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Biomedical subjects

M Di Summa

Publications and source records attributed to M Di Summa.

59 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta. (Report of two unusual cases).

Two unusual cases of traumatic aneurysm of the aorta are described. Both presented several days after thoracic trauma sustained in a car accident. The presenting features were progressing dysphagia and displacement of the oesophagus in the first case and a coarctation-like syndrome in the second. Diagnosis was confirmed in each case by aortography and emergency resection of the aneurysm with a dacron prosthesis was carried out. Aortic rupture should be considered in all cases of thoracic trauma, especially when severe, even several days after the trauma itself. Patients should be evaluated with serial chest roentgenograms and an aortography should be performed in any suspicious case. Treatment is surgical and the operative mortality and morbidity is acceptably low.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Antibiotic prophylaxis in cardiovascular surgery: comparison of sulbactam-ampicillin and cefuroxime].

A total of 200 patients (131 males and 69 females), scheduled for cardiovascular surgery were randomly assigned to receive either sulbactam/ampicillin 1 g IV of cefuroxime 2 g IV before the surgical incision and then, postoperatively, 8-hourly x 3 days. There were five failure of prophylaxis (all in the cefuroxime group): 3 sternal incision abscesses (1 Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 2 Staphylococcus epidermidis), one urinary tract infection (Staphylococcus aureus) and one Micrococcus pneumoniae. Tolerance to both antibiotics was excellent. In our sample of patients, the efficacy and safety of sulbactam/ampicillin were not different from those of cefuroxime in prophylaxis in cardiovascular surgery.

Ampicillin↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Rupture of thoracic aorta resulting from blunt trauma.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic rupture of thoracic aorta caused by blunt trauma has been observed more frequently in recent years. The aim of this study was to evaluate the state of the art of diagnostic methods used to identify this injury and the surgical techniques used to repair it. METHODS: The study was performed in 29 patients undergoing surgery for traumatic rupture of thoracic aorta from November 1979 to July 1995. RESULTS: All patients presented multiple blunt traumatic injuries. The suspicion of traumatic aortic rupture always arose when evidence of an enlarged mediastinal shadow was found on the chest X-ray, subsequently confirmed in 27 cases using aortography. During the period 1993-1995 11 patients underwent CT scan before aortography, which resulted false negative in 3 cases (27.2%). The decision to perform surgery was based on well defined priorities: abdominal injuries took priority over the aortic injury, and in stable patients with intracerebral injuries, head CT scan and neurosurgery were performed first. Eight patients died (overall mortality was 27.5%). CONCLUSIONS: CT scan should not be used for the diagnosis of aortic traumatic rupture because it is a waste of time (all patients have to undergo aortography before surgery) and the false negative rate is too high.

Adult↗