Objective To evaluate outcomes of vacuum sealing drainage（VSD）for the treatment of wound infection after cardiac surgery.?Methods?We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 70 patients（with valvular heart disease，congenital heart disease or coronary heart disease）who underwent cardiac surgery via mid-sternotomy and had postoperative wound infection from Jan. 2008 to Jan. 2012 in General Military Hospital of Guangzhou Command. According to different treatment strategy for wound infection, all the patients with wound infection （incision longer than 5 cm） were randomly divided into VSD group （n=35） and control group（n=35） by random number table，while VSD treatment was used for patients in VSD group and routine treatment was used for patients in control group. Treatment outcome，duration of wound infection, duration of antibiotic treatment and treatment cost were compared between the two groups.?Results?There was no in-hospital death in both groups. Wound exudate significantly decreased and fresh granulation tissue grew well in the wound in most VSD group patients after VSD treatment. The cure rate of VSD group was significantly higher than that of control group （94.3% vs. 60.0%，P＜0.05）. Duration of wound infection （12.9±3.4 d vs. 14.8±4.1 d；t=-2.094，P=0.040）and duration of antibiotic treatment （7.0±1.5 d vs. 8.3±1.9 d；t=-2.920，P=0.005） of VSD group were significantly shorter than those of control group. There was no statistical difference in treatment cost between the two groups. Fifteen patients in VSD group were followed up （42.9%） for 3 months with good wound healing, and 20 patients in VSD group were lost in follow-up.?Conclusion?VSD is effective for the treatment of wound infection after cardiac surgery with shortened treatment duration and similar treatment cost compared with routine treatment.
Abstract: The cyanotic congenital heart defect remains a focal point to study in congenital heart diseases. A successfully developed model of cyanotic congenital heart defect can contribute to a profound advancement of clinical diagnosis and treatment. Various kinds of animal models simulating cyanotic heart diseases have been created and improved step by step , such as experimental pulmonary arteriovenous fistulas, inferior vena cava-left atrium shunt, pulmonary artery-left atrium shunt and breeding animals in mionect ic environment. As an important means, they are used to investigate the animal’s pathophysilolgocal characteristics in cyanotic and hypoxic state. However, it need a further exploration since these models are not fully perfect yet.
Abstract: Objective To observe the combined protective effects of U50 488H and hypothermia preservation on isolated rabbit hearts preconditioned. Methods Forty rabbits were randomly divided into five groups, 8 rabbits in each group. The perfusion model of isolated rabbit hearts was established by the Langendorff device. In the control group: the isolated rabbit hearts were preserved with the University of Wissconsin solution (UW ) for six hours; groupI : the isolated rabbit hearts were preconditioned with St. ThomasII cardioplegic solution containing U50 488H (1. 6mmo l/L ) and then preserved with hypothermic preservation for four hours; groupII ; the precondition was the same as group II , hypothermic preservat ion fo r six hours; group III : the precondit ion was the same as group I , hypothermic preservation for eight hours; group IV : the precondit on was the same as group I , hypothermic preservation for ten hours. The cardiac function, myocardial sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ion adenosine triphosphatase (SRCa2+ -ATPase) act ivity and calcium ion concentrations in mitochondria were determined at thirty minutes after reperfusion. Results As the hypothermic preservation time increased from four to ten hours, the recovery rate of each index of cardiac function, coronary artery flow (Cf) and SRCa2+ -ATPase activity also decreased, but the calcium ion concentrations in the mitochondria increased. Cardiac function index recovery rates in group I and group II w ere higher than those in group III and groupIV respectively (P lt; 0. 05, 0. 01) ,meanwhile recovery rates of cardiac function index in group III were higher than that in group IV (P lt; 0. 05). Recovery rate of Cf in groupII ( 84. 56%±10. 38%)were higher than those in group III (79. 45%±9. 67% ) and group IV (68. 31%±6. 84% , P lt;0.01) , meanwhile the recovery rate of Cf in group III was higher than that in group IV (P lt; 0. 05). SRCa2+ -A Tpase activity in group II (4. 43±0. 41μmo l/m g?h)were higher than those in control group (3. 04±0. 22Lmo l/mg?h ) , group III (3. 26±0. 29Lmo l/m g?h) and group IV (2. 57±0. 63Lmo l/m g?h, P lt; 0. 05) , SRCa2+ -ATPase activity in group III was higher than that in group IV (P lt; 0. 01). The calcium ion concentrations in mitochondria in group II (38176±4. 30μmo l/g ?dw ) and in the control group (40. 23±3. 75μmol/g ?dw )were less than those in group III (43125±5116μmol/g?dw ) and groupIV (45. 78±3. 26μmol/g?dw , P lt; 0. 05, 0. 01) respect ively. Conclusion The hypothermic preservation time for isolated dono r’s hearts p re-treated with St. Thomas II cardioplegic solution containing U 50 488H should the kep tunder 8h. The myocardial protection effects of both UW solution and U50 488H- containing St. Thomas II cardioplegic solution on isolated dono r’s hearts appear to be the same at 6 hours.
Abstract： Quality of life （QOL） refers to an individual’s perception and subjective evaluation of their health and well-being, and has become an important index to evaluate the outcomes of clinical treatment in the last past decades. There are a large number of different instruments to evaluate QOL, and the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey （SF-36） is currently one of the most widely used instruments. In recent years, SF-36 has been used to evaluate QOL of valvular heart disease patients to investigate the risk factors those influence their postoperative QOL, provide more preoperative evaluation tools for clinical physicians, and improve postoperative outcomes of patients with valvular heart disease. However, it is now just the beginning to use SF-36 to examine QOL of valvular heart disease patients. Because of significant differences in sample size, follow-up period, country and culture, current research has some controversial results. This review focuses on the progress in evaluating QOL in postoperative patients with valvular heart disease using SF-36.
Objective To summarize our experience of cardiovascular surgery for patients dependent on dialysis, and evaluate its safety and efficacy.?Methods?Clinical data of 10 consecutive patients dependent on maintenance dialysis underwent cardiovascular operations between Dec. 2004 and April 2011 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were analyzed retrospectively. There were 6 male and 4 female patients, aged between 23 to 71 （57.6±13.2） years. They were put on dialysis 3-98 （25.2±30.6） months prior to operation due to diabetic nephropathy in 6 patients, chronic glomerulitis in 3 patients and systemic lupus erythemus in 1 patient, and 8 were dependent on hemodialysis and 2 on peritoneal dialysis. Five patients underwent coronary artery bypass grafting, one underwent Bentall procedure，two underwent aortic valve replacement, one underwent mitral valve replacement, and one underwent superior vena cava thrombectomy and patch repair. Patients underwent dialysis on the day before elective operation, followed by continuous ultra-filtration during cardiopulmonary bypass, and then bedside heparin-free continuous veno-venous hyperfiltration-dialysis started 5-32 hours after the operation. Conventional peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis was resumed 4-7 days after operation.?Results?All operations were successfully completed. Cardiopulmonary bypass time was （125.8±33.5）minutes, aortic clamp time was（77.2±25.5） minutes. One in-hospital death occurred due to septic shock after deep chest wound infection. One patient underwent re-exploration due to pericardial temponade to achieve hemostasis. Three patients experienced atrial fibrillation and were all converted to sinus rhythm by amiodarone. Nine patients recovered to discharge and were followed-up for 8-76 months. Two late deaths occurred due to intracranial hemorrhage and liver carcinoma respectively. Seven survived patients were all in New York Heart Association grade II functional class, and none of them experience major advertent cardiac events related to grafts or prosthetic valve. One patient switched to hemodialysis 14 months after discharge due to peritonitis.Conclusion?Cardiovascular surgery can be practiced in patients dependent on maintenance hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis with appropriate peri-operative management, so that symptoms can be relieved and quality of life improved.
Objective To investigate clinical diagnosis，timing of surgery and perioperative therapeutic strategies for blood culture-negative infective endocarditis （IE）. Methods Clinical data of 240 IE patients who were admitted tWuhan Asia Heart Hospital between July 2008 and July 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. According to their blood cultureresults，all the patients were divided into blood culture-negative group and blood culture-positive group. In the blood culture-negative group，there were 158 patients including 88 male and 70 female patients with their age of 51.3±10.1 years. In the blood culture-positive group，there were 82 patients including 45 male and 37 female patients with their age of 48.9±9.8 years. All the patients underwent surgical treatment，and the surgical procedures included complete vegetations excision，debridement of infected valves，removal of necrotic tissue around the annulus，and concomitant heart valve replacement or intracardiac repair. Postoperatively，all the patients received routine monitoring in ICU，cardiac glycosides，diuretics，other symptomatic treatment and adequate dosages of antibiotics for 4-6 weeks. Results Four patients died postoperatively in this study including 1 patient for low cardiac output syndrome and 3 patients for multiple organ dysfunction syndrome，1 patient in the blood culture-positive group and 3 patients in the blood culture-negative group respectively. There was no statistical difference in surgical mortality between the 2 groups （χ2=0.15，P=0.70）. All the other patients were discharged successfully and followed up for 6 to 36 months with the median follow-up time of 22 months. During follow-up, 2 patients died including 1 patient for cerebral infarction 2 years after surgery and another patient for cerebral hemorrhage 3 yearsafter surgery. Conclusion Patients with blood culture-negative IE should receive adequate dosage and duration of broad-spectrum antibiotics to control the infection rapidly, and aggressive surgical therapy to decrease in-hospital mortality and improve their quality of life and prognosis.