Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia that occurs postoperatively in cardiac surgery. There is evidence for the role of oxidative stress in the etiology of AF. In our study, we examined whether antioxidant ascorbic acid (vitamin C), could help in the reduction of the incidence of postoperative AF. Patients who were scheduled to undergo elective isolated on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) were included in our study. One hundred and seventy patients were randomly divided in two groups: Group A (n=85) received vitamin C preoperatively and postoperatively whereas Group B (n=85) did not receive any (control group). The incidence of AF was 44.7% in the vitamin C group and 61.2% in the control group (P=0.041). The hospitalization time, the intensive care unit stay and the time interval for the conversion of AF into sinus rhythm was significantly shorter in the vitamin C group. Patients that developed AF also had longer hospital length of stay (9.5±2.8 days vs. 6.7±1.9, P=0.034). Supplementation of vitamin C reduces the incidence of postCABG AF, and decreases the time needed for rhythm restoration and length of hospital stay.

Surgical treatment can achieve satisfactory results with low perioperative mortality, but the overall prognosis even with multimodality concepts and in earlier tumour stages is worse compared to other types of non-small cell lung cancer.

The present study reports a single center experience and mid-term results of endovascular repair of acute aortic traumatic transection on an emergency basis, instead of open surgical management. From January 2005 to December 2008, 13 cases of traumatic aortic transection with serious comorbidities, which underwent repair with thoracic stent grafts at our institution, were reviewed. The mean patient age was 32.5+/-7.8 years. During the follow-up period of 25.5+/-12.8 months, 12 patients were alive and one patient died of associated injuries. There were no intraoperative deaths, no incidence of paraplegia and no procedure-related mortality. The blood loses during the procedure were minimal. The thoracic aortic grafts were larger than the thoracic aorta by 12.4+/-5.7%. Five cases required complete or partial coverage of the left subclavian artery. There were two cases of graft collapse, which were successfully treated by endovascular reintervention. Our results suggest that this approach is safe, effective and can be performed with low rates of morbidity and mortality, especially in respect of patients with multiple injuries. Although initial results are encouraging, close long-term follow-up and technical improvements of the stent grafts are required.

The oncologic lung resection of NSCLC after the resection of a single brain metastasis can be implemented without an increased risk of complications or mortality. Despite the stage IV disease, the median survival appears encouraging.