Surgical management of constrictive pericarditis

Background: Constrictive pericarditis is a disease characterized by marked thickening and dense scarring of the pericardium with pericardial sac obliteration, or calcification of the pericardium. Without treatment this disease is characterized by high morbidity and mortality.Objective: To review the surgical management of constructivepericarditis and the post operative challenges. Methods: Eleven patients who had pericardiectomy for constructive pericarditis between 2000 and 2005 were studied. Data was obtained from the operating theatre register, histopathological reports and patient’s casenotes. Results: The mean age was 33 years with a range of 14to 53 years. There were seven males (63.6%) and four females (36.4%). Seven (63.6%) out of the eleven patients operated were treated for pulmonary tuberculosis. The cause of pericardial constriction in four patients (36.4%) was undetermined. Follow up period was between 4-59 months. The mean follow up was 17.5 months. Seven patients (63.6%) were off diuretics and had no exercise intolerance. Patients were classified using the New York Heart Association (NYHA) n (NYHA) functional and therapeutic classification in class I-V. Two patients preoperatively in class III are now in class I after surgery on low dose diuretics. One patient who had calcific constrictive pericarditis and came in class III was now in class II with diuretics after 3 years of follow up. There was no postoperative mortality. One patient was lost to follow up. Conclusion: Pericardiectomy is a useful procedure for constrictive pericarditis and was beneficial to all thepatients in this study with an improvement in theirfunctional capacity. Intensive peri-operative monitoringand management reduced morbidity and mortality

Impalement injuries of the chest

Impalement injuries of the chest are uncommon in civilian practice with few reports in the literature. We report three cases of thoracic impalement seen over a 5 year period with unusual underlying mechanisms. In two of the cases, the impalement was obvious; in thethird, the impalement was concealed having occurred 5 months earlier. In Case 1, the underlying mechanism was a high-speed road traffic accident. The patient was impaled by a metallic square pipe piled by the roadside. In Case 2, the gun-housing of a locally-made rifle gave way as it was fired and allowed a reverse ejection of the barrel during recoil that impaled the hunter’s chest. In Case 3, a domestic assault with an old umbrella caused an impalement injury as one of the umbrella spokes broke off, penetrated and lodged in the left chest going unnoticed for 5 months. Persistent chest pain and haemoptysis led to a request for chest radiographic examination upon which the foreign body was discovered. Massive haemoptysis brought the patient to emergency thoracotomy. All three patients underwent thoracotomy with a successful outcom

THE EFFICACY OF PRE-OPERATIVE ERYTHROPOIETIN THERAPY

ABSTRACTObjective: To determine whether a single weekly low dose of erythropoietin (EPO), haematenicsand antimalarials is effective in increasing the pre-operative haemoglobin of patients coming forpotential blood losing surgery.Design: A prospective observational study.Setting: The Korle-bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana.Subjects: Thirty one patients with low haemoglobin scheduled for potential blood losingsurgery.Results: A mean weekly dose of EPO administered of 10,840 ± 640 IU raised the haemoglobin by2-5g% above baseline levels in 28 (90.3%) of the patients. Twenty five (81%) of the patients had anuneventful normovolaemic haemodilution during their surgery.Conclusion: A single weekly dose of 150 ug/kg of EPO, haematenics, chloroquine (anti-malarial)and a high protein diet is efficacious in raising the pre-operative haemoglobin in Ghanaianpatients

The efficacy of pre-operative erythropoietin therapy

No Abstract. East African Medical Journal Vol. 84 (6) 2007: pp. 279-28

Permanent Complete Heart Block Following Surgical Correction of Congenital Heart Disease

Background: The risk of complete heart block (CHB) from congenital heart repairs in Ghana is unknown. This information is important for referring physicians and in pre-operative counselling of patients and facilitates the process of obtaining informed consent for such repairs.Objectives: This study was undertaken to determine the incidence of permanent post-operative CHB requiring pacemaker implantation; and the post-operative problems related to the pacemaker.Design: Retrospective study design.Setting: The National Cardiothoracic Centre (NCTC), Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana.Method: Review of all patients who had intra-cardiac repair of congenital heart disease known to predispose to post-operative complete heart block from January 1993 to December 2008 was carried out with computation of the frequency of complete heart block according to the intra-operative diagnoses.Results: Six out of 242 patients (2.5%) developed permanent post-operative CHB. All underwent closure of a large perimembranous ventricular septal defect (VSD) either as an isolated defect (2 of 151 or 1.3%) or in the setting of conotruncal anomalies (4 of 73 or 5.5%). The dominant parental concern relating to the implanted device was the financial implications of future multiple surgeries to replace a depleted pulse generator.Conclusion: Permanent post-operative complete heart block occurred in 1.3% of patients undergoing VSD repair and 5.5% of those undergoing repair of conotruncal anomalies (Fallot’s tetralogy). The dominant anatomic risk factor was a large perimembranous VSD as an isolated defect or as part of a conotruncal anomaly. Permanent pacemaker implantation in this setting is attended by a low morbidity

Predictors of Post Operative Bleeding and Blood Transfusion in Cardiac Surgery

Introduction: In spite of the recent advances in heart surgery, patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass are at risk of developing significant post-operative bleeding and substantialblood requirements. Objective: To evaluate the impact of some perioperative predictors of post-operative bleeding, and blood transfusion after heart surgery and offer suggestions on preventive measures. Design and Methods: A prospective analytical study. The perioperative factors studied were haemoglobin level, international normalised ratio (INR), platelet count, and total bypass time. Eighty-seven consecutive patients who underwent heart surgery in the year 2004 were selected. Each patient had laboratory work up which included full blood count, clotting profile, kidney and liver function tests. The total blood loss within the first twenty-four hours and the total units of blood transfused before the patient was discharged were also recorded. Results: Pre-operative haemoglobin was significantin determining the total units of blood received by a patient. Increasing total bypass time caused a significant increase in the percentagereduction of the pre-operative platelet count (

Right Heart Catheterisation in Patients with Echocardiographic Diagnosis of Pulmonary Hypertension

Background: Anaesthetists and other clinicians depend on echocardiographic estimation of pulmonary artery pressures for clinical decisions in cardiac patients. Our objective was to compare the systolic pulmonary arterial pressures estimated by echocardiography to that measured by right heart catheterisation.Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective-prospective analytical study of all patients referred for right heart catheterisation (RHC) between 1st January 2006 and 31st March 2010. The echocardiographic (Echo) estimation of the systolic pulmonary artery pressures was compared to the systolic pulmonary artery pressures measured during right heart catheterisation.Results: There were 64 patients, 37 (57.8%) were female, 27(42.2%) male. Twenty (31.3%) were between 11-20 years and 13 (20.3%) were 31-40 years. The youngest patient was 3 years old and the oldest 68 years. The Echo diagnosis was ASD, VSD, and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in 32.8%, 21.9% and 12.9% respectively. The right internal jugular vein was used in 58(90.6%) and the right femoral vein in 6(9.4%). Thirty-three (51.6%) had RHC systolic pressure greater than 35mmHg. Overall there was an inaccuracy of 69.8% for pressure measured by Echo. Echo was accurate in only 31.1% of instances in patients with congenital heart disease and inaccurate in all patients with rheumatic heart disease.Conclusion: Differences exist between pressures measured by Echo and RHC. Clinically, these differences may to lead to inappropriate management of patients. RHC is therefore necessary in patients with significant pulmonary hypertension especially for congenital and rheumatic heart diseases