A 44-year-old man presented with cardiogenic shock secondary to acute functional mitral incompetence as well as septic shock related to pneumonia. The patient deteriorated haemodynamically despite adequate medical therapy. An echocardiogram revealed a massive mitral incompetence and an ejection fraction of 32%. An intra-aortic balloon pump was placed and the patient improved dramatically. On da...

Postoperative coronary arterial spasm is a rare but potentially fatal complication. A 51-year-old male patient with a history of a reactive ergonovine stress test coronary angiogram developed refractory coronary artery spasm after undergoing minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafting of the left anterior descending coronary artery. The patient was successfully managed with rapid ...

Thangam and associates [1] report the case of an unfortunate elderly male with history of coronary artery disease who developed an acute myocardial infarction due to occlusion of the right coronary artery. This was complicated by the development of a ventricular septal defect and refractory heart failure requiring implantation of cardiac devices including intra-aortic balloon pump, ventricular ...

A study was conducted to measure and compare the levels of hemolysis generated by an intravenous membrane oxygenation device referred to as the Intravenous Membrane Oxygenator (IMO) in previous literature. The device is comprised of several hundred hollow fiber membranes of approximately 40 cm in length that are woven in a fabric and wrapped around a centrally positioned balloon. The balloon, w...

Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antagonists are well established for their effectiveness in improving clinical outcomes in acute coronary syndrome patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. Acute profound thrombocytopenia is a rare complication of abciximab. We present a case which was managed successfully for the rare complication of acute profound thrombocytopenia after using abciximab and...

BACKGROUND Flecainide is an antiarrhythmic agent which is being used increasingly for the management of super-ventricular arrhythmias. Overdose with flecainide is frequently fatal with mortality reported as high as 22% due to arrhythmias, myocardial depression and conduction defects leading to electro-mechanical dissociation and asytole. Supportive measures are often required during the case an...

The computer modem technology being developed by Datascope Corporation for the purpose of off-site intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) monitoring was clinically evaluated in 30 patients requiring IABP support. The Datascope System 95 model IABP with built-in modem was used on all patients. Remote communications via a personal computer with modem were conducted under both routine and emergency sett...

Subjects: 174 adults who had cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Subjects undergoing off-pump surgery, aged <18 years, or with relative contraindications to the use of the esophageal Doppler probe, such as esophageal disease, were excluded. Subjects were also excluded postoperatively if on admission to intensive care there was excessive bleeding, unstable arrhythmias, a need for intra-...

BACKGROUND Liver dysfunction during on-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is a rare complication but is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The ability to identify high-risk patients may be helpful in planning appropriate management strategies. We aimed to evaluate the factors influencing liver function tests during on-pump CABG. METHODS In 146 patients schedule...

abstract background: this study sought to determine patient characteristics, process of care, and outcome as predictors of reintubation after open-heart surgery. methods: we performed a retrospective case control study that included all patients undergoing cardiac surgery who required reintubation and an equal number of control patients not requiring reintubation. putative risk factors were ana...