Introduction Transcatheter valve-in-valve replacement is an attractive alternative to redo open-heart surgery for failing bioprosthetic valves and is increasingly being performed in patients with high surgical risk. Unlike the robust data on aortic valve-in-valve replacement, limited experience with tricuspid valve-in-valve replacement has been reported. Moreover, the feasibility and safety of ...

Heart surgeon Miro Košak was a pioneer of modern cardiovascular surgery in Slovenia; in 1958, he performed the first open-heart surgery with extracorporeal circulation, in 1965, the first implantation of heart valve and pacemaker, and in 1971, the first bypass on coronary arteries. He also paved the way for heart transplantations that followed.

BACKGROUND Heart valve diseases are common with an estimated prevalence of 2.5% in the Western world. The number is rising because of an ageing population. Once symptomatic, heart valve diseases are potentially lethal, and heavily influence daily living and quality of life. Surgical treatment, either valve replacement or repair, remains the treatment of choice. However, post-surgery, the transi...

BACKGROUND Hereditary spherocytosis is a genetic, frequently familial hemolytic blood disease characterized by varying degrees of hemolytic anemia, splenomegaly, and jaundice. There are few reports on adult open-heart surgery for patients with hereditary spherocytosis. CASE PRESENTATION We report a rare case of an adult open-heart surgery associated with hereditary spherocytosis. A 63-year-ol...

Chronic heart failure has become a significant health problem. Cardiac surgery has an important role in the treatment of patients with heart failure. There are traditional surgical techniques in cardiac surgery - coronary revascularization, valve surgery, ventricular reconstructive surgery as well as new surgical techniques - cardiac support device (CorCap), mechanical circulatory support and r...

Method Between January 2008 and December 2009, 200 patients who had undergone a left heart valve replacement were analysed for the degree of TV regurgitation at the end of five years. 162 patients had undergone a Mitral valve surgery and 38 patients had undergone a double valve replacement. Group I 40 patients had a concomitant TV repair (Modified de Vaga’s annuloplasty) during the primary surg...

Dehiscence of the valve is a serious complication of prosthetic heart valve replacement. It has grave consequences unless promptly diagnosed and corrected by surgery. We report the case of a symptomless patient with near-complete detachment of the aortic prosthesis, diagnosed by radiography and two-dimensional echocardiography. This was confirmed at surgery and the dehisced prosthetic valve was...

BACKGROUND There has been limited success in establishing Open Heart Surgery programmes in Nigeria despite the high prevalence of structural heart disease and the large number of Nigerian patients that travel abroad for Open Heart Surgery. The challenges and constraints to the development of Open Heart Surgery in Nigeria need to be identified and overcome. The aim of this study is to review the...

OBJECTIVES To describe the early and late outcomes of carcinoid patients undergoing surgical heart valve replacement. METHODS In a retrospective study, records of patients with symptomatic carcinoid heart disease referred for valve surgery between 1993 and 2010 at two academic centres were reviewed. The perioperative and postoperative outcomes were analysed. RESULTS Nineteen patients, with ...