Bridge to transplantation with the wearable Novacor left ventricular assist system: operative technique.

Although the outcome of patients transplanted after univentricular cardiac support is similar to that of conventional patients, death on the device remains a substantial problem. The wearable Novacor left ventricular assist system (LVAS) may offer advantages over console-based systems by improving rehabilitation before transplantation. For these advantages to be realised, however, a smooth perioperative course is necessary. We describe our operative technique, based on minimising blood loss and preserving right ventricular function, and the results in the first three patients to have the wearable Novacor LVAS implanted in this institution.

[Reduction of per- and postoperative blood loss with aprotinin (Trasylol) during extracorporeal circulation]. / Réduction des pertes sanguines per et postopératoires par l'aprotinine (Trasylol) au cours de la circulation extracorporelle.

Aprotinin is a pharmacological agent which, when given in high doses during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), seems to reduce postoperative blood loss significantly and thereby reduces the need for blood transfusion. This study was undertaken to confirm these claims and to show that there was also decreased peroperative bleeding and a shorter operation time. The immediate postoperative clinical course was also assessed. The study was a prospective, randomised double-blind trial versus placebo in 60 coronary patients undergoing at least 2 aorto-coronary bypass grafts for the first time within a 3 month period. During surgery after stopping the CPB the blood loss recorded by aspiration was 49 +/- 61 ml in the aprotinin group and 90 +/- 84 ml in the placebo group (p less than 0.05). The quality of haemostasis in the operated area evaluated independently by the anaesthetist was judged to be excellent in 30 patients in the aprotinin group compared with only 19 in the placebo group (p less than 0.001). The time between coming off CPB and skin closure was significantly shorter in the aprotinin group (42 +/- 10 min versus 49 +/- 12 min) and the dose of protamine injected at the end of the operation was 19 +/- 38 mg in the aprotinin group compared to 43 +/- 46 mg in the placebo group (p less than 0.05). The blood loss recorded over 48 hours in the intensive care unit was nearly three times less in the aprotinin group (380 +/- 125 ml) than with placebo (852 +/- 523 ml).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Surgical techniques for treatment of bacterial endocarditis of the mitral valve.

Bacterial endocarditis of the mitral valve appears to be much less common than bacterial endocarditis of the aortic valve. One of the main etiologic factors is the presence of degenerative lesions of the mitral apparatus, ballooning or mitral floppy valve. The surgical anatomy of the lesions is described: vegetations, perforations, rupture of chordae tendinae, abscess of the mitral ring observed in the isolated mitral endocarditis, mitral-aortic dislocation, abscesses and aneurysms of the mitral-aortic fibrosa and jet lesions on the anterior mitral leaflet. In the isolated primitive mitral infective lesions, all the technical skills are directed toward the prevention of the perivalvular leakage of the prostheses. Special procedures are described for the management of the abscesses of the mitral ring. In patients with mitral-aortic lesions, the main problem is treatment of the dislocation of the annuli or aneurysms of the mitral-aortic fibrosa. Despite technical advances, the surgical prognosis of the mitral endocarditis remains severe. In a personal series, the authors recorded a mortality of 12% in isolated mitral cases and 42% in the combined mitral-aortic patients. Early surgical treatment remains the most significant factor in decreasing the fatality of such lesions.