Biomedical subjects

R Jenni

Publications and source records attributed to R Jenni.

275 records · Page 16Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Extended follow-up after atrial repair for transposition of the great arteries: a younger age at surgery improves late survival.

BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment for transposition of the great arteries (TGA) usually involves anatomic repair, although atrial repair is used in cases with special coronary artery patterns. METHODS: Records of all 239 patients surviving at least 30 days after atrial correction of TGA between 1962 and 1987 at the University Hospital in Zurich were reviewed. The mean length of follow-up time was 13.7 years (median 14.9 years; range from 0.05 to 30.1 years). The average age at surgery was 45.7 months (range from 7 days to 24.4 years). One hundred twenty-one patients had a simple TGA, whereas the remaining 118 had a complex TGA. RESULTS: The surviving patients were in NYHA class I at time of follow-up. The most common reasons for death were systemic right ventricular dysfunction and sudden rhythm disturbances. There was a major risk for late cardiac event in patients over 3 years old at operation (p = 0.02) and also in patients with complex TGA (p = 0.03). However, date of surgery, previous surgery, or the postoperative requirement for a pacemaker did not greatly affect late cardiac mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Although the procedure of choice for TGA is the arterial switch operation, the promising findings of the current long-term study, which reports the longest follow-up to date, indicate that the atrial switch operation is a good alternative procedure for the rare cases where the use of arterial switch procedures is limited.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Congenital coronary fistulas in children and adults: diagnosis, surgical technique and results.

Coronary artery fistula is a very rare congenital malformation with an abnormal coronary-cameral communication that may involve any chamber and any or all coronary artery branches. We present our experience with 11 consecutive patients (mean age 16.6 years, ranging from 4 to 64 years); 9 of them were treated surgically, spontaneous closure of the fistula was observed in 1 patient and 1 patient is still under observation. Nine patients were under 17 years of age at the time of operation whereas only 2 patients were older (56 and 64 years). Fistulas originated from the right coronary artery in 4 patients and drained either into the right (n = 3) or into the left system (n = 1). In 8 patients, the origin of the coronary artery from the aorta was normal and the fistulous communications developed with the right cardiac structures only. In 2 patients, both coronary arteries were involved in the pathological drainage and 2 patients were demonstrated to have multiple drainage from the left coronary artery. Additional congenital cardiac malformations were found in 2 patients: severe tricuspid valve regurgitation in 1 and ventricular septal defect in another patient. Surgical closure of the fistula was successful in all operated patients (in 1 case treatment was possible without cardiopulmonary bypass). Simple ligation of the fistula was performed in 1 patient, intracardiac closure of the fistula was combined with different reconstructive procedures in the other patients. No hospital mortality nor severe complications occurred in this small group of patients. The mean follow-up interval was 39.4 months and all patients were in NYHA functional class I, except 1 with moderate tricuspid and mitral valve regurgitation. In the presence of symptoms of congestive heart failure, significant left-to-right shunt and arrhythmias, elective closure of coronary fistula is generally accepted, whereas the indication is more controversial in asymptomatic patients. Considering the low perioperative morbidity, we recommend surgical closure of coronary fistulas with significant shunt and/or increased coronary artery diameter.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Echocardiographic evaluation of left ventricular wall motion before and after heart transplantation.

Forty transplanted hearts were retrospectively investigated before, immediately after, and 15 +/- 12 months after heart transplantation by two-dimensional echocardiography for the presence and course of left ventricular myocardial wall motion abnormalities. Fourteen heart donors who were brain dead because of subarachnoid hemorrhage formed group 1 (mean age, 35 years); 21 heart donors who were brain dead because of head injury formed group 2 (mean age, 29 years), and five heart donors who were brain dead because of head injury with an additional chest trauma formed group 3 (mean age, 28 years). Myocardial wall motion was examined in six different myocardial segments (inferior, septal, anterior, posterior, posterolateral, apical) and was quantitatively assessed by a modified score index system (score index 0 = normal wall motion; score index 1 = diffuse hypokinesia). Overall, 27 of the 40 heart donors showed mild to severe (9 of the 40) wall motion abnormalities, which improved shortly after heart transplantation (score index: 0.36 vs 0.18, p < 0.01), and remained improved 15 months after heart transplantation (score index: 0.15). Among the different study groups, a significant improvement occurred in the myocardial wall motion score index on a short-term and long-term basis in all the groups, except for group 2, regarding the long-term follow-up. This study concluded that brain-dead, potential heart donors often reveal mild-to-severe left ventricular wall motion abnormalities, which are readily detected and semiquantitated by two-dimensional echocardiography.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Repair of anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery without early and late mortality in 9 patients.

An anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery is a very rare congenital malformation. We examined the early and late results of 9 patients (4 males and 5 females, mean age at operation: 6.5 years +/- 6 years). Eleven operations were performed in these 9 patients. The following types of operation were performed: ligation of the left coronary artery close to the pulmonary artery in one case, coronary artery bypass grafting in 3 patients, reimplantation of the LCA into the aorta in 3 patients and interpulmonary artery tunnel repair ("tunnel operation") in 4 instances. These operations were combined with plastic reconstruction of the mitral valve (1 patient) or aneurysmectomy of the left ventricle (3 patients). There was no intra- or early operative mortality. After a mean follow-up of 7.3 years, all patients are alive and in New York Heart Association functional class I, except one patient suffering from dyspnoea during moderate exercise. In two patients complications requiring reoperations occurred after 4 and 100 months respectively: stenosis of the distal anastomosis after coronary artery bypass grafting using saphenous vein and thrombosis of the intrapulmonary tunnel. We conclude that an anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery is best operated by reimplantation of the vessel into the aorta at any age of life. Concomitant pathology may be corrected simultaneously, without increasing operative mortality.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect: a case for central venous pressure and oxygen saturation monitoring.

A 21-year-old patient with pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect (PA-VSD) was admitted to the hospital for tubal ligation. Invasive arterial and central venous (CVP) pressure, pulse oximetric oxygen saturation (SpO2), and (from the tip of oximetric central venous catheter) central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) and oxygen extraction rate (ExO2) were continuously monitored. Heart rate (range: 68-75 beat/min), mean arterial pressure (80-90 mmHg), CVP (7-10 mmHg), SpO2 (79-90 percent), ScvO2 (57-70 percent), and ExO2 (21-30 percent) remained stable during epidural anesthesia and transvaginal sterilization. Following an overnight stay (peak SpO2 92 percent; peak ScvO2 71 percent; through ExO2 21 percent), the oxygen data returned to baseline on awakening (SpO2 < 80 percent, ScvO2 < 55 percent, ExO2 > 35 percent), and the patient was discharged. In PA-VSD, a single-outlet double-ventricle anomaly, CVP reflects the preload of systemic ventricle. As the mixed venous oxygen saturation cannot be defined, ScvO2 is the best available indicator of the whole body oxygen consumption. Continuous monitoring of CVP, ScvO2 and ExO2 in the superior vena cava may provide more insight into the response to anesthesia and surgery in patients with PA-VSD.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗