Comparison of Warm Blood Cardioplegia Delivery With or Without the Use of a Roller Pump.

Various techniques for administration of blood cardioplegia are used worldwide. In this study, the effect of warm blood cardioplegia administration with or without the use of a roller pump on perioperative myocardial injury was studied in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting using minimal extra-corporeal circuits (MECCs). Sixty-eight patients undergoing elective coronary bypass surgery with an MECC system were consecutively enrolled and randomized into a pumpless group (PL group: blood cardioplegia administration without roller pump) or roller pump group (RP group: blood cardioplegia administration with roller pump). No statistically significant differences were found between the PL group and RP group regarding release of cardiac biomarkers. Maximum postoperative biomarker values reached at T1 (after arrival intensive care unit) for heart-type fatty acid binding protein (2.7 [1.5; 6.0] ng/mL PL group vs. 3.2 [1.6; 6.3] ng/mL RP group, p = .63) and at T3 (first postoperative day) for troponin T high-sensitive (22.0 [14.5; 29.3] ng/L PL group vs. 21.1 [15.3; 31.6] ng/L RP group, p = .91), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (2.1 [1.7; 2.9] ng/mL PL group vs. 2.6 [1.6; 3.6] ng/mL RP group, p = .48), and C-reactive protein (138 [106; 175] µg/mL PL group vs. 129 [105; 161] µg/mL RP group, p = .65). Besides this, blood cardioplegia flow, blood cardioplegia line pressure, and aortic root pressure during blood cardioplegia administration were similar between the two groups. Administration of warm blood cardioplegia with or without the use of a roller pump results in similar clinically acceptable myocardial protection.

Necrotizing pneumonitis caused by postoperative pulmonary torsion.

Pulmonary torsion is an adverse event with a reported incidence of 0.089-0.4%. It may occur spontaneously, after trauma but most often as a rare complication after pulmonary surgery. We describe a case of lobar torsion of the left upper lobe after lobectomy of the left lower lobe, which resulted in a necrotizing pneumonitis with fever, hemoptysis and weight loss. A completion pneumonectomy was performed after which the patient recovered well. A review of the literature shows that a delay in diagnosis and treatment of this rare complication can have catastrophic consequences. Surgery is the treatment of choice since sparing of the lobe is hardly ever possible due to the irreversible ischemic changes. Detorsion, instead of resection, may lead to fatal complications. Although infrequent, one should be aware of lobar torsion and the necessity for immediate re-intervention.