BackgroundThe aim of this multicenter retrospective study was to compare early and midterm clinical hemodynamic results aortic valve replacement with rapid-deployment bioprostheses performed through conventional full-sternotomy vs mini-sternotomy.MethodsData from the Italian registry (INTU-ITA registry) were analyzed. Patients divided into 2 groups: full sternotomy (FS) ministernotomy (MS). Pri...

Introduction: Retrosternal goitres require surgical removal due to compressive symptoms as well risk of malignancy. In a majority, the retrosternal part can be removed through neck incision, while 5-10% requiring sternotomy. An alternative sternotomy is thoracoscopy, which associated with reduced morbidity. Methods: The approach used resect goiters in our unit over period two years was evaluate...

full aseptic technique including gown and gloves might be regarded as best practice. It is common practice also to give additional antibiotics and a povodine-iodine washout although we could identify no studies other than uncontrolled cohort studies in support of this. TD. Infectious complications and cost-effectiveness of open resuscitation in the surgical intensive care unit after cardiac sur...

Although innominate artery transection for innominate artery compression of the trachea is recently used for prevention of life-threatening complications (e.g. massive bleeding and obstructive apnoea) in patients with neurological disorders, pre-existing tracheostomy poses a risk of mediastinal infection with sternotomy. We successfully performed innominate artery transection on such a patient ...

A 46-year-old man stabbed himself with a knife. While he was stable, frontal and lateral chest radiographs were obtained (Fig. 1). Following a cardiac arrest, emergency sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass were performed. The acute margins of the heart and diaphragm were lacerated. The knife passed 5 mm posteromedial to the inferior vena cava (Fig. 2). Recovery was uneventful. Figure 1: Fronta...

An alternative technique for minimally invasive aortic valve replacement and atrial septal defect repair is described. After a 5-cm skin incision, a key-lock type sternotomy is made. Excellent exposure of the right atrium and aortic valve was achieved. The configuration of the mini-sternotomy (or the lock) limits the movement of the sternal surfaces (or the key) on the lateral and craniocaudal ...

BACKGROUND We hypothesize that for the excision of benign cardiac masses, a minimally invasive approach through a right minithoracotomy is safe and feasible, and has lower resource utilization when compared with a standard median sternotomy. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 39 consecutive patients who underwent benign cardiac mass excision at our institution between December 1999 and April...

OBJECTIVES Mechanical complications of median sternotomy may cause significant morbidity and mortality in cardiac surgical patients. This study was aimed at assessing the role of Posthorax support vest (Epple, Inc., Vienna, Austria) in the prevention of sternal complications and the improvement of anatomical healing in patients at high risk for mechanical sternal dehiscence after cardiac surger...

BACKGROUND While common in cardiac surgery, median sternotomy (MS) is rarely required in general paediatric surgery. In the era of advancing endoscopic techniques, sternotomy is perceived as an extremely invasive incision, associated with prolonged postoperative recovery and significant morbidity. METHODS We conducted a retrospective chart review of all children undergoing MS for non-cardiac ...