1/15. Total excision of the sternum and thoracic pedicle transposition of the greater omentum; useful strategems in managing severe mediastinal infection following open heart surgery.Mediastinal sepsis following open heart surgery is a significant cause of death. Open drainage of the mediastinumalone was employed originally in management of this problem. More recently, debridement, drainage, and reclosure have been used. Various irrigation solutions, such as antibiotics and Betadine, have been advocated to control severe mediastinal sepsis. Three principles of management in patients unresponsiveness to the above techniques have proved successful in two patients with life-threatening mediastinal sepsis: (1) radical, complete excision of the sternum and adjacent costal cartilages; (2) transposition of the greater omentum on a vascular pedicle to the mediastinum; and (3) primary closure with full-thickness rotational skin flaps. The radical excision of the sternum removes residual foci of sepsis in cartilage and sternal bone marrow. The transposition of the omentum provides a highly vascular, rapidly granulating covering for the contaminated great vessels and hase been successfully to prevent recurrence of suture line bleeding of an exposed ascending aortic anastomosis site. Primary closure of the wound with full-thickness skin flaps provides a suprisingly satisfactory covering for the heart. Preoperative and postoperative measurements of ventilatory mechanics have shown relatively small ventilatory impairment after the alteration of the thoracic cage imposed by excision of the sternum. Two patients have returned to active lives. A treatment failure probably due to incomplete adherence to these guidelines also is presented.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/15. pseudomonas aeruginosa infection mimicking erythema annulare centrifugum.A 3-year-old girl receiving chemotherapy for acute lymphocytic leukaemia developed a rapidly expanding red annular plaque on her thigh, initially without signs of systemic toxicity or local pain. Subsequently she developed Pseudomonas aeruginosa sepsis and purpura at the leading edge of the plaque. skin biopsy showed an extensive necrotizing vasculitis with numerous Gram-negative bacilli in the blood vessel walls. In immunocompromised individuals, skin biopsy and culture of cutaneous lesions for bacteria and fungi should be considered even in the absence of signs of systemic toxicity or multiple lesions.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/15. Small bowel perforation as a complication of microsurgical lumbar diskectomy. A case report and brief review of the literature.Ventral perforation is a rare complication of lumbar diskectomy. Injury to retroperitoneal vessels is the most common serious complication to such perforation. Ventral perforation with damage to the bowel is rarely reported. The authors present the first case report of injury to the small bowel during a microsurgical lumbar diskectomy. The case illustrates the importance of awareness of bowel injury as a possible complication of diskectomy. Possible pre- and postoperative considerations are also discussed. A brief review of the literature on bowel injuries after this common surgical procedure is also given.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/15. Bronchial revascularization in double-lung transplantation: a series of 8 patients. Bordeaux Lung and heart-Lung Transplant Group.Donor airway ischemia is the main cause for defective tracheal or bronchial healing after double-lung transplantation. Anatomical studies and bronchial arteriograms have shown that the right intercostal bronchial artery is constant (95% of instances) and provides an important blood supply to the distal trachea, the carina, and the right bronchial tree as well as to the left side through a subcarinal and periadventitial anastomostic network. To maintain this important bilateral bronchial circulation, it is of capital importance not to mobilize the arteries individually and to avoid large dissections around the carina. Both bronchi can thus be revascularized by indirect aortic reimplantation using a bypass graft to a single aortic patch that includes the origin of the right intercostal bronchial artery. Furthermore, the origin of other vessels (a common trunk and left arteries) can be found within a short distance of the right intercostal bronchial artery and possibly be contained within the same aortic patch. From a series of 56 lung transplantations, 8 patients underwent restoration of the bronchial vascularization using a recipient saphenous vein graft between the donor bronchial arteries and the anterior aspect of the recipient's ascending aorta. A lower tracheal anastomosis was performed. Bronchial arterial blood supply was evaluated both by endoscopy and by arteriography at about the 15th postoperative day. The bronchial circulation was visualized at this time in five of seven arteriographies, and this was associated with excellent tracheal healing in all 8 patients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/15. purpura cerebri in gram-negative septicaemia. A histological and immunohistochemical study.Two cases with brain purpura following Gram-negative septicaemia were examined morphologically and immunohistochemically. The brain lesions, including ball and ring haemorrhages, a few days old, with some microglial cells accumulated around the older foci, were restricted to the white matter. Immunohistochemically, scanty deposits of IgG, IgA and IgM mainly in the macrophages in brain, kidneys and lungs were found, whereas staining with antibodies directed against IgE and complement (C3, C4) remained negative. In the brain, immunoglobulin deposits were located mainly in the macrophages, furthermore, in and around the walls of a few intact (non-haemorrhagic) vessels; within the perivascular haemorrhagic foci no deposits could be demonstrated. The relevance of these observations to the pathogenesis of brain purpura is discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/15. Left-sided endocarditis due to pseudomonas aeruginosa. A report of 10 cases and review of the literature.Ten confirmed cases of left-sided endocarditis due to pseudomonas aeruginosa were reported in detail and the English literature was reviewed. In recent years, venous access (usually illicit) has been the major predisposing factor to this infection and abuse of pentazocine and tripelennamine has been particularly associated with endocarditis due to this organism. This infection involves previously damaged as well as normal valves. The development of congestive heart failure did not adversely affect the prognosis of this infection. However, the development of azotemia was associated with a greater likelihood of a fatal outcome. In the current series, deaths were due to uncontrolled infection. This often occurred despite inhibitory and bactericidal activity in serum generally considered adequate for treatment of endocarditis. Medical treatment alone rarely produced cure of infection. Our experience with a high frequency of major vessel embolization (4/10) and the improved survival after medical/surgical treatment suggests that prompt valve replacement combined with high doses of an aminoglycoside plus carbenicillin or ticarcillin provide the best opportunity for successful outcome in patients with left-sided endocarditis due to P. aeruginosa.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/15. Spontaneous hyphaema and corneal haemorrhage as complications of microbial keratitis.Hyphaema developed spontaneously in 16 of 458 patients with microbial keratitis treated at two centres on the East and West Coasts of the united states. Chronic corneal conditions were often present, and three cases had rubeosis iridis. Inflamed iris vessels were assumed to be the source of the haemorrhage. The hyphaemas tended to persist longer than is usual, particularly when coincident with a hypopyon. Recurrent hyphaemas are reported in two patients from outside this series. Spontaneous corneal haemorrhage was seen in three cases. Subepithelial bleeding settled rapidly, but a combined midstromal and pre-Descemet's haematoma cleared more slowly. Anterior segment bleeding was significantly associated with advanced age, female sex, infection with Gram-positive organisms, and hypopyon.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/15. Kawasaki's disease and infantile polyarteritis nodosa: is Pseudomonas infection responsible? Report of a case.A nineteen-month-old child presented with a febrile illness, skin rash, painful swelling of the joints, lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly. Pseudomonas was cultured from the blood during life and, subsequently, at autopsy. autopsy revealed a generalized panarteritis involving the coronary, retroperitoneal and pulmonary arteries with thickening of arterial walls and narrowing of the lumina. Thrombi and foci of necrosis and infarcts were found in many organs. Numerous bacilli were present in fresh lesions, but not in the organizing lesions. periodic acid-Schiff-positive deposits were found in occasional macrophages, in walls of affected vessels, in the marginal sinuses of lymph nodes and diffusely in epicardial and retroperitoneal adipose tissue. The findings suggest that some or even all cases of Kawasaki's disease and infantile polyarteritis nodosa may be caused by Pseudomonas sepsis. It is also suggested that the vasculitis and paucity of inflammatory reaction in many cases of Pseudomonas sepsis might be related to the fact that many strains of Pseudomonas produce high-molecular-weight levan (or another polysaccharide). This compound is known to inhibit the inflammatory reaction and to increase bacterial pathogenicity.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/15. Pseudomonas mastoiditis.opportunistic infections of the external auditory canal or the middle ear due to pseudomonas aeruginosa occurring in patients with low resistance to infection have a 35 percent mortality rate. Once the process extends into the pneumatized temporal bone, eradication becomes more difficult and the mortality rate increases to 72 percent because of the high incidence of involvement of cranial nerves, adjacent intracranial vessels, and meningitis. Treatment is directed towards the underlying condition, administration of systemic carbenicillin and gentamicin, topical colistin therapy, and judicious surgical debridement. Pseudomonas vaccine may be of help. Fifteen cases are presented. Nine follow the pattern of malignant external otitis and six began as a primary acute otitis media.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/15. femoral artery infection complicating intraaortic balloon pumping.Infection of the femoral artery (endarteritis) complicating intraaortic balloon pumping has not been reported. Most reports of complications with this pump have not emphasized wound infection. Whether the balloon is inserted by open or percutaneous technique, infection remains a problem. During the past 7 years, 32 of 50 patients (64 percent) who had intraaortic balloon pump insertion survived balloon removal. In four patients, wound infection of the groin developed with involvement of the femoral artery. sepsis was due to P. aeruginosa in three patients and E. cloacae in one. All patients required variable degrees of resection of the infected femoral artery wall. One had successful arterial reconstruction with vein patch angioplasty alone after debridement of the vessel wall. In a second patient, resection of the common femoral artery with interposition of a saphenous vein that had been reconstructed to enhance its diameter to that of the femoral artery was accomplished. Dehiscence of a vein patch angioplasty occurred in the remaining two patients with resultant hemorrhage. Further resection of the femoral artery was required with femoro-femoral saphenous vein grafting in one patient and iliofemoral vein grafting in another. Tissue coverage of the reconstructed vessel was best accomplished using a tensor fascis lata myocutaneous flap. All patients survived the infection without amputation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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