Search

Copyright of Cardiology Letters is the property of Slovak Society of Cardiology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: Based on a longtime voluntary registry founded by the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic in 2012, well-defined data of all adult cardiac surgery procedures performed in Slovakia at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases during the year 2020 are analyzed. Material and method: For this period, a total of 1021 procedures were submitted to the registry from the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases. Results: The unadjusted in-hospital survival rate for the 401 isolated coronary artery bypass grafting procedures including urgent and emergency procedures (relatioship on-/off pump 4.5:1) was 97%. For isolated 306 isolated heart valve procedures (30 transcatheter interventions), it was 96.4%. Concerning ventricular assist devices, 11 implantations were registered. In 2020 the number of isolated heart transplantations increased to 26, a rise of 44.4% compared to the previous year. Conclusion: This annual registry represents voluntary public reporting by accumulating actual information for nearly all heart procedures in Slovakia, constitutes advancements in heart medicine, and represents a basis for quality management. In addition the registry demonstrates that the provision of cardiac surgery in Slovakia is up to date, appropriate, and fulltime nationwide patient treatment is guaranteed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cardiology Letters is the property of Slovak Society of Cardiology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Cardiology Letters is the property of Slovak Society of Cardiology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aim: To evaluate survival and to analyse causes of mortality and morbidity in patients after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. To conceive our current strategy of LVAD use in the treatment of heart failure (HF). Patients and methods: One hundred and twenty-seven patients (88% men) were analysed. Mean age was 49.6 ± 11.7 years. All patients were in NYHA class IV, left ventricular ejection fraction was 18.4 ± 5.4%, and cardiac index 1.8 ± 0.5 L/min/m2. At the time of implant, 74% of patients were inotrope-dependent (Intermacs profile 1-3), 15% of patients were in cardiogenic shock (Intermacs 1). LVAD implant strategy was bridge to transplant in 53%, bridge to decision in 42%, and destination therapy in 5% of patients. Results: Mean duration on LVAD was 426 days. Twelve months after implantation, 57% of patients were alive on LVAD, 17% underwent heart transplant, and 26% of patients died. Two years after implantation 40% of patients were alive on LVAD, 31% underwent heart transplant, and 29% of patients died. The most frequent cause of hospital mortality was bleeding (46%). Pump thrombosis and multi-organ failure were the most frequent causes of long-term mortality (23% each). Driveline infections were the dominant reason for rehospitalisation (27%). Conclusions: Due to long-term experience with LVAD implantation with favourable results and a lower activity in our transplant programme, we prefer an early LVAD implant to an uncertain, and presumably long, waiting period for an appropriate donor in the case of haemodynamic instability of a transplant candidate. In the assessment of transplant urgency, patients with similar circulatory status who cannot receive an LVAD are prioritized over those with an implanted LVAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this case series we present our initial experience with the implantation of the SynCardia total artificial heart (TAH) in three patients, the first of which was the first SynCardia TAH implantation in the Visegrad Four (V4) countries. The first and the third patients, after 195 and 126 days of TAH support respectively, experienced successful heart transplants, while the second patient on postoperative day 11 died due to a ruptured undiagnosed brain aneurysm. Our results show that the SynCardia TAH is an alternative therapy in patients with severe end-stage biventricular heart failure waiting for heart transplantation. It is an intermediate step until the development of genetically modified animal hearts, engineered bioartificial hearts or hearts from induced pluripotent stem cells could replace the failing heart in patients with end-stage heart disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cardiology Letters is the property of Slovak Society of Cardiology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Cardiology Letters is the property of Slovak Society of Cardiology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Cardiology Letters is the property of Slovak Society of Cardiology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)