Ruchan Akar

Native valve Brucella endocarditis.

Brucellosis is frequently seen in Mediterranean and Middle East countries, including Turkey. We report the medical and surgical management of 31 cases of native endocarditis.

Relationship between functional promoter polymorphism in the XBP1 gene (−116C/G) and atherosclerosis, ischemic stroke and hyperhomocysteinemia

ER stress is associated with a range of pathological conditions, among which, the ischemia/reperfusion injury is also found. The mechanistic array of links among the ER stress and thrombovascular diseases is poorly understood. The XBP1 gene is a transcription factor which modulates the ER stress response; and the XBP1 (−116 C/G) gene polymorphism causes an impairment of its positive feedback system. In the present study we investigated the prevalence of XBP1 gene (−116 C/G) polymorphism, separately among the patients with atherosclerosis, ischemic stroke and hyperhomocysteinemia. The G allele and the (−116 G/G) genotype of the XBP1 (−116 C/G) gene polymorphism were found to be a significant risk factor for the patients with Ischemic Stroke. Yet, this allele was seemingly less significant in case of patients with atherosclerosis and hyperhomocysteinemia. Hence, the XBP1 (−116 C/G) gene polymorphism and especially its involvement in a homozygous state are suggested to take active role in the ER stress related ischemia/reperfusion injury.

The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Registries in the Era of Big Data With Global Reach.

REVIEWERS Nancy M. Albert, MSN, Chesterland, OH Selim M. Arcasoy, MD, New York, NY Abbas Ardehali, MD, Los Angeles, CA Robert M. Aris, MD, Chapel Hill, NC Carla C. Baan, MD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Wayne D. Babcock, MD, Modesto, CA Peter Bergin, MBBS, FRAC, Melbourne, Australia Sangeeta M. Bhorade, MD, Chicago IL Roberta C. Bogaev, MD, San Antonio, TX Dominic C. Borie, MD, PhD, Stanford, CA Robert J. Boucek, Jr., MD, St. Petersburg, FL Robert C. Bourge, MD, Birmingham, AL Caron L. Burch, RN, MSN, FNP, Manhattan Beach, CA Michael Burch, MD, London, United Kingdom Margaret Burke, MB, MRCPath, Harefield, Middlesex, United Kingdom Clifford Chin, MD, Palo Alto, CA Jason D. Christie, MD, Philadelphia, PA David K.C. Cooper, MD, PhD, FRCS, Pittsburgh, PA Paul A. Corris, MD, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom Maria G. Crespo-Leiro, MD, La Coruna, Spain Hiroshi Date, MD, Okayama, Japan G. William Dec, MD, Boston, MA Sabine M. DeGeest, RN, PhD, NFESC, Basel, Switzerland Marc DePerrot, MD, Le Plessis-Robinson, France Mary Amanda Dew, PhD, Pittsburgh, PA Debi H. Dumas-Hicks, RN, BS, CCTC, Metairie, LA Niloo M. Edwards, MD, Madison, WI Jim J. Egan, MD, Dublin, Ireland Gregory A. Ewald, MD, St. Louis, MO Albert Faro, MD, Gainesville, FL David S. Feldman, MD, Columbus, OH Roberto Fiocchi, MD, PhD, Bergamo, Italy Stefan Fischer, MD, Hannover, Germany Michael C. Fishbein, MD, Los Angeles, CA Eli Gabbay, FRACP, Perth, Australia Edward R. Garrity, Jr., MD, Maywood, IL James F. George, PhD, Birmingham, AL Allan R. Glanville, MD, FRACP, Sydney, Australia Martin J. Goddard, MD, Cambridge, United Kingdom F. Kate Gould, MB, BS, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom Kathleen L. Grady, RN, PhD, Chicago, IL Eduardo G. Gronda, MD, Milan, Italy Elizabeth Hammond, MD, Salt Lake City, UT Paul J. Hauptman, MD, St. Louis, MO Marshall I. Hertz, MD, Minneapolis, MN Roland Hetzer, MD, PhD, Berlin, Germany Stephan W. Hirt, MD, Kiel, Germany Daphne T. Hsu, MD, New York, NY Shahid Husain, MD, Pittsburgh, PA Mariell Jessup, MD, Philadelphia, PA Frances L. Johnson, MD, Baltimore, MD Walter Klepetko, MD, Vienna, Austria Masashi Komeda, MD, PhD, Kyoto, Japan Robert M. Kotloff, MD, Elkins Park, PA Tom Kotsimbos, MD, Melbourne, Australia Christiane Kugler, MSN, RN, Hannover, Germany Guenther Laufer, MD, Innsbruck, Austria Robert D. Levy, MD, FRCP, Vancouver, Canada Robert B. Love, MD, Madison, WI Charles C. Marboe, MD, New York, NY Bruce McManus, MD, PhD, Vancouver, BC, Canada Bruno M. Meiser, MD, Munich, Germany Eric N. Mendeloff, MD, Dallas, TX Bryan F. Meyers, MD, St. Louis, MO Nader Moazami, MD, St. Louis, MO Michael S. Mulligan, MD, Seattle, WA Srinivas Murali, MD, Pittsburgh, PA Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD, New York, NY Linda Ohler, RN, MSN, FAAN, Arlington, VA Charlie G. Orosz, PhD, Columbus, OH Francis D. Pagani, MD, PhD, Ann Arbor, MI Scott M. Palmer, MD, Durham, NC Francesco Parisi, MD, Rome, Italy Soon J. Park, MD, San Francisco, CA Si M. Pham, MD, Miami, FL Richard N. Pierson, III, MD, Baltimore, MD Branislav Radovancevic, MD, Houston, TX Vivek Rao, MD, PhD, Toronto,ON, Canada Hermann L. Reichenspurner, PhD, Hamburg, Germany Nancy L. Reinsmoen, PhD, dip ABHI, Durham, NC Richard J.Rodeheffer, MD, Rochester, MN Heather J. Ross, MD, Toronto, ON, Canada Robert E. Shaddy, MD, Salt Lake City, UT Lianne G. Singer, MD, FRCPC, Toronto, ON, Canada Joshua Sonett, MD, New York, NY Randall C. Starling, MD, Cleveland, OH Hans Ulrich Stempfle, MD, Munich, Germany Marc Stern, MD, Suresnes, France Thoralf M. Sundt, MD, Rochester, MN Stuart C. Sweet, MD, PhD, St. Louis, MO George Tellides, MD, New Haven, CT Elbert P. Trulock, MD, St. Louis, MO Steven S.L. Tsui, MD, Cambridge, United Kingdom Patricia A. Uber, PharmD, New Orleans, LA Adrian B. Van Bakel, MD, PhD, Charleston, SC Dirk Van Raemdonck, MD, PhD, Leuven, Belgium Andres Varela, MD, Madrid, Spain Federico Venuta, MD, Rome, Italy Geert M. Verleden, MD, PhD, Leuven, Belgium Erik A.M. Verschuuren, MD, Groningen, The Netherlands John Wallwork, MBChB, FRCS, Cambridge, United Kingdom Richard D. Weisel, MD, Toronto, ON, Canada George M. Wieselthaler, MD, Vienna, Austria David S. Wilkes, MD, Indianapolis, IN Gayle L. Winters, MD, Boston, MA Gordon D. Wu, MD, Los Angeles, CA James B. Young, MD, Cleveland, OH Samuel A. Yousem, MD, Pittsburgh, PA Adriana Zeevi, PhD, Pittsburgh, PA Andreas O. Zuckermann, MD, Vienna, Austria DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Mandeep R. Mehra, MD, Co-Chair Leslie W. Miller, MD, Co-Chair Alec Patterson, MD Jon Kobashigawa, MD Mark L. Barr, MD

Clinical Results of Cardiac Surgery in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C and Their Role in Risk Models: A Case-Control Study

Abstract Background To evaluate the results of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) following cardiac surgery in the TurcoSCORE (TrS) database. Methods Sixty patients with HCV who underwent cardiac surgery between 2005 and 2016 in our clinic out of a total 8,018 patients from the TrS database were included in the study. The perioperative morbidity and mortality rates in these patients were compared with a matched cohort. Results The mean follow‐up time was 96.6 ± 12.3 months. Hospital mortality rates (HCV group 5% vs. control group 1.7%, p = 0.61) were similar between the groups. No significant difference was found in the duration of cardiopulmonary bypass (HCV 79.1 ± 12.3 vs. control 82.6 ± 11.8, p = 0.88) and cross clamps (HCV 33.4 ± 6.9 vs control 33.8 ± 7.2 p = 0.76) between the two groups. The rate of patients who were revised due to postoperative hemorrhage was significantly higher in the HCV arm compared with the matched cohort (HCV 13.3% vs. control 1.7%, p < 0.05). Although the measured prothrombin time (PT) and international normalized ratio (INR) in the postoperative 24th hour were in normal ranges in both arms, they were significantly higher in the HCV arm (HCV 11.2 ± 1.2 vs. control 10.5 ± 0.8, p < 0.05; HCV 0.99 ± 0.06, vs. control 0.92 ± 0.03, p < 0.0001). Conclusion The presence of HCV can be an important prognostic factor for morbidity in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. It can also play an important role in the risk models generated for cardiac surgery.