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J Szefner

Publications and source records attributed to J Szefner.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Clinical application and patient selection in the use of a total artificial heart as a bridge for transplantation.

Between April 1986 and July 1987, 21 patients underwent orthotopic implantation of a total artificial heart (Jarvik 7) at La Pitié Hospital. There were 18 men and 3 women with a mean age of 37.3 +/- 11.4 years. The device implanted was the 70 ml version in 10 patients and the 100 ml version in 11 patients. In the results, three variables were analysed: age, acute myocardial decompensation or chronic myocardial failure, and aetiology of the 21 patients treated. 10 (47.6%) had adequate support and were successfully transplanted. Eleven patients (52.4%) died during circulatory support. The main causes of death were sepsis and multiple organ failure. In only one patient was a mismatch between the heart and chest cavity present. There was no clinical evidence of thromboembolic complications. Patients of 40 years of age and less have an 80% chance of being successfully transplanted in comparison with a 25% success rate in older patients. Patients that developed sudden cardiac decompensation have a 75% success rate for transplantation in comparison with 44.4% success rate in patients with a chronic illness. Early implantation of the device, before the development of irreversible damage in other organs, is recommended in younger patients with acute or chronic disease and in older patients with acute myocardial failure. The use of this device is contraindicated in immunosuppressed patients due to the high risk of infection.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[Heart-lung transplantation].

In this study the transplantation group of La Pitié Hospital, Paris, review heart-lung transplantation on the basis of data from the literature and of their own experience. Successively, the history, indications, pre-operative evaluation, donor selection, operative procedure with its immediate, mid-term and late complications, as well as treatment and post-operative follow-up are described.

Heart Transplantation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Peripheral extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients with posttransplant cardiac graft failure.

INTRODUCTION: We sought to report the usefulness of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in heart transplant patients. PATIENTS: Between March 2002 and August 2004, 14 heart transplant patients (11 men and three women, 36 +/- 15 years old, range = 12 to 50) with primary graft failure underwent peripheral ECMO implantation. Three patients had pulmonary hypertension and three had been transplanted with hearts from marginal donors. At the time of implantation, all were in severe cardiogenic shock despite maximal inotropic support. In six patients, the ECMO was implanted in the operating room since cardiopulmonary bypass could not be weaned. In the eight remaining patients, ECMO was implanted in the intensive care unit, during the first 48 hours in seven cases. In one patient, implantation was performed during external resuscitation. In all cases, femoral vessels were canulated using the Seldinger technique after anterior wall exposure. Distal arterial perfusion of the lower limb was systematically used. RESULTS: Pump outflow was high enough in all the cases (mean: 2.6 +/- 0.2 L/min/m(2)). Three patients died on circulatory support. One patient was implanted with a total artificial heart after a few hours and another one underwent unsuccessful emergent retransplantation. Nine patients were weaned from ECMO after a mean duration of 5 +/- 2.5 days. Among them, one died of infection at 10 days after weaning and seven others were discharged to rehabilitation centers. CONCLUSION: Fast operating room or bedside implantation of a peripheral ECMO allows the physician to stabilize the hemodynamic status of patients with cardiac graft failure, potentially leading toward myocardial recovery.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mechanical circulatory support as a bridge to transplantation: current status of total artificial heart in 1989 and determinants of survival.

Since April 1986, 40 total artificial hearts (TAH) were implanted as a bridge to transplantation in our institution. In an attempt to identify factors affecting survival of TAH recipients we reviewed our experience over 1000 days of mechanical support. There was no postoperative bleeding requiring surgery nor were there any clinical episodes of thromboembolic complications. Over a total functioning period greater than 3 years there were no mechanical failures in the driving system but one artificial ventricle had to be replaced because of mechanical dysfunction. Infections and multiple organ failure were the primary causes of morbidity and mortality during mechanical support. When the patients who underwent staged transplantation (no. 17) were compared with those who died during mechanical support (no. 23) there were no differences in TAH driving mode or hemodynamic variables between the groups. Although preoperative pulmonary, hepatic and renal functions were found to be similar between the groups, there were significant differences in the early evolution (3 days) of hepatic and renal functions following TAH implant (p less than 0.01). Urinary output was found to be the earliest variable discriminating recovery and survival (p less than 0.01). Finally, univariate analysis indicated age (less than 40 vs greater than 40 years) and modality of cardiac decompensation (acute vs chronic) as the most important factors affecting survival after TAH implantation. Since young patients (less than 40 years of age) with acute decompensation were successfully transplanted in 82% of cases while 100% of older patients with chronic decompensation died before or after transplantation, TAH should be advised in young patients with acute or chronic heart failure and in selected older candidates with recent, acute cardiac failure.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Liver and kidney function in patients undergoing mechanical circulatory support with Jarvik-7 artificial heart as a bridge to transplantation.

Changes in liver and kidney function were reviewed in 32 patients who received a Jarvik-7 total artificial heart (TAH) as a bridge to transplantation. Preoperatively, seven (22%) had significant isolated kidney dysfunction, five (15%) had isolated liver impairment, and 13 (41%) had combined disorder, affecting 25 (78%) of the 32 recipients. Immediately after TAH implantation, vigorous diuresis occurred, and biochemical indices improved in 17 patients: 71% of isolated kidney, 60% of isolated liver, and 38% of combined organ disorder were reversed irrespective of severity in preoperative dysfunction. In contrast, urine output remained poor, and biochemical indices continued to deteriorate in 15 patients regardless of preoperative status; as a result, kidney (28%), liver (17%), and combined organ failure (33%) accounted for a total of 78% of failure in this series. Although preoperative liver and kidney dysfunction were frequent and severe, they did not correlate with postoperative functional recovery and later transplantation. Recipient body size and initial postoperative urine output were found to be the variables discriminating patients with or without subsequent transplantation. Because liver/kidney failure remained as the leading cause of death, knowledge of the underlying cause of the organ failure would increase the success of TAH as a bridge to transplantation.

Acute Kidney Injury↗