Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E Hazan.
A hydatid cyst of the heart is rare. Surgical treatment is the preferable method in the treatment of cardiac echinococcosis. A 27-year-old patient with right ventricular hydatid cyst causing recurrent pulmonary emboli and diagnosed by 2-dimensional echocardiography and treated surgically is presented.
Complete repair was undertaken in 28 infants with severe forms of tetralogy of Fallot because severe cyanosis or anoxic spells. Age at operation ranged from 8 days to 11 months (mean: 4,4 months). Among the 24 cases without any other intracardiac defect, there were 6 early deaths related in 4 cases to a wrong indication or a technical error. Re-investigation was performed in 14 out of the 18 survivors from 3 weeks to 6 months post-operatively: the result is good in 10 cases, fair in 1 case, and poor in 3 cases requiring twice a reoperation with 1 further death and 1 good final result. More accuracy in selecting the surgical patients and improvement in operative techniques should result in a further decrease of our early mortality rate. Primary complete repair should therefore become a substantial alternative to the palliative shunts which results seem to be hazardous in the more severe types of the defect.
The malformations requiring valve fitted prosthetic tubes in the pulmonary outflow tract were mainly persistent truncus arteriosus and pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect in this series. The surgical mortality before 18 months was 75% and 19% after this age. The long-term clinical result (average follow up period: 2,5 years) was good or acceptable in 20 of the 32 survivors. There were 5 late deaths and 6 reoperations. The main causes of long-term failures were progressive pulmonary hypertension without shunt, acquired stenoses on the prosthesis and late infection. It is important to assess poor results by catheterisation as reoperation is frequently possible with a relatively low mortality rate (1/6) and encouraging results.
The incidence of complications after aorto-coronary bypass surgery were studied in a series of 55 patients in relation to the duration of extra-corporeal circulation and the value of myocardial protection. The length of the period of extra-corporeal circulation played a significant role in the onset of complications whilst there was no significant difference between the group of patients operated upon under hypothermia and those in normothermia.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The authors present a case of sub-annular aneurysm of the left ventricle in a child of 7. It was associated with aortic incompetence, a ventricular septal defect, and coarctation of the aorta which were discovered during investigation of streptococcal septicaemia. As a first stage procedure, the aortic valve was repaired, the aneurysm was excised, and the ventricular septal defect closed. At a later stage, the coarctation was resected. The question of whether this lesion was congenital or acquired is discussed. After one year, the result remains satisfactory.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The au;hors report 12 cases of Fallot' tetralogy with stenosis or obstruction of one of the two branches of the pulmonary artery following palliative anterior anastomosis. The complications of correction by open heart surgery include the frequent incidence of pulmonary hypertension, which was responsible for 4 deaths. No satisfactory explanation could be found for these poor results. It is desirable to avoid the creation of asymetry in pulmonary blood supply in Fallot's tetralogy and, if such should be found, suggestions are made for its correction by open heart surgery in order to improve the prognosis.
The authors report 21 cases of congenital mitral incompetence undergoing surgery between 1972 and 1977. There were 3 operative deaths and 2 late deaths. Of the survivors, 10 had a good result and 5 a fair result. The factors influencing the results have been associated lesions (aortic stenosis and ventricular septal defects are more serious than atrial septal defects and abnormalities of origin of the left coronary artery), the type of repair (which is better if it seeks to correct the frequently complex valvular abnormality at all levels), and especially the degree of dilatation of the left ventricle. By contrast, age had no influence either on the operative risk or on the quality of the results.
Recent progress in the surgical treatment of malformations after transposition has been dealt with has been made in three directions: 1. By knowledge of the position of the conducting pathways in relation to ventricular septal defects, so that total atrioventricular block, the first complication of this type of surgery, may be avoided; 2. By appreciation of the proximity of the conductive pathways to the elements contributing to pulmonary stenosis, which may contra-indicate direct removal of such stenosis. In such a case, a valved tube must be placed between the sub-pulmonary ventricle and the pulmonary artery; 3. By appreciating the frequency, the difficulty in diagnosis and the grave consequences of failing to recognise lesions of the atrioventricular valves, with the result that their systematic investigation should form part of the operative technique.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Isolated ventricular discordance is a very rare malformation, most often lethal in the first months of life. A patient with this lesion survived to age 9 years in spite of the coexistence of a complete form of atrioventricular (A-V) canal. Surgical repair with a Mustard procedure was associated with correction of the endocardial cushion defect. Situs inversus itself caused no problem. Although permanent complete A-V block occurred, the result has been satisfactory so far. This case is thought to be the first successful correction of this malformation.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
To be correctly done, closure of a ventricular septal defect must be sound, and must also avoid damage to the conducting tissue. These two essentials are somewhat contradictory, since in order to avoid the bundle of His in its position along the postero-inferior edge of the ventricular septal defect (VSD) in the membranous septum, the sutures inserted into this region must be superficial, and therefore weak. It is for this reason that the published series continue to show evidence of a significant number of post-operative shunts and atrio-ventricular blocks, as much in the closure of isolated VSDs as in the treatment of Fallot's tetralogy. This paper compares two techniques of suturing the prosthetic material which is used to close the VSD: the classical technique, in which it is intended to avoid the bundle of His by working below it, on the right side of the interventricular septum, and a different technique in which the sutures are applied directly to the free edge of the interventricular communication.
The two case reports are of children of 10 and 8 years of age with an ostium primum defect, with a mitral cleft and a stenotic fibrous ring below the aortic orifice. In the first case, the cause of the obstruction to left ventricular ejection was found at catheterisation, and in the second case it was an operative finding. In both cases there were large gradients, about 100 mmHg. The subaortic blockage was resected in both cases. A review of the literature has not revealed any similar case.
A case is reported of hypoplasie of the right ventricle with a wide atrial septal defect in a child of 10. The presence of cyanosis with right atrial and left ventricular preponderance led us to suspect tricuspid atresia, but this was excluded by catheterisation and angiocardiography. There was definitely and atrial septal defect with a two-directional shunt, but the tricuspid valve could be negotiated, and the right-sided opacity provided the essential diagnostic criterion, namely hypoplasia of the sinus portion of the right ventricle with a normal infundibulum. 17 other published cases of hypoplasia of the right ventricle with atrial septal defect are reviewed. The current indications for surgery are discussed in the light of the nature of the disordered physiology. Simple closure of the atrial septal defect, which was carried out successfully in 3 cases, appears to be of great value in the larger child, when there is a wide defect.