Search

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether serum levels of intestinal type fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP) are related to intestinal ischemia in patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery., Methods: The study was planned as prospective, observational. Elective coronary artery bypass candidate patients between ages of 50 and 70 were consecutively included in the study. Thirty-five patients scheduled for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) were identified as the CPB group and 16 patients not scheduled for CPB were identified as the off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB) group. The variables between and within the groups were analyzed with Student's t, Mann-Whitney U, Friedman and Wilcoxon tests respectively., Results: In both CPB and OPCAB groups, I-FABP level at the end of the operation was significantly higher than that noted at the beginning of the operation (p<0.005). In the CPB group, there was a significant drop in I-FABP from the end of the operation to each of the postoperative time points (12(th) hour and 24(th) hour) (respectively p<0.001, p<0.001). In the OPCAB group, the I-FABP levels at both postoperative time points were lower than that at the end of the operation (p<0.001), and the level at 24-hour post-surgery was significantly lower than at both the end-of-operation I-FABP value (p<0.001) and the 12-hour post-surgery I-FABP value., Conclusion: Since we have not observed any intestinal ischemia through our research, slight changes of I-FABP measurements make us believe that I-FABP would be a valuable way to monitor for intestinal ischemia in patients who undergo cardiac surgery.

Objective: Life-threatening arrhythmias and sudden death remain to be serious late complications after correction of tetralogy of Fallot. The aim of this study was to detect ventricular arrhythmia incidence and to find out the relationship between ventricular arrhythmia and the transannular and infundibular patch repair techniques to correct tetralogy of Fallot. That is still unpredictable exactly., Methods: Thirty-nine patients with mean age of 12.1+/-3.1 years were studied prospectively for 7.1+/-2.1 years after operation. They were all investigated with electrocardiography, echocardiography, treadmill and Holter monitorization. Right ventricular functions, exercise capacity and arrhythmia patterns were assessed. Lown criteria were used for grading the arrhythmia patterns. QRS duration, QT dispersion and QT dispersion indexes were calculated., Results: Follow up time was 5 to 13 years in both groups. All QT dispersion times and indexes were within normal ranges and there were no differences between two groups. Holter and treadmill studies did not reveal during any ventricular arrhythmia risk in the study and control groups., Conclusion: Seven years of follow-up after correction of tetralogy of Fallot revealed that transannular patch reconstruction is not a cause of tendency for ventricular arrhythmia according to Lown criteria, QT dispersion, QT dispersion indexes and QRS duration do support the results of previous studies.