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Wir berichten uber eine Patientin, bei der aufgrund rezidivierender pulmonaler Metastasierung eines malignen Triton-Tumors mehrere thoraxchirurgische Interventionen in unserer Klinik durchgefuhrt wurden und eine Uberlebensverlangerung der Grunderkrankung erreicht werden konnte. Die Krankengeschichte der Patienten und die pathologischen Merkmale dieser Tumorentitat werden dargestellt.

Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) therapy before open heart surgery has been suggested for ''high risk'' patients.Records from patients undergoing open heart surgery at our institution between June 1999 and February 2002 were reviewed. Indication for IABP insertion was severely impaired left ventricular function, acute myocardial infarction (MI) or unstable angina.Fifty-five patients were included in the study: 41 male, 14 female, age 64+/-9 years. Fifty-one (92.7%) required coronary artery bypass brafting (CABG) alone or as a combined procedure, 2 (3.6%) required mitral valve surgery, and 2 (3.6%) needed more complex cardiac procedures. Thirty-two patients (58%) underwent emergency cardiac surgery and 11 patients (20%) suffered from acute preoperative MI. The overall 30 days mortality was 9%. Mean intensive care unit (ICU) stay was 6+/-8 days. Four patients (7.2%) developed postoperative renal failure requiring temporary hemodialysis. Three patients (5.4%) developed IABP related peripheral vascular complications.Perioperative morbidity and mortality is increased despite preoperative IABP, particularly in patients with acute MI. In contrast to studies not using this approach, preoperative IABP reduces morbidity and mortality of high risk patients. IABP related complications are low. Our data suggest that high risk patients profit from preoperative IABP therapy, however, prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.

We report on a 24 year old man with a Novacor left ventricular assist device (LVAD) who underwent long-term treatment with intravenous recombinant hirudin due to a heparin induced thrombocytopenia (HIT II) after suffering from an ischemic stroke.

We report the case of a 22-year-old woman suffering from peripartum cardiomyopathy who was successfully bridged to cardiac transplantation with a Novacor left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Her course with the device is presented and emphasis is put on the size mismatch between the patient and the device, a fact which normally precludes the implantation of the Novacor LVAD.