Combined aortic root replacement and heart transplantation in a patient with dilated cardiomyopathy and aortic root aneurysm

Concomitant replacement of the ascending aorta and heart transplantation are an infrequent procedure. This procedure was most often performed in patients with Marfan syndrome, however, it has its own technical difficulties. Hereby, we report on combined heart transplantation and aortic root replacement using donor's ascending aorta in a 25-year-old man diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and ascending aorta aneurysm. This procedure was successful and beneficial to patients with aortopathy who are candidates for heart transplantation. © 2018, Iranian Society for Organ Transplantation

The prevalence of pain at pressure areas and pressure ulcers in hospitalised patients.

Background: Patients with pressure ulcers (PUs) report that pain is their most distressing symptom, but there are few PU pain prevalence studies. We sought to estimate the prevalence of unattributed pressure area related pain (UPAR pain) which was defined as pain, soreness or discomfort reported by patients, on an " at risk" or PU skin site, reported at a patient level.Methods: We undertook pain prevalence surveys in 2 large UK teaching hospital NHS Trusts (6 hospitals) and a district general hospital NHS Trust (3 hospitals) during their routine annual PU prevalence audits. The hospitals provide secondary and tertiary care beds in acute and elective surgery, trauma and orthopaedics, burns, medicine, elderly medicine, oncology and rehabilitation. Anonymised individual patient data were recorded by the ward nurse and PU prevalence team. The analysis of this prevalence survey included data summaries; no inferential statistical testing was planned or undertaken. Percentages were calculated using the total number of patients from the relevant population as the denominator (i.e. including all patients with missing data for that variable).Results: A total of 3,397 patients in 9 acute hospitals were included in routine PU prevalence audits and, of these, 2010 (59.2%) patients participated in the pain prevalence study. UPAR pain prevalence was 16.3% (327/2010). 1769 patients had no PUs and of these 223 patients reported UPAR pain, a prevalence of 12.6%. Of the 241 people with pressure ulcers, 104 patients reported pain, a UPAR pain prevalence of 43.2% (104/241).Conclusion: One in six people in acute hospitals experience UPAR pain on 'at risk' or PU skin sites; one in every 8 people without PUs and, more than 2 out of every five people with PUs. The results provide a clear indication that all patients should be asked if they have pain at pressure areas even when they do not have a PU

Early Versus Late Initiation of Negative Pressure Wound Therapy: Examining the Impact on Home Care Length of Stay

Because of the high cost of some wound management regimens, payors may require that moist wound therapies be used before other treatment approaches, such as negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), are implemented but few studies have investigated the effect of delayed initiation of NPWT on patient outcomes. To examine the impact of early versus late initiation of NPWT on patient length of stay in home health care, a nonrandomized, retrospective analysis was performed on the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) information for home care patients with NPWT-treated Stage III or Stage IV pressure ulcers (N = 98) or surgical wounds (N = 464) gathered between July 2002 and September 2004. Early initiation of NPWT following the start of home care was defined as \u3c30 days for pressure ulcers and \u3c7 days for surgical wound patients. Median duration of NPWT was 31 days (range 3 to 169) for pressure ulcers and 27 days (range 5 to 119) for the surgical wound group. Median lengths of stay in the early treatment groups were 85 days (range 11 to 239) for pressure ulcers and 57 days (range 7 to 119) for the surgical group versus 166 days (range 60 to 657) and 87 days (range 31 to 328), respectively, for the late treatment pressure ulcer and surgical groups (P \u3c0.0001). After controlling demographic patient variables, regression analysis indicated that for each day NPWT initiation was delayed, almost 1 day was added to the total length of stay (β = 0.96, P \u3c0.0001 [pressure ulcers]; β = 0.97, P \u3c0.0001 [surgical wounds]). Early initiation of NPWT may be associated with shorter length of stay for patients receiving home care for Stage III or Stage IV pressure ulcers or surgical wounds. Additional studies to ascertain the cost-effectiveness of treatments and treatment approaches in home care patients are needed

A Case Report of a Coronary Artery Aneurysm as a Rare Complication of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

A 60-year-old man presented with typical chest pain of the New York Heart Association function class III. The patient mentioned a history of stroke, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and gastrointestinal bleeding. Angiography revealed a total cut in the mid-portion of the left anterior descending (LAD), a total cut in the ostial portion of the second branch of the diagonal branch of the left circumflex artery (LCX) as well as significant segmental stenosis in the mid-portion of the LCX, and also a significant lesion in the mid-portion of the right coronary artery (RCA). He was scheduled for a multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The LAD was wired with a 0.014-PILOT 150 guidewire, and 2 drug-eluting stents were deployed in the LAD. Six weeks later, the patient experienced chest pain again, despite receiving full medical treatment. The next angiography showed an unexpected pseudoaneurysm, in the mid-portion of the LAD exactly at the site of the stenting performed in the previous PCI. We considered coronary artery bypass grafting given the high possibility of thrombosis in the LAD and the presence of lesions in the RCA and the LCX. Conclusions Coronary aneurysms, albeit rare after PCI, can be life-threatening complications. Early diagnosis can be lifesaving. Chest pain after any intervention should flag up complications, especially in the absence of response to medical treatment. Regular follow-ups are the key to the diagnosis of any complications in the golden time for treatment. © 2020, Iranian Heart Association. All rights reserved

Surgical management of iatrogenic occluded left pulmonary artery

A 4-year-old boy developed dyspnea 18 months after attempted surgical patent ductus arteriosus closure using a clip that was inadvertently placed on the left pulmonary artery, followed by reoperation to repair the left pulmonary artery with a patch and re-close the ductus. Computed tomography angiography confirmed a large patent ductus arteriosus, left pulmonary artery occlusion, and patent left pulmonary veins. Therefore, a third surgery was performed for suture closure of the ductus and left pulmonary artery repair with an interposition tube graft. Follow-up by transthoracic echocardiography and computed tomography angiography showed good flow in the left and right pulmonary arteries. © The Author(s) 2018

Frequency of reoperation due to bleeding and its related factors after adult cardiac surgeries

Background: Reoperation due to bleeding in adult cardiac surgeries is an important postoperative complication that increases mortality and morbidity. Studying the risk factors and outcomes of reoperation in these patients is imperative. Methods: The present descriptive (cross-sectional) study performed a 3-month assessment of patients that underwent elective cardiac surgeries (coronary or valve surgeries or both). The inclusion criterion was being an adult undergoing elective cardiac surgeries on cardiopulmonary bypass (coronary or valve surgeries or both), and the exclusion criteria consisted of congenital heart diseases, cardiac surgeries without cardiopulmonary bypass, emergency cardiac surgeries, aneurysm and aortic dissection surgeries, known causes of bleeding due to acquired or congenital diseases, and redo cardiac surgeries. Results: Of 740 patients studied, 55 (7.43) patients returned to the operating room due to bleeding. Of these 55 patients, 74.5 had bleeding due to surgical operations, 23.6 due to tamponade, and 1.8 due to coagulation disorders. Apropos risk factors, there was a significant relationship between the international normalized ratio (INR) and bleeding after cardiac surgeries leading to reoperation (P = 0.05). Conclusions: In this study, 7.43 of the patients returned to the operating room because of bleeding, which is an acceptable percentage according to the literature. There was a significant relationship between preoperative INR and postoperative bleeding resulting in reoperation. © 2020, Iranian Heart Association. All rights reserved