Mehmet Ozkokeli

Blood pressure changes after aortic coarctation surgery performed in adulthood.

Abstract  Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of aortic coarctation surgery in adult patients on arterial blood pressure in the early postoperative period. Methods: Ninety‐three adult patients (61 male, 32 female) aged 15–43 years who had operation since 1962 for aortic coarctation in Siyami Ersek Cardiovascular Surgery Center were retrospectively evaluated. Tube graft interposition was done in 31 patients; resection and end‐to‐end anastomosis were performed in 32 patients; 24 patients had undergone pathchplasty; and 6 patients by‐pass shunting performed. The effect of surgery on the blood pressure was investigated. Results: The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure significantly reduced after operation (systolic 193.6 ± 33.7 mmHg vs 147.4 ± 22.0 mmHg, diastolic 99.8 ± 17.9 mmHg vs 82.0 ± 10.8 mmHg). From 93 patients (all with hypertension) 54 (58%) became normotensive after operation according to VIth Joint National Committee classification. The number of normotensive patients after operation was 28 (of 37) for 15–19 years age group, 14 (of 23) for the 20–24 years age group, 4 (of 16) for 25–29 years age group, 6 (of 11) for 30–34 years age group, and 2 (of 6) for the over 35 years old age group. Conclusion: The diastolic and systolic blood pressures reduce significantly in the adult patients operated for aortic coarctation. On the other hand, persistent hypertension seemed to increase in the older age groups in spite of the surgery.

Treatment of Brucella Endocarditis: Our Surgical Experience with 6 Patients

BACKGROUND Endocarditis is a rare but life-threatening complication of brucellosis. Its mortality rate has recently been reduced with the use of combined medical and surgical treatment. METHODS Between March 2002 and April 2004, 6 patients with Brucella endocarditis underwent surgery at the Siyami Ersek Cardiovascular Center in Istanbul, Turkey. The diagnosis of Brucellosis was based on the presence of clinical signs and symptoms compatible with brucellosis, serology and/or a positive blood culture. All patients with suspected Brucella endocarditis were studied by echocardiography. The diagnosis of Brucella endocarditis was made in accordance with Dukes criteria. RESULTS The most commonly affected valve was the aortic valve (4 patients). Four patients had prosthetic valves because of a previous history of rheumatic fever. In 5 patients, elective surgery was performed. Five patients underwent valve replacement with prosthetic valves, but 1 patient underwent excision of the abscess cavity without valve replacement. There was no operative mortality. All patients continued antibiotic treatment for at least 3 months postoperatively. The median duration of follow-up after surgery was 12 months. During the follow-up period, 1 patient died, while the others remained alive with no recurrences. CONCLUSION Prosthetic valve replacement is a safe procedure in patients with Brucella endocarditis. Surgical interventions combined with triple antibiotic therapy yield good results with no recurrence in the long-term follow-up.

Validation of EuroSCORE II risk model for coronary artery bypass surgery in high-risk patients

Introduction Determining operative mortality risk is mandatory for adult cardiac surgery. Patients should be informed about the operative risk before surgery. There are some risk scoring systems that compare and standardize the results of the operations. These scoring systems needed to be updated recently, which resulted in the development of EuroSCORE II. In this study, we aimed to validate EuroSCORE II by comparing it with the original EuroSCORE risk scoring system in a group of high-risk octogenarian patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Material and methods The present study included only high-risk octogenarian patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting in our center between January 2000 and January 2010. Redo procedures and concomitant procedures were excluded. We compared observed mortality with expected mortality predicted by EuroSCORE (logistic) and EuroSCORE II scoring systems. Results We considered 105 CABG operations performed in octogenarian patients between January 2000 and January 2010. The mean age of the patients was 81.43 ± 2.21 years (80-89 years). Thirty-nine (37.1%) of them were female. The two scales showed good discriminative capacity in the global patient sample, with the AUC (area under the curve) being higher for EuroSCORE II (AUC 0.772, 95% CI: 0.673-0.872). The goodness of fit was good for both scales. Conclusions We conclude that EuroSCORE II has better AUC (area under the ROC curve) compared to the original EuroSCORE, but both scales showed good discriminative capacity and goodness of fit in octogenarian patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting.

Successful emergency double valve repair operation during acute aortic dissection type A.

Reconstructive valve surgery in acute aortic dissection type A (AADTA) remains challenging. We describe a case of successful combined repair of the aortic and mitral valves, and replacement of the ascending aorta after AADTA with aortic and mitral insufficiency. Mitral valve repair was achieved by quadrangular resection of the posterior leaflet, combined with ring annuloplasty. Aortic valve repair was achieved by Cabrol commissural sutures with resuspension of the annulus. The postoperative clinical course was uneventful and an echocardiogram revealed competent mitral and aortic valves. Mitral and aortic valve repair is an option in AADTA with mitral and aortic valve insufficiency.

Rapid Ischemic Preconditioning with a Short Reperfusion Time Prevents Delayed Paraplegia in a Rabbit Model

BACKGROUND Surgery for thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms can be complicated by a significant incidence of neurogenic deficits due to spinal cord ischemia. In this study, we investigated whether ischemic preconditioning (IPC) improves neurologic outcome in a rabbit model. METHODS Forty rabbits underwent infrarenal aortic occlusion. The IPC group (n = 20) had 10 minutes of aortic occlusion to induce spinal cord ischemia, 40 minutes of reperfusion, and 30 minutes of ischemia, whereas the control group (n = 20) had only 30 minutes of ischemia. Tarlov scoring (0, paraplegia; 4, normal) was used to evaluate neurologic functions 7 days later, and spinal cord segments (L4-L6) were stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histologic evaluation. RESULTS Complete paraplegia (grade 0) occurred in 15 (75%) of the 20 control animals, whereas in the IPC group, 13 (65%) of 20 animals were completely normal (grade 4) (P < .05). CONCLUSION IPC is beneficial for protecting against neurologic damage after transient aortic occlusion in a rabbit model; however, the protective mechanisms are not clear.