BACKGROUND The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) provides aeromedical care to patients during fixed-wing transport over vast distances to healthcare unavailable in rural or remote communities. This study examined the relationship between changes in local accessibility to primary healthcare services and rates of aeromedical service use over time. METHODS This was a 13-year interrupted time-se...

We present a series of 130 consecutive patients operated for aortic valve replacement (AVR) using the standard MIRA prosthesis between January 1999 and March 2001. Most of the patients were male (sex ratio = 2) with a mean age of 61.5 +/- 9.5 years. The prosthesis was implanted using the continuous suture technique. The mean diameter of the implanted prostheses was 23 mm. This series was compos...

OBJECTIVE Early recurrency after surgery for acute endocarditis is a life-threatening complication. Allograft valves are supposed to have a higher resistance to recurrent infection, thus several authors claim them to be the replacement device of choice in cases of aortic endocarditis. However, allografts have two major drawbacks: their availability is limited, and most of the patients require r...