Coronary artery bypass grafting within 30 days of an acute myocardial infarction.

Risks and benefits of performing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) within 30 days of an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were examined. In 642 patients operated on between January 1988 and December 1993, emergent CABG was performed in 46 patients for cardiogenic shock mainly for failed thrombolysis in patients with an evolving AMI. The remaining patients underwent urgent (< 72 hours) or elective (> 72 hours) revascularization for failed percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (n = 73), postinfarction angina (n = 381), vein graft stenosis (n = 100), and complications after an AMI (n = 42). In patients who underwent primary CABG for an uncomplicated AMI, the infarct was subendocardial in 68, anterolateral or septal in 200, inferior or posteroinferior in 200, and posterolateral in 32 patients. Early mortality (< 30 days) was 5.9% for the entire series and 0%, 4.5%, 4.5%, 29%, 9%, 8%, 10%, and 26% for the subsets of patients with subendocardial infarct, anterolateral or septal infarct, inferior or posteroinferior infarct, ischemic mitral regurgitation, left ventricular aneurysm, redo CABG, age more than 70 years, and left ventricular ejection fraction less than 0.30, respectively. By multivariate analysis, independent predictors of early mortality were left ventricular ejection fraction less than 0.30, age more than 70 years, and cardiogenic shock.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Myocardial surgical revascularization after streptokinase treatment for acute myocardial infarction.

Eighty-six patients admitted with evolving myocardial infarction within 6 hours of symptom onset were treated with streptokinase. Thirty-nine received intracoronary streptokinase, and 47 received intravenous streptokinase. There were no streptokinase-related complications. Twenty-three patients treated with intracoronary streptokinase and 28 patients receiving intravenous streptokinase underwent coronary artery bypass grafting. On admission, 16 patients receiving intracoronary streptokinase had electrocardiographic evidence of anterolateral evolving myocardial infarction and seven had evidence of inferior evolving myocardial infarction. Time from first symptom to intracoronary streptokinase was 4.4 +/- 1.6 hours. In seven patients, intracoronary streptokinase failed to open the obstructed coronary. All developed severe left ventricular hypokinesia in the area supplied by that coronary artery. In spite of recanalization, nine of 14 patients developed severe hypokinesia in the supplied area, and one an apical aneurysm. Four patients developed mild to moderate hypokinesia, and one had no left ventricular damage. On admission, 14 patients receiving intravenous streptokinase had electrocardiographic evidence of anterolateral evolving myocardial infarction and four had evidence of inferior evolving myocardial infarction. Time from first symptom to intravenous streptokinase was 3.2 +/- 1.5 hours. In seven patients, intravenous streptokinase failed to open the coronary, and all developed severe hypokinesia of the supplied area, with formation of apical left ventricular aneurysm in three. In 21 patients, intravenous streptokinase opened the artery. Eighteen angiographies performed 9.6 +/- 7.9 days after therapy showed a normal left ventricle in eight patients, moderate hypokinesia in seven, and severe hypokinesia in three. Time from first symptom to therapy was shorter in the patients receiving intravenous therapy (p less than 0.01). Coronary artery bypass grafting and four resections after left ventricular aneurysm were performed without operative death. Two patients receiving intracoronary therapy died in the hospital, and one died 2 months later from arrhythmias. Freedom from angina and rehabilitation (New York Heart Association Class I) were achieved in 69.5% of patients receiving intracoronary streptokinase and in 75% of patients receiving intravenous streptokinase. Thus streptokinase-induced thrombolysis salvages myocardium, and the intravenous route seems as effective as the intracoronary. Advantages of the former are earlier administration that might increase myocardial salvage, no invasive procedure, and lesser cost.

Total lymphatic irradiation and bone marrow in human heart transplantation.

Six patients, aged 36 to 59 years, had heart transplants for terminal myocardial disease using total lymphatic irradiation (TLI) and donor bone marrow in addition to conventional therapy. All patients were poor candidates for transplantation because of marked pulmonary hypertension, unacceptable tissue matching, or age. Two patients are living and well more than four years after the transplants. Two patients died of infection at six and seven weeks with normal hearts. One patient, whose preoperative pulmonary hypertension was too great for an orthotopic heart transplant, died at 10 days after such a procedure. The other patient died of chronic rejection seven months postoperatively. Donor-specific tolerance developed in 2 patients. TLI and donor bone marrow can produce specific tolerance to donor antigens and allow easy control of rejection, but infection is still a major problem. We describe a new technique of administering TLI with early reduction of prednisone that may help this problem.

Late appearance of arterial emboli: diagnosis and management.

Although the occurrence of an arterial embolus is usually a cataclysmic event prompting emergency presentationand early diagnosis, we have managed 22 patients who presented more than 48 hours after the onset of symptoms. The diagnosis was apparent in only six patients. The remainder had subacute limb ischemia, and arteriography was used to help delineate the diagnosis in 14 of these patients. In most instances arteriograms were atypical of chronic occlusive disease, rather than diagnostic of arterial emboli. Embolectomy was performed a mean of 13 days after the onset of symptoms, with retrieval of thromboembolic material in all instances. Two patients died (mortality rate of 9%), and the limb salvage rate for the 25 limbs explored was 88%. Among 22 lower extremity embolectomies, foot pulses were restored in 13 patients (59%), and four patients (18%) had viable extremities without pulses. Adjunctive arterial reconstruction was required in three patients.

Long term comparison of fresh arterial allografts and autografts for coronary artery bypass in dogs.

Femoral artery grafts were anastomosed end-to-end to the left internal mammary artery proximally and end-to-side to the circumflex coronary artery distally in 21 adult mongrel dogs. Fourteen dogs received allografts and seven received autografts. All autografts studied from one to 11 months were patent. Eleven of the fourteen homografts studied from one to thirteen months were occluded. Histologically, extensive interstitial edema and leukocytic infiltration with subintimal fibrosis and thrombotic occlusion were seen. This study shows that fresh arterial autografts have excellent long term patency, but that most arterial allografts have early thrombotic occlusion.

A better surgical technique for repairing pulmonary arteries after banding.

A technique is presented to eliminate the residual gradient more completely after removing the main pulmonary band at the time of primary repair of ventricular septal defect. The band and underlying pulmonary artery are circumferentially excised, except for a small posterior part, and pulmonary artery is reanastomosed.

Recent results after repair of atrioventricular canal.

Tweleve patients with the complete form of persistent atrioventricular (AV) canal were operated upon at the University of Wisconsin between May, 1972, and November, 1975. The technique originally described by Rastelli and his associates was used. All 12 patients are asymptomatic and well, with no hospital or late deaths. Postoperative cardiac catheterization in 8 patients showed a return to near normal dynamics, with minimal residual mitral insufficiency. Half of these children had type A and half type C malformations; both types could be repaired without the need for valve replacement. Since 3 of these patients were less than 2 years of age, we now feel that complete repair of the AV canal can be undertaken in children between 12 and 18 months of age for optimal management.

The Blalock-Taussig operation: the procedure of choice in the hypoxic infant with tetralogy of Fallot.

From 1971 to 1975, 17 consecutive patients aged 1 day to 4 years underwent Blalock-Taussig shunts for severe tetralogy of Fallot. Three infants were under 6 weeks of age and 7 (41%) under 1 year. There were no hospital deaths. Modification of the shunt technique adapts it to any size infant. The subclavian artery is divided at its major branches and the end spatulated to enlarge it. The artery is occluded while the shunt is constructed. No intraoperative complications were encountered; all patients have a shunt murmur with no early or late closure. No child has had heart failure or hypoxic spells. Flows measured at operation equaled one-quarter to one-half of the child's normal cardiac output. Ligation of the shunt at subsequent repair is uncomplicated. One child died three years later at correction from causes unrelated to the shunt. With appropriate modifications in technique, the Blalock-Taussig shunt is the operation of choice, at any age, for palliation of severe tetralogy of Fallot.

Predictive value of mixed leukocyte culture testing on allograft survival in unrelated dogs.

This study evaluated the mixed leukocyte culture (MLC) technique to quantitate differences in kidney allograft survival between unrelated animals. Each of five beagles received two heterotopic kidney allografts, one from a mongrel dog showing high MLC stimulation and one from a second mongrel dog showing a low MLC stimulation. Low or high stimulators were defined by the amount of radioactive thymidine incorporated by lymphocytes when the recipient was tested against a number of potential donors in one way MLC TESTS. Low and high stimulators usually differed by a factor of up to ten in the stimulation index. Recipients were given a standard treatment of asathioprine and prednisone. No special treatment was given for rejection episodes. Creatine clearances and periodic biopsies were used to determine rejection. Creatine clearances and biopsies showed the high stimulating kidneys to be rejected completely by the end of 2 weeks in all animals. All of the low stimulating kidneys maintained normal function for 3 weeks and then developed progressive deterioration and rejection over the next 3 to 6 weeks. These studies suggest that quantitation of the MLC may be predictive of kidney allograft survival in unrelated dogs.