Bolourian Aa, Beheshti Monfared M, Gachkar L, Ghomeisi M, Shahzamani M, Foroughi M, Kazem Arabnia Mk, Ghods K, Dabbagh A,
Volume 69, Issue 1 (4 2011)
Abstract
Background: Atrial fibrillation is the most common but benign arrhythmia following cardiac surgery. Although this arrhythmia is often self-limited and vanishes in about 24 hours upon surgery a number of arrhythmias might ensue among which some might be really life-threatening. A multitude of therapeutic modalities have been proposed for the prevention of this arrhythmia and one of them is posterior pericardiotomy. This method has not been fully accepted by the peers yet and more studies are needed to prove its efficacy and benefits to the patients.
Methods: In this single-blind randomized clinical trial, done over a 2-year period from February 2009 to January 2011, the effects of posterior pericardiotomy were evaluated in 174 patients (87 the case and 87 the control groups) undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The case group underwent CABG with posterior pericardiotomy while the control group underwent CABG-only operation. The postoperative incidence of arrhythmia, especially atrial fibrillation, was assessed for a week using statistical methods.
Results: The prevalence of postoperative atrial fibrillations were fewer in the group undergoing CABG with posterior pericardiotomy compared with the CABG-only group (P<0.004).
Conclusion: Posterior pericardiotomy seems to reduce the incidence of atrial fibrillation following elective CABG therefore, its application is suggested for elective
CABGs
Seyed Masoud Majidi Tehrani, Hamid Ghaderi , Mahnoosh Foroughi , Manouchehr Hekmat, Mahmoud Beheshti Monfared, Hassan Tatari , Seyed Mohsen Mirhosseini , Zargham Hossein Ahmadi, Zahra Ansari Aval, Seyedeh Adeleh Mirjafari,
Volume 72, Issue 2 (May 2014)
Abstract
Background: Primary cardiac tumors are rare tumors which should be operated urgently. In this study, cardiac myxoma have been evaluated from diagnosis until dis-charge in a 10 years period and then results including presenting symptoms, approach to the patients were compared with similar study in this center a decade ago.
Methods: Patients who underwent operation for myxoma from year 2003 until 2013 in the Shahid Modarres Hospital were included in this study.
Results: Eighteen patients included in the study, 11 female and seven male. Patients’ ages were in the range of 13 to 76 years (mean 53 years). Mean time from diagnosis to operation was 5.8 days and mean time from surgery to discharge was 8.6±6.1 days. Most common presenting symptoms were first clinical presentation in four patients. In all patents echocardiography was the main diagnostic modality. In addition to trans thoracic echocardiography (TTE), in five patients TEE was used and in 13 patients coronary angiography was used to rule out concomitant coronary artery disease. 94.4% of all tumors (17 cases) were primary cardiac tumors and only one tumor (5.6%) was recurrent. In 16 patients (88.9%) tumor were found in the Left Atrium (L.A) and in one case, tumor was found in both atria and in another case, tumor was in the ventricle. After tumor excision, atrial septum was repaired primarily in seven cases (38.9%) and with pericardial patch in 9 cases. One patient underwent concomitant coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and another patient underwent concomitant pulmonary valve repair. 14 patients (77.8%) discharged from hospital without any post operative complication. Heart block occurred in one patient and cerebral emboli with secondary cerebrovascular accident (CVA) developed in two patients. One patient died (5.6%).
Conclusion: Comparing results from two similar studies in two consecutive decades revealed that mean time from diagnosis to operation obviously was reduced but ad-vances in diagnostic modalities were unable to change clinical presentation or reduce age of tumor diagnosis or complications or size.
