Indices de hemodiálise e visualizaçäo do fluxo na "Spiral Pump" (SP), uma bomba centrífuga de sangue por fuso crônico / Hemodialysis indices and visualization of the flow in \"Spiral Pump\" (SP), a blood centrifugal pump for conic spindle

A "Spiral Pump" (SP) é uma bomba de sangue que utiliza, simultaneamente, os princípios de bombeamento axial e centrífugo, através da rotação de um fuso cônico. As características hidrodinâmicas da SP foram estudadas em diversas condições de bombeamento, utilizando um circuito composto de tubos e reservatório plásticos, com 500 ml de solução água-glicerina (37 por cento). O comportamento do fluxo foi estudado nas áreas mais importantes da bomba utilizando um plano de luz laser estroboscópica. Partículas plásticas, suspensas na solução, foram iluminadas pela luz laser durante o funcionamento da bomba. Vários testes de hemólise foram realizados "In Vitro" utilizando sangue bovino, simulando duas condições de bombeamento: bomba de assistência ventricular esquerda e bomba de circulação e oxigenação extracorpórea

Abstract: The Spiral Pump (SP) is a blood pump that utilizes the two well known centrifugai and axial pumping principies, simultaneously. The hydrodynamic performance of the pump was studied at severa! test conditions, using a closed circuit loop with plastic tubes and reservoir, filled with 500 mi of 37% glycerin-water solution. The results show that the SP has good pumping performance. The flow behavior was studied in the most important areas of the pump using a stroboscopic planar helium-neon laser light. Amberlite plastic particles (80 mesh) were used in suspension in the solution and were illuminated by the laser light during the pumping process. Severa! in vitro hemolysis tests were performed using bovine blood, simulating two pump conditions: as left ventricular assist device and as cardiopulmonary bypass

Endocardite infecciosa relacionada à gravidez / Infective Endocarditis in Pregnancy

PURPOSE--To report the intra-hospitalar and late follow-up of patients with infective endocarditis (IE) acquired in the pregnancy or puerperium. METHODS--Eleven patients, between 1984-1992 according to the beginning of the IE episode (fever and other signals) were studied. Patients were divided in two groups: IE of pregnancy (7 cases), and puerperal IE (4 cases). RESULTS--In the pregnancy IE group, mitral valve was affected in 6 (85), and aortic valve in 1 (15). During the course of the treatment, two patients had to be operated on, respectively, in the 24th and 28th week of the pregnancy. The 1st one had a successfully mitral valve replacement by a biological prosthesis but 48 h later she aborted, and the 2nd presented neurological complication (intracerebral hemorrhage) in the immediate post-operative period of a successfully mitral valve replacement by biological prosthesis. She was undergone to a cesarean but the fetus remained alive for 24 h only. If we look at the newborns (fetus), only 4 of them survived. Out of 3 fetal deaths, 2 had close association with mother cardiac surgeries. In the pregnant period acquired IE, 3 (47) mothers died. In the puerperium group, 2 mitral valves and 2 aortic valves had IE. Two of them had to be operated on due to an important aortic regurgitation and cardiac failure. There were no deaths in this group. CONCLUSION--During pregnancy, IE showed a high morbi-mortality for mother and concept. The mother's neurological complications played a major role in the poor outcome during the pregnancy period.