OBJECTIVE Sternal dehiscence is commonly due to wire cutting through bone. With a biological model, we measured the rate of cutting through bone, of standard steel wire closure, peristernal steel wire, figure-of-eight closure, polyester and sternal bands sternotomy closure techniques. METHODS Polyester, figure-of-eight, peristernal and sternal band closures were tested against standard closur...

Abstract Background Traumatic ventricular septal defects are life threatening complications of blunt or stab chest trauma. The standard care is surgical closure secondary percutaneous due to high risk because recent sternotomy. Case summary We present a 22-year-old male with an ice pick related defect. It was successfully closed by primary approach. After 5 months the echo doppler shows no resi...

Atrial septal defects (ASDs) in adults and adolescents are not uncommon. Surgical ASD closure through a standard median sternotomy (SMS) has become less attractive approach favor of minimally invasive techniques, especially young female patients.

Background The sternum (breastbone) is a long, flattened bone, laying vertically and constituting the middle part of the anterior wall of the thorax. It is clinically important for us, because median sternotomy is the most common surgical approach used in cardiac surgery. It has three parts named from above to downward; manubrium, corpus and xiphoid. Its average length in the adult is about 17 ...

Minimally invasive approach for aortic valve surgery has been developed since 1995, reducing the complications related to the full sternotomy. We have introduced a new method for central cannulation that reduces the length of surgical incision for the aortic valve replacement through upper mini-sternotomy. To improve the surgical view without enlargement of the incision, two small additional in...

We present a case of a large thymoma with invasion to the hilum of the lung and pleural dissemination. A 58-year-old woman was diagnosed with a type B2 thymoma, with suspected pericardium, pulmonary artery and left lung invasion and pleural metastasis (Masaoka-Koga stage IVb). A radical resection was planned after systemic chemotherapy. Through a median sternotomy, we resected the tumour, and a...

Objectives: The technical aspects of minimal invasive surgery are discussed, together with a comparison of off-pump MIDCAB with offpump sternotomy, with special respect to outcomes of death, infarct and anastomoses. Methods: Technical aspects of beating heart surgery are described under the headings: Trauma; Access; Stabilisation; Ischaemia; Haemostasis; Suturing; and Circulatory support. Data ...