INTRODUCTION Surgical closure of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in cases with pulmonary hypertension, a short and wide PDA, and/or calcification of the wall of the vessel can be a hazardous procedure. The use of extracorporeal circulation provides the necessary safety for effective closure. METHODS Four patients (one male), aged 7, 22, 54 and 60 years old, underwent PDA closure. All had pul...

This case report describes the first patient with avascular necrosis of the femoral head of Association Research Circulation Osseous stage IV, treated with radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy. By contrast, previous studies demonstrated the efficacy of a single treatment of focused extracorporeal shock wave therapy in improving pain and Harris Hip Scale in patients with avascular necrosis o...

It is now accepted that certain intracardiac operations are best accomplished with the aid of a mechanical pump-oxygenator for the extracorporeal circulation and oxygenation of blood. There is not general agreement on either the theory or practice of establishing the extracorporeal circulation. Perhaps at this stage there is merit in recording some of the conclusions arrived at by one group aft...

BACTERIAL ENDOCARDITIS following intracardiac surgery for congenital defects with use of extracorporeal circulation is a new entity, as old only as open intracardiac surgery. The reported experience is therefore meager. Suggestions regarding its pathogenesis, recognition, behavior, management, and prevention are few. Heins and Lindel reported five cases of bacterial endocarditis in a series of ...

Human blood contains a form of minimally modified low density lipoprotein (LDL), termed LDL-, whose origin remains unknown. Exploring the mechanism of formation, we found that LDL- can be produced in plasma in the absence of oxygen following LDL incubation with oxidized hemoglobin species. A high degree of apolipoprotein B100 modification results from covalent association of hemoglobin with LDL...

The experience gained in the investigation of 100 cases of cardiac surgery treated by use of extracorporeal circulation has shown that certain simple laboratory tests suffice to detect induced defects in the blood and to guide therapy. These tests have been devised to detect the level of circulating heparin during perfusion; the presence of residual heparin following perfusion; the existence of...

INTRODUCTION Patients on dialysis for end-stage renal failure are subjected to cardiac surgery with increasing frequency. End-stage renal failure is known to be an important risk factor for complications of cardiac operations performed with cardiopulmonary bypass. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of preoperative clinical status and operative variables on perioperative morbidity...

TWO cases of ventricular fibrillation (VF) under general anesthesia during noncardiac surgery are presented. Although both patients were refractory to conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), they were rescued using a percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) system without any complications. We emphasize the importance of emergency extracorporeal circulation with PCPS as a life-savi...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The effects of hemodialysis on the cerebral circulation of humans and the correlation between changes in blood flow velocity in the basal cerebral arteries and those of several physiological variables influenced by hemodialysis have been inadequately studied. METHODS Blood flow velocities were obtained from the middle cerebral artery and the basilar artery by transcrani...

THE TECHNOLOGY of implantable vascular prostheses and extracorporeal circulation is now commonplace in modern medicine. The essential function of this technology is the passage and/or processing of blood in some manner, and this inevitably requires intimate and prolonged contact between the blood and various manmade devices, e.g., pumps, valves, tubing, membranes, etc. Some systems, such as the...