shorter hospital stay and earlier postoperative recovery. However, a larger experience and a longer follow up is required to define its role in the treatment of coronary artery disease

Efectos de la hemodilución normovolémica sobre la presión arterial central y periférica / Effects of the normovolemic hemodilution on central and peripheral blood pressure

Estudiamos el efecto de la hemodilución normovolémica sobre la presión arterial y periférica. A once perros anestesiados con pentobarbital y ventilados mecánicamente se les midió con catéteres Millar la presión arterial central y periférica, ubicando transductores en aorta y arteria femoral superficial respectivamente. En aorta torácica se instaló transductor electromagnético de flujo. Se administró fenilefrina (FNF) 0,4 y 1 µg/kg. y nitroprusiato (NTP) 2 y 4 µg/kg. Se midió presiones asistólica, diastólica y media, tanto central como periférica, así como flujo medio y presión crítica de cierre (PCC). La PCC se determinó por extrapolación del decaimiento exponencial de la presión arterial cuando el flujo sanguíneo se detuvo mecánicamente. Estas mediciones se realizaron en condiciones basal y alcanzado el máximo efecto de las drogas. Luego se realizó hemodilución extrayendo 30 a 35 ml/kl de sangre, y reponiendo suero fisiológico temperado, manteniendo constante la presión arterial sistólica. Finalmente se procedió a repetir las drogas vasoactivas y las mediciones hemodinámicas respectivas. La hemodilución disminuyó la PCC y la resistencia, con el consecuente aumento el flujo, sin alterar la presión arterial media. La disminución en la resistencia ocurrió independientemente de si en su cálculo se consideró o no la PCC. los efectos de FNF y NTP sobre la presión arterial central y periférica estuvieron de acuerdo a su farmacología y se mantuvieron después de la hemodilución. Sin embargo, hemodilución más NTP disminuyó la diferencia entre las presiones arteriales sistólicas periférica central. Estos resultados nos sugiere que la PCC está determinada, en parte, por las características reológicas de sangre