OBJECTIVE: Current American Academy of Neurology (AAN) guidelines for outcome prediction in comatose survivors of cardiac arrest (CA) have been validated before the therapeutic hypothermia era (TH). We undertook this study to verify the prognostic value of clinical and electrophysiological variables in the TH setting. METHODS: A total of 111 ...

OBJECTIVE: In-hospital cardiac arrest or refractory shock carries a high mortality despite the use of advanced resuscitative measures. We have implemented an in-hospital, nurse-based, continuously available, percutaneous, venoarterial cardiopulmonary bypass system, also known as extracorporeal life support (ECLS), as an adjunct to resuscitation when initial measures are ineffective. METHODS: In ...

Acute heart failure (AHF) has a poor prognosis. We evaluated 3- and 12-month mortality in different clinical classes of AHF patients from 30 European countries who were included in the EuroHeart Failure Survey (EHFS) II. Follow-up data were available for 2981 AHF patients, of these 62% had a history of ...

BACKGROUND: A prospective study of survival, functional outcome, living arrangements, daily activities and leisure engagements among octogenarians up to 5 years after cardiac surgery was performed. METHODS: The study consisted of a cohort of 300 consecutive octogenarians with three interviews made at 6-month intervals for a total of 593 postoperative ...

N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) levels have been shown to be increased at baseline in patients undergoing surgical ventricular restoration (SVR) of the left ventricle. However, changes in the values of this marker in the early postoperative period and its prognostic significance remain less known in these patients. We evaluated ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Current models used to stratify patients with heart failure are complex, difficult to use, and limited by short follow-up and patient selection. Our aim was to determine predictors of long-term survival in patients hospitalized for heart failure and to develop a simple mortality risk score to estimate ...

A left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV) > or =60 mL/m(2) has been shown to be associated with increased cardiac mortality after a reperfused myocardial infarction (MI). The reduction in LVESV following surgical ventricular reconstruction (SVR) is reported to be between 19% and 50% but its impact on prognosis is not ...

PURPOSE: This study compared the respiratory status before and during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients receiving venovenous (VV) and venoarterial (VA) ECMO to evaluate the choice of ECMO in patients with respiratory failure. METHOD: Between January 2003 and December 2007, 16 patients with respiratory failure required ECMO. Venovenous bypass ...

BACKGROUND: Cardiocerebral resuscitation (CCR) is reportedly superior to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for primary cardiac arrest in the prehospital setting. This study was done using a swine model of prolonged ventricular fibrillation (VF) to quantify the effect of the emergency medical services component of CCR with intraosseous access (CCR-IO) compared with ...

This study was designed to compare 24-h survival rates and neurological function of swine in cardiac arrest treated with one of three forms of simulated basic life support CPR. Thirty swine were randomized equally among three experimental groups to receive either 30:2 CPR with an unobstructed endotracheal tube (ET) or ...

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to evaluate differences in patient presentation and short- and long-term outcomes between patients dichotomized by the level of preoperative s-creatinine (s-crea) without renal failure and to use EuroSCORE (ES) risk stratification for validating differences and for predictive purposes. METHODS: A thousand consecutive cardiac ...

Few studies have assessed the long-term effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with advanced heart failure (HF) and previously right ventricular apical pacing (RVAP). To assess the clinical and hemodynamic impact of upgrading to biventricular pacing in patients with severe HF and permanent RVAP in comparison with patients ...

BACKGROUND: The long-term prognostic implication of post-procedural hematocrit drops in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization outside the clinical trial setting is not well defined. METHODS: Data was prospectively collected from 12,661 patients undergoing diagnostic or interventional cardiac catheterization between July 1998 and July 2006. Patients were divided into three cohorts based ...

Postoperative psychiatric disorders (PPDs) may complicate the post-surgical outcome. We analysed the types, incidences, risk factors and outcomes of the PPDs in non-cardiac thoracic surgery patients. All patients (n=100) undergoing major non-cardiac thoracic surgery from January 2004 to March 2005 were investigated prospectively. The diagnosis of PPD was made based ...

The incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is often underestimated and not intuitively present by many anesthetists. POCD often occurs in the elderly but is also seen in younger patients. The incidence of POCD 1 week after non-cardiac surgery covers a span between 19-41% in patients older than 18 years. ...

To determine the associations between postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) and plasma concentrations of stable nitric oxide products [nitric oxide index (NOi)]. Prospective study. Academic hospital. 28 ASA physical status I, II, and III physical status patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgery. Cognitive assessment was performed preoperatively and postoperatively at 4 days ...

BACKGROUND: Intraoperative hyperglycemia has been found to be associated with a higher incidence of postoperative infections in the adult cardiac surgery population. The goal of this study was to determine the association of intraoperative hyperglycemia and postoperative bacteremia in the pediatric population. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of all cardiac ...

Severe pulmonary hypertension (PH) in heart failure (HF) is a risk factor for adverse outcomes after heart transplantation (HTx). Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) improve pulmonary hemodynamics, but our understanding of the degree of improvement and the effect on outcomes is still evolving. We reviewed invasive pulmonary hemodynamics from 58 ...

Sternal instability, dehiscence and mediastinitis are major causes of morbidity and mortality in cardiac surgery. The aim of this analysis is to determine the effect of a Posthorax support vest (Epple Inc, Vienna, Austria) after median sternotomy. One thousand five hundred and sixty cases were included in a prospective randomized ...

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to define more completely the clinical spectrum and consequences of stress cardiomyopathy (SC) beyond the acute event. BACKGROUND: Stress cardiomyopathy is a recently recognized condition characterized by transient cardiac dysfunction with ventricular ballooning. METHODS: Clinical profile and outcome were prospectively assessed in 136 consecutive SC ...

The aim of the present study was to compare the influence of preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with postoperative CRT on the incidence and types of postoperative complications in rectal cancer patients who underwent sphincter-saving resection. We reviewed 285 patients who received preoperative CRT and 418 patients who received postoperative CRT between ...

We sought to determine the efficacy of postoperative oral sildenafil therapy (OST) in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). A retrospective review of 45 postoperative patients with CHD who received OST was performed. Patients were categorized into three groups according to clinical indications: (1) to stabilize pulmonary vascular reactivity ...

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic hypothermia has been proven to be effective in improving neurological outcome in patients after cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation (VF). Data concerning the effect of hypothermia treatment on long-term survival however is limited. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical and outcome data of 107 consecutive patients undergoing therapeutic hypothermia ...

BACKGROUND: An encephalocele is a herniation of the brain and the meninges through a skull defect protruding towards the exterior. The condition is not rare when compared to spinal dysraphisms, but the worldwide incidence is not precisely known. The cases involving occipital encephaloceles which we have diagnosed in our clinic ...

INTRODUCTION: Preoperative quantification of survival after transplantation would assist in assessing patients. We have developed a preliminary preoperative scoring system, called the Cambridge-Miami (CaMi) score, for transplantation of the small intestine either alone or as a composite graft. METHODS: The score combines putative risk factors for early-, medium-, and long-term ...

BACKGROUND: Fluids are often given liberally after the return of spontaneous circulation. However, the optimal fluid regimen in survivors of cardiac arrest is unknown. Recent studies indicate an increased fluid requirement in post-cardiac arrest patients. During hypothermia, animal studies report extravasation in several organs, including the brain. We investigated two ...

The aim of this study was: echocardiographical assessment of cardiac alterations in late-preterm newborns with hypoxic respiratory failure (HRF), and, study serum pentraxin-3 (PTX-3) in relation to the severity of respiratory impairment and to some echocardiographic parameters (i.e. ejection fraction (EF), stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO). We enrolled ...

Intra-dialytic hypotension (IDH) affects as many as 15-50% of patients during hemodialysis. Several treatment approaches and preventative methods are available. These therapeutic options are often ineffective and cumbersome, and some of the causative factors such as poor cardiac reserve are commonly not amenable to any therapy. Enhanced external counter pulsation ...

BACKGROUND: Advanced age is considered a relative contraindication to heart transplantation, but there is no published consensus on critical age in the case of mechanical circulatory support (MCS). This single-center study investigated outcomes of elective versus emergent implementation of permanent MCS in the elderly. METHODS: Between January 1, 2006 and ...

To evauluate the relationship between propionic acidemia (PA) and cardiomyopathy. We retrospectively compared clinical and metabolic results of patients with PA with and without cardiomyopathy. Of 26 patients with PA who survived the first year of age, a dilated cardiomyopathy developed in 6 (group 1) at a median age of ...

We report the somatic growth characteristics of 60 infants who underwent corrective surgery for congenital heart disease. Patients were assigned to the following groups: Group 1, cyanosis with pulmonary hypertension (PH); Group 2, cyanosis without PH; Group 3, large left-to-right shunt and PH; and Group 4, left-to-right shunt or obstructive ...

This study verified the daily TISS-28 score in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery at a cardiology intensive care unit. This cohort study included 55 postoperative cardiac surgery patients, who were sent to the intensive care unit to recover. Data were collected from patients records with daily application of the ...

Objective. To analyze the effect of basic resuscitation efforts on gasping and of gasping on survival. Methods. This is secondary analysis of a previously reported study comparing continuous chest compressions (CCC CPR) versus chest compressions plus ventilation (30:2 CPR) on survival. 64 swine were randomized to 1 of these 2 ...

Undressing the chest of a cardiac arrest victim may delay the initiation of chest compressions. Furthermore, expecting laypeople to undress the chest may increase bystander reluctance to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Both of these factors might conceivably decrease survival following cardiac arrest. Therefore, the aim of this study was to ...

Neuron specific enolase (NSE) has been proven effective in predicting neurological outcome after cardiac arrest with a current cut off recommendation of 33 microg/l. However, most of the corresponding studies were conducted before the introduction of mild therapeutic hypothermia (MTH). Therefore we conducted a study investigating the association between NSE ...

Despite diagnostic and therapeutic improvements, mortality rates in patients with cardiogenic shock remain relatively high. Several studies showed that cardiogenic shock is associated with alterations in the microvascular circulation. These alterations may be reversed by extracorporeal support devices. A study by Munsterman and colleagues adds to the body of evidence ...

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate pediatric residents' ability to correctly identify electrocardiogram (ECG) findings and pair them to a corresponding cardiac diagnosis. Forty-six pediatric residents from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center were surveyed to evaluate their ability to interpret ECGs and factors affecting that ability. Included ...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of the time interval from collapse to return of spontaneous circulation (CPA-ROSC) in cardiac arrest patients and the types of patients who will benefit from therapeutic hypothermia. Four hundred witnessed adult comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of cardiac ...

To describe the use and feasibility of therapeutic hypothermia after pediatric cardiac arrest. Retrospective cohort study. Pediatric tertiary care university hospital. Infants and children (age 1 wk to 21 yrs) without complex congenital heart disease with return of spontaneous circulation after in-hospital or out-of-hospital cardiac arrest from 2000 to 2006. ...

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a potentially fatal genetic disorder typified by a deficiency (type I) or dysfunction (type II) of the C1-inhibitor (C1-INH) and characterized by swelling of the extremities, face, trunk, abdominal viscera, and upper airway. Type III is normal estrogen-sensitive C1-INH HAE. Bradykinin, the main mediator of HAE, ...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP)-guided therapy with those of intensive clinical management and with usual care (UC) on clinical outcomes in chronic symptomatic heart failure. BACKGROUND: Initial trial results suggest titration of therapy guided by serial plasma B-type ...

BACKGROUND: In patients with sickle cell trait or disease, reduced life expectancy and a tendency for complications are believed to negatively affect likelihood of survival after open heart surgery. The aim of this study was to review retrospectively the perioperative results of patients undergoing cardiac surgery at our institution. METHODS ...

The Children's Cancer Group enrolled 13 298 young people age <21 years on 1 of 16 protocols between 1983 and 2002. Outcomes were examined in three time periods, 1983-1988, 1989-1995, 1996-2002. Over the three intervals, 10-year event-free survival (EFS) for Rome/National Cancer Institute standard risk (SR) and higher risk (HR) ...

AIM OF THE STUDY: To identify the optimal level of hypothermia during cardiac arrest, just prior to resuscitation with an extracorporeal cooling system and without fluid overload, for neurological outcome at day 9 in pigs. METHODS: In a prospective randomised laboratory investigation, 24 female Large White pigs (31-38 kg) underwent ...

AIM: To analyze the correlation between preexisting comorbidity and other clinicopathological features, short-term surgical outcome and long-term survival in elderly patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: According to age, 403 patients operated on for CRC in our department were divided into group A (< 70 years old) and group B ...

The purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of (11)C-acetate positron emission tomography (PET) for assessing the efficacy of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Enrolled in this study were 20 patients with severe heart failure. All patients underwent 11C-acetate PET within 1 week after CRT. The oxygen consumption was ...

Renal failure (RF) represents a major postoperative complication for elderly patients undergoing cardiac surgery. This observational cohort study examines effects of preoperative use of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors on postoperative renal failure in aging patients undergoing cardiac surgery. We retrospectively analyzed a cohort of 1287 patients who underwent cardiac surgery ...

BACKGROUND: The prognostic value of troponin T for midterm outcome in cardiac surgery is insufficiently known. We aimed to assess the value of troponin T to predict 12-month outcome after cardiac surgery, as a single predictor and in combination with the European system for cardiac operative risk evaluation (EuroSCORE). METHODS: ...

Free radicals play an important role in the inflammatory process of sepsis. We hypothesized that edaravone, a novel free radical scavenger, can suppress pathophysiological events and prolong survival in a neonatal sepsis cecal ligation and perforation (CLP) model. Of 32 3-day-old anesthetized and mechanically ventilated piglets, 11 received CLP only, ...

To update and expand Rubey and McIntosh's (1996) survivors of suicide support groups report, SPAN USA completed a survey of U.S. support group leaders (n = 100; 24% completion). There are now more survivor groups (from 280 to 417), and the majority of groups now have a survivor leader (78% ...