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The authors have gone through the complaints concerning all the cases of shoulder accidents at work filed by the Genoa office of the Italian Workers' National compensation Agency (INAIL) during the two years' period 2006-2007, reviewing in particular those somehow affecting rotator components. The aim of this paper is to assess the real role played by the occupational trauma in the rotator cuff tear. The data gathered so far have shown, on the one hand, a high prevalence of pre-existing inflammatory and degenerative diseases and, on the other, a rather modest influence of the trauma which, for this reason, has usually borne, as an immediate medico-legal consequence, the rejection of a cause-effect relationship between the accident and the rotator cuff lesion, without taking into any account whether the worker was likely to be affected by an occupational disease (ex table Ministerial Decree n. 81 April 9th 2008- item 78). In such cases a systematic and in-depth investigation of the occupational case history is suggested, in order to highlight the possible pre-existence of a former biomechanical overload of the upper limbs, so as to allow the physician to detect a pathology often misdiagnosed.

Primary benign tumors of the heart are particularly rare; cardiac hemangioma is one of the most rare primary benign cardiac tumors. Natural history, symptoms and prognosis of the disease depend on the potential complications due to the location and diffusion of the mass. We report on 2 cases of cardiac hemangioma, diagnosed occasionally in the first patient or due to gastroenteric symptoms in the second patient. The diagnosis was obtained by 2-D-echo and magnetic resonance imaging. In both cases the hemangioma was located on the right ventricle. Both patients underwent tumor resection in hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. In one case, a graft to the right coronary artery was associated; in the other case, the right ventricular outflow tract was reconstructed with an infundibular patch. Histology showed mixed hemangioma in one case and cavernous hemangioma in the other. The postoperative course was uneventful. At a follow-up of 8 years and 1 year, respectively, both patients are classified as NYHA 1 and both 2-D-echo and magnetic resonance imaging did not show any residual tumoral mass. This experience demonstrates that, depending on their location, benign neoplastic masses may be radically resected with acceptable operatory risks and excellent long-term results.

Retrograde thrombosis of the carotid bifurcation rising from an intimal flap of the external carotid artery represent a rare complication of carotid surgery. We present the case of a patient who had undergone carotid thromboendarterectomy (TEA) whose postoperative course was complicated by the appearance of left hemiplegia and coscience disorders. The timely diagnosis of acute carotid thrombosis and the immediate reoperation prevented neurological deficits becoming settled. An attentive intraoperative evaluation of carotid bifurcation showed only the presence of an intimal flap of the external carotid artery from which a big occluding thrombus, involving the bifurcation, rose. The internal and common carotid arteries showed a successful result of the TEA and a good retrograde flow through the internal carotid artery. The authors underline the existence of this perioperative complication and the need for a timely recognition and treatment to avoid serious neurologic consequences.

Methods: To determine the mortality and the morbidity of cardiac surgery in patients on chronic hemodialysis, we retrospectively reviewed eighteen adult patients (13 males and 5 females) with a mean age of 54.7 years (range: 30-67 years) who underwent cardiopulmonary bypass procedures between 1987 and 1995. The operations included: isolated coronary artery bypass grafting in 12 patients, coronary artery bypass grafting plus mitral ring annuloplasty in 1 patient, mitro aortic valve replacement in 2 patients, isolated aortic valve replacement in 1 patient, aortic valved conduit implantation in 1 patients and mitral valve replacement plus tricuspid annuloplasty in 1 patient. There were 10 and 3 patients in CCS functional classification III and IV respectively; 1 and 4 patients were in NYHA classification II and III respectively. All of them were hemodialyzed the day before surgery: the average time they had been on hemodialysis was 6.5 years. Anesthesia and the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in these patients required attention in order to provide the optimal fluids and electrolytes balance: particularly intravenously administered fluids were kept to a minimum and drug dosages were reduced to recommended levels for anephric patients. An hemoconcentrator was used in all patients during the CPB and, in the last 4 cases, we used a dialysis filter and a sterilized perfusional solution to reduce the level of potassium and to put off postoperative dialysis., Results: In three patients there were major bleeding problems resulting in reoperation; 5 perioperative deaths occurred: two of them due to myocardial infarction and three due to irreversible low cardiac output state. In our experience there were four late deaths: one patient died four months after surgery for chronic heart failure, another one died twelve months after surgery for dilated cardiomyopathy and two patients died respectively seventeen and seventy two months after discharge for myocardial infarction. Two of the remaining patients reported recurrence of angina while the others achieved symptomatic improvement., Conclusions: In conclusion, cardiac surgery is performed on chronic renal dialysis patients with high mortality and morbidity and it's indicated only if medical treatment is ineffective. The successful surgical results, obtained with an adequate management between surgeons, anesthesiologists and nephrologists, don't assure the long-term survival of the patients.

Brucella infective endocarditis is an uncommon, but serious complication of brucellosis. The aortic valve is the most commonly affected cardiac valve, and a fearful complication is the formation of aortic root abscess. Due to the characteristics of the infection, medical therapy alone is not sufficient in treating the disease and best results are achieved in combination with surgery. We describe 2 cases of brucella endocarditis involving the aortic valve. Aggressive treatment, with surgery performed during a period of active infection, produced good results in eradication of infection and in preventing fatal complications such as rupture of aortic root abscesses.

Thirty-seven patients with ventricular tachyarrhythmias refractory to antiarrhythmic drug treatment, guided by electrophysiological testing, were submitted to implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator by the transvenous technique. Mean age was 55 +/- 14 years and the underlying heart disease was coronary heart disease in 24 patients, cardiomyopathy or other etiologies in 11 patients. In 2 patients ventricular arrhythmias were idiopathic. Left ventricular ejection fraction was < or equal to 40% in 65% of the patients. The following devices were implanted: CPI Ventak P in 2 patients, Ventak P2 in 9 patients, Ventak PRx in 9 patients, Ventak PRxII in 2 patients, Telectronics Guardian ATP III 4215 in 9 patients, Siemens Siecure in 5 patients, Medtronic Jewel PCD in 1 patient. At implantation defibrillation threshold was lower with biphasic shocks than with monophasic shocks (17.0 +/- 3.2 vs 20.9 +/- 3.8 J, p < 0.003) and the need for subcutaneous patches was lower when biphasic shocks were employed. Operative and perioperative mortality were 0% and no significant complications were observed. During the follow-up (16 +/- 11 months) 35% of the patients had appropriate shocks and 93% of the patients with antitachycardia pacing availability (n = 15) had effective antitachycardia pacing interventions. The following complications were observed: lead failure in 4 patients (3 insulation breaks and 1 elongation for stretching), late lead dislodgement in 2 patients, lead recall in 1 patient, all of which required reintervention. Inappropriate shocks occurred in 30% of the patients and were related to lead failure, supraventricular arrhythmias or alternating current interference. During the follow-up one patient died of sudden death and one was submitted to heart transplantation. In conclusion, implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator by the transvenous technique is a procedure relatively free from complications. During the follow-up lead failure appears to be one of the most relevant complications. Antitachycardia pacing allows effective termination of ventricular tachycardias without cardioversion, with a better compliance.

Due to the considerable progress made by instrumental total body diagnostics (ECO, CAT, RMN, angiography, etc.) in recent years heart surgery has increasingly often been used to treat pathologies which are not primarily cardiac but which see the involvement of the heart and large vessels in the advanced stages of cancer and non-cancer diseases of other organs or apparatus. This is the case of malignant renal or adrenal tumours which infiltrate along the caval lumen until they reach the right atrium. In these cases caval and atrial involvement must be seen as a prolapse of the tumour and not a long-distance metastasis: prognosis only appears to be linked to the hemodynamic impairment caused by the obstacle to systemic lower venous drainage. On the bases of this observation radical surgery may be justified at a renal, caval and cardiac level. The authors report their preliminary experience in 6 patients with renal cancer (4 renal carcinoma, 1 Wilm's tumour, 1 adrenal carcinoma) who underwent combined surgery, in a single stage, involving enlarged nephrectomny and caval and atrial thrombectomy, the latter performed in profound hypothermia and cardiocirculatory arrest. Two patients died later and 4 are living, in good condition and with perviousness of the lower caval venous drainage. Similar to other analogous experience reported in the literature, the authors suggest taking a combined approach performed in a single stage into consideration for these patients.

This paper describes the clinical features of two patients with chronic renal failure and uremic anaemia treated with recombinant human erythropoietin (9000 I.U. subcutaneously subdivided in 3 times weekly at the end of haemodialysis treatment) who developed seizures and status epilepticus. This treatment has unequivocal benefits but in some patients has been accompanied by elevated blood pressure leading to hypertensive encephalopathy with seizures. In fact, the correction of the anaemia results in a rise in packed cell volume with a consequent increase in blood viscosity, predisposing to increased vascular resistance and the development of hypertension.

Between January 1980 and May 1990 17 patients underwent surgery for prosthetic valve endocarditis at Cardiosurgical Department of Bologna University. Ten patients were female and seven male, the average age was 33 years (range 19 to 67 years). The interval from valve replacement to onset of symptoms of prosthetic valve endocarditis was less than 2 months in 5 patients and longer than 2 months in 12 patients. Sixteen of 17 infected prostheses were mechanical and one biological. All patients were surgically treated and the infected prostheses replaced with new valve prostheses. The hospital mortality rate for early prosthetic valve endocarditis was 60%, for late endocarditis was 16.5%, global hospital mortality was 29.4%.

New technique of anatomical correction of transposition of the great arteries (TGV) with ventricular septal defect (VSD) and pulmonary stenosis (PS) without using a prosthetic conduit was reported by Lecompte in 1982. We analyse our recent experience with this procedure in three patients and we describe the main advantages and the wide surgical indications with reference to the Rastelli procedure.

At the Laennec Hospital in Paris, between 1976 and 1980 twenty-two children with Truncus Arteriosus Communis (TAC) underwent primary total repair during the first twenty-four months of life, according to the technique described by McGoon in 1968. All infants operated before the age of three months (group A: 7 patients) were in severe cardiac insufficiency with respiratory distress. Eleven patients (group B) were electively operated between four and nine months of age. Only four patients (group C) underwent surgical treatment after twelve months and before twenty-four months of age. The hospital mortality was very high in group A, because of the severity of the preoperative conditions. In three patients who underwent total repair at eight and eighteen months of age respectively, irreversible pulmonary hypertension (stage IV according to Edwards classification) was the cause of death. In our experience, severe postoperative myocardial ischemia was often associated with complete atrio-ventricular block (BAV): the possible causes are discussed. Furthermore, all patients, to a variable extent, had some manifestations of left ventricular (LV) insufficiency, which was always reversible after medical treatment. For several days, almost systematically, mechanical ventilation is necessary after a total repair of TAC. The result in the nine surviving patients is excellent: they had a strictly normal life, without any therapy. In conclusion, we believe that elective surgery for TAC can be performed more safely between six and nine months of age: if medical treatment cannot control heart failure, surgery must be performed urgently in order to avoid severe ventilatory disturbances. After twelve months of age, total repair is performed only if a pulmonary biopsy confirms the possibility of regression of the pulmonary vascular lesions.

To assess the effects of left ventricular aneurysmectomy (l.v.a.) on left ventricular function (l.v.f.), a prospective clinical and hemodynamic study has been performed in nineteen patients (pts) operated on from 1979 to 1983. There where no operative deaths and only one late death during follow-up. A significant improvement in NYHA class was observed in 68% of the pts, 16% worsened, and the clinical status in the remaining 16% was unchanged. Hemodynamic data showed an increase in e.f. (33 +/- 12% to 43 +/- 10%; p less than 0.001), a reduction of the percentage of the abnormally contracting left ventricular segments (66 +/- 23% to 57 +/- 23%; p less than 0.05) and no significant changes of left ventricular end diastolic pressure. Revascularization index (nr. of bypassed vessels/nr. of stenotic vessels) and graft patency rate were low (0.57 and 0.72 respectively). No significant relation was noted between clinical and hemodynamic findings in the postoperative study. We conclude that l.v.a. is associated with an improvement of l.v.f. (mainly in e.f. and segmental wall contractility) and of clinical status of the pts but without a direct relation between these two parameters.

The aim of this study was to investigate the protective efficacy of potassium cardioplegia in general moderate hypothermia, in five pigs, after 90 minutes of myocardial ischemia induced by extracorporeal circulation (ECC) and aortic clamping. The behaviour of subendocardial supply demand ratio (DPTI/TTI), of CSBF (coronary sinus blood flow) and numerous hemodynamic parameters was evaluated in addition to lactate myocardial metabolism changes, at rest, after 90 minutes of total ECC and during a 60 minutes reperfusion period. The reperfusion period included two phases: during the first (15-20 minutes) the animals were in ECC with unclamped aorta; spontaneous circulation was instituted during the second one (40 minutes). A marked increase in CSBF was observed at aortic clamp removal during the first phase (post ischemic reactive hyperemia). Coronary sinus lactate release was also noted, probably due to wash-out of previously sequestered acid metabolites during aortic clamping (90 minutes). At the onset of the second phase a depressed left ventricular performance and low DPTI/TTI values were shown. A rapid return (20 minutes) to normal values of this parameter was then noted. DPTI/TTI normalization results strictly correlated to the progressive improvement in myocardial performance. Hypothermic potassium cardioplegia seems therefore to prevent the irreversible myocardial damage and favour a fast recovery of cardiac function.

Supravalvular aortic stenosis (SAS) is an unusual form of progressive left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction, frequently associated with others vascular and physical anomalies. Between July 1980 and July 1986 eight such patients have been operated upon. In seven patients patch aortoplasty (according to McGoon or Doty technique) relieved the stenosis; in one, a two years old boy, with associated severe hypoplasia of the ascending aorta and aortic arch, a left ventricle (LV) - abdominal aorta valved conduit was associated to aortoplasty. One patient died in the operating room with a severe anterior myocardial infarction; seven patients are in good clinical condition at a mean follow-up of 32 months. The aortic supravalvular gradient was dramatically reduced in all patients according with Doppler echocardiography. In our mind, patients with SAS would benefit from an early surgical repair, because of progressive involvement of the aortic valve, coronary arteries and LV. The surgical technique is strictly related to the anatomical situations. Per and postoperative management should rely on the pathophysiology peculiar to this malformation (especially about coronary perfusion). Taking care to these points, the surgical results at a mid term follow-up are now very satisfactory in this cardiac malformation.

The aortic coarctation is frequently associated with aortic arch tubular hypoplasia, especially in early infancy. The treatment in one time of both lesions is mandatory in these cases. We propose therefore a new surgical technique: after resection of the isthmic coarctation and appropriate cutting of both ends, the anastomosis is widely extended in the concavity of transverse aortic arch, beyond the hypoplastic region. We discuss the advantages of this technique over the classic end-to-end anastomosis, patch graft and subclavian flap angioplasty.

The AA report an isolated case of chylopericardium in an 11 years old female as anomalous communication between the thoracic duct and pericardium. The origin of this clinically asymptomatic effusion was observed after lynphography, where, two months later a simple surgical drainage was applied without success. A positive result was obtained by a new surgical procedure which consisted of a pleuro pericardial window. The AA. emphisise on a very rare case of spontaneous pericardial effusion not accompanied by lynphatic stasis in other districts (only 32 observations in Literature). An accurate lynphographic study is obligatory once the nature of the liquid has been accertained in order to avoid a certain recurrence when a simple drainage is applied.

Infectious endocarditis involving intracardiac prosthesis continues to be a common and dangerous complication of cardiac surgery, but the incidence and severity of the disease are probably underestimated in this country. 14 cases of prosthetic endocarditis observed in a 5 years period are reported in this paper. 7 were early cases and 7 late cases. Etiology, clinical course, and pathological lesions, were similar in the two groups, while mortality was higher in the first group (100%) than in the second (85%). Delay in the diagnosis, negative blood cultures in a third of all cases, and doubts in indications for surgery, were the main reasons for a higher mortality than usual. Only one patient was reoperated on, unsuccessfully, but no patient who had not improved after two weeks of correct antibiotic treatment, survived; such cases, especially if diagnosis has been late and/or blood cultures negative, should be reoperated on without delay. The greatest efforts should be made in the prevention of the disease and, in particular, pre-operative and late post-operative prophylaxis should become more rigid and systematic.

The haemodynamic indices proposed by Buckberg et al. have been used to evaluate total coronary flow and its distribution to the subendocardial tissue. The following conclusions were drawn from the data obtained in humans and in experimental pathology: 1) in regional ischaemia (angina, myocardial infarction), the DPTI/TTI ratio expresses the degree of subendocardial hypoperfusion with fair approximation, although it has some theoretical limitations, 2) in total myocardial ischaemia, as occurs during ECC, the index provides an accurate picture of the subendocardium and a useful idea of the real effectiveness of the means of myocardial protection.

76 patients affected by acute ischemic encephalopathy due to i.c.a. occlusion have been examined through a Doppler nosography, in order to evaluate the influence of the type of collateral circle on the neurologic damage. Collateral circles between the external and internal carotid arteries were established through the ophthalmic artery in 80% of cases (A) and through the Willis circle in 70% of cases (B). Those two types of compensation do not seem to have prognostic value with regard to disability; on the contrary a remarkable difference was observed in the type of pathology (A = Stroke 40%, RIA 60%; B = 77%, RIA 23%).