PURPOSE Deep sternal wound complications after cardiac surgery have an incidence of 2 to 8% and carry a significant mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of thermo-reactive Nitinol clips on the incidence of postoperative deep sternal wound complications. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed 1119 consecutive patients that underwent major cardiac surgery via median sternoto...

Corresponding author: Yücel Özen, M.D. Kartal Koşuyolu Yüksek İhtisas Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Kalp ve Damar Cerrahisi Kliniği, 34844 Cevizli, Kartal, İstanbul, Turkey. Tel: +90 505 872 76 56 e-mail: [email protected] Objectives: This study aims to compare the effectiveness of the sternal cable system (Cable group) with the standard monofilament system (Wire group) in the sternal closu...

Despite the latest advances in surgery, radiological assessment, and radiotherapy treatment, the incidence of glioblastoma (GBM) is roughly comparable to that of mortality, and the prognosis is almost always related to intracranial progression after surgery or radio-chemotherapy. The incidence of extracranial metastases of GBM are rarely reported in the literature, –4 and there is still no expl...

Few reports in the literature have documented the isolation of Ureaplasma species from sternal wounds. A case of sternal wound infection likely due to Ureaplasma parvum is described. When routine bacterial cultures from a sternal wound infection fail to yield a pathogen, diagnostic testing for mycoplasmas and ureaplasmas should be considered.

Sternal instability with mediastinitis is a very serious complication after median sternotomy. Sternal dehiscence repair together with debridement of the infected tissue is the mainstay of therapy where various modalities are employed. Here, we report the use of titanium plate for sternum stabilization in a patient with sternal dehiscence and superficial wound infection.

Sternal osteitis, a potential consequence of cardiac surgery, remains rare. The bacteria involved belong mostly to the genus Staphylococcus. Sternal infections caused by Serratia marcescens are exceptional. We report an unusual recurrence of sternal infection with S. marcescens, 15 years after the initial episode. The identities of the isolates were determined by genomic analysis.

Method Methods and outcomes of sternal closure were reviewed in consecutive patients undergoing a variety of cardiothoracic surgical procedures. Sternal closure in the historical control group was performed using trans-sternal, stainlesssteel wire sutures; subsequent patients were closed using wire sutures together with a novel, peristernal cable-tie closure system to reinforce the corpus stern...

OBJECTIVES Mechanical complications of median sternotomy may cause significant morbidity and mortality in cardiac surgical patients. This study was aimed at assessing the role of Posthorax support vest (Epple, Inc., Vienna, Austria) in the prevention of sternal complications and the improvement of anatomical healing in patients at high risk for mechanical sternal dehiscence after cardiac surger...