First-year heart surgery

In 12-month period this study performed 60 cases of various open cardiac surgical procedures. The preoperative diagnosis was mitral valve disease in 35 patients [58%], aortic valve disease in 7 patients [11.7%], atrial septal defect in 7 patients [11.7%], ventricular septal defect in 5 patients [8.3%], congenital pulmonary stenosis in 3 patients [5%], and subaortic membrane in 3 patients [5%]. Mild aortic valve lesion was present in 7 cases, mild mitral lesion in 4 cases, tricuspid regurge in 11, and left atrial thrombus in 8 cases. There were 7 cases with previous cardiac surgery, 6 previous closed mitral commissurotomy and one mitral valve repair complicated by endocarditis. There were 9 operative deaths [15%], 7 [11.6%] following mitral valve surgery, one [1.7%] following closure of VSD, and one [1.7%] following pulmonary valvotomy. There was one late death, sudden unexplained. Postoperative complications occurred in 9 cases [15%], 2 cases had difficult weaning from CPB, excessive bleeding in one case, severe mitral regurge following open mitral commissurotomy in one case, early onset of infective endocarditis in 2 cases and sternotomy infection in 3 cases

Transfixion ligation of isolated patent ductus arteriosus a safe, easy and effective technique

A series of 110 patients with isolated patent ductus arteriosus have been submitted to surgical transfixion ligation. There were 79 females [71.8%] and 31 males [28.2%]. Age ranged from 5 months to 38 years with a mean age of 5.08 + 1.76 years. Diagnosis was made on clinical basis and confirmed by echocardiography. Surgical ligation of PDA was performed using double silk ligatures on both ends of the ductus together with a transfixion ligation in between. Mortality was 0.9%. Intraoperative bleeding happened in 2.7%. The alive patients have been followed up for variable periods of time, the longest of which was 15 years and no evidence of recanalization appeared till now