Subject(s)
Eye Diseases/etiology , Mitral Valve Prolapse/diagnosis , Adult , Brain Ischemia/etiology , Echocardiography , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Cloth-covered Starr-Edwards prosthesis, was used to replace either the aortic valve (54 cases) or the mitral valve (71 cases), between 1968 and 1978, in an attempt to reduce the incidence of thrombo-embolic complications. Comparative studies using a silastene ball prosthesis during the same period showed that after aortic replacement, the mortality rate during the first month (12 p. cent), late deaths (actuarial survival curves), and most complications (including thrombo-embolin) were not significantly different in the two groups. Hemolysis is significantly greater after the two groups. Hemolysis is significantly greater after replacement with the metallic ball prosthesis; in one patient there was a mechanical change in the material. After mitral replacement, hospital mortality rates (6 p. cent) and the survival curves, after silastene or cloth-covered prostheses, did not differ significantly. Cloth covered mitral valve cause a significantly higher, but compensated rate of hemolysis, a metallic noise heard by 22 p. cent of the patients, and a significant reduction (about 1/5) in the incidence of thromboembolic complications.
Subject(s)
Aortic Valve/surgery , Heart Valve Prosthesis , Mitral Valve/surgery , Adult , Female , Heart Valve Prosthesis/adverse effects , Heart Valve Prosthesis/mortality , Hemolysis , Humans , Male , Metals , Middle Aged , Postoperative Complications/prevention & control , Textiles , Thromboembolism/prevention & controlABSTRACT
Platelet functions studied in 163 unselected diabetics compared with 163 controls had the following characteristics: hyperagregation induced by ADP (1.2 muM and 0.6 muM), delayed platelet disagregation (ADP: 0.6 muM), normal agregation in the presence of collagen and thrombin. Platelet hyperagregation induced by ADP was marked in both sexes in cases of retinopathy and in women after the age of 50. By contrast, no correlation was demonstrated between the degree of hyperagregation and age, weight, the duration of diabetes, blood glucose control, lipid profile, vascular complications other than retinopathy and the nature of treatment.
Subject(s)
Diabetic Angiopathies/blood , Platelet Aggregation , Adenosine Diphosphate , Adolescent , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Diabetic Retinopathy/blood , Female , Humans , In Vitro Techniques , Male , Middle Aged , Platelet Aggregation/drug effects , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
The development of 790 untreated patients affected by ventricular septal defect (VSD) has been the object of a 25-year study. Of these patients, 72% had had at least one catheterization; 13% had several. The mean observation interval is six years, and the average age at the latest data is 19.5 years. This study covers 4717 patient-years. For the entire population, the incidence rate or aortic regurgitation is 6.3% (4.3 for 1000 patient-years) and that of bacterial endocarditis is 3.7% (2.4 for 1000 patient-years). Twenty-five patients died, 15 of them between the ages of one and 39. Of the 499 cases with several clinical examinations, 71% remained stable. In 21%, changes suggesting some level of closure developed; in 7%, infundibular stenosis began to evolve and in 1% pulmonary vascular disease began to appear or became accentuated. These different rates are studied and discussed in relation to patients' age, VSD type, and various follow-up characteristics.
