[Employment of St. Jude "silzone" valve in the surgical treatment of early prosthetic valve endocarditis: a preliminary case report and review of the literature]. / Empleo de la válvula St. Jude "Silzone" en el tratamiento quirúrgico de la endocarditis valvular protésica temprana: caso clínico preliminar y revisión de la bibliografía.

Prosthetic valve endocarditis remains as one of the most life-threatening complication of valve replacement surgery. Homografts are the valve of choice with a lower early risk of endocarditis than other valve substitutes, however they are not always available. Recently a new prosthesis has been introduced with a silver-coated sewing cuff (St. Jude Medical with Silzone coating). Silver is an antimicrobial agent that has been proven to reduce bacterial colonization. We present the case of a 48-year-old man with an early prosthetic valve endocarditis which affected an aortic stentless prosthesis. He was successfully treated with a silver-coated prosthesis. Indications for surgery and the use of this prosthesis as a valuable option in this disease entity are discussed. Although the present patient is an isolated case, the interest of this article is the encouraging result obtained with this new prosthesis for this serious complication. Moreover, the clinical experience is reduced with only a few reports in the literature.

Soft tissue behavior during limb lengthening: an experimental study in lambs.

The effect of femoral elongation on skeletal muscle, nerves, and vessels was studied. Three groups of five lambs were used. After the intervention, the animals were killed at 2, 3, and 4 months. A left femoral elongation of 6 cm was practiced on all of them by means of callotasis, with a distraction rate of 0.5 mm every 12 hours. The femoral elongation process was evaluated by monthly x-ray films. The nucleic acid and protein levels in the muscular tissue were quantified at the level of the elongation focus and in the control extremity. The motor conduction velocity of the sciatic nerve was measured in both posterior limbs before the intervention and immediately before the lambs were killed. The arterial blood flow of both subsequent extremities was measured at the moment of death. A histological study of quadriceps muscle, sciatic nerves, artery, and subsequent femoral vein were examined histologically at the level of the elongation focus of both extremities. After elongation, no significant differences were observed in the muscle protein and nucleic acid levels with respect to the control extremity. No significant changes of the nerve conduction velocity were observed in any animal among the different groups. The arterial blood flow of the elongated extremity showed a progressive increase, reaching its maximum value 1 month after the distraction had terminated, with subsequent normalization. This increase of the blood flow was also observed in the control extremity, suggesting a possible systemic effect. The histological study revealed a comparative thickening of the endomysium and perimysium in the elongated muscle tissue, present at the end of the distraction and which was later normalized. No histological changes of the nerve stems undergoing distraction were observed either. During elongation, the arteries showed minimal histological changes. On the other hand, the veins showed areas of endothelial damage accompanied by thrombosis phenomena, especially at the end of the distraction period. The vascular morphology presented progressive normalization after the distraction phase.

[Prolonged bradyarrhythmias after coronary revascularization surgery]. / Bradiarritmias prolongadas después de cirugía de revascularización coronaria.

The authors report four cases of prolonged bradyarrhythmias after isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery. All the four patients required permanent pacemaker implantation. Etiologic factors of conduction disturbances after coronary artery bypass and long term follow-up are discussed.