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<p class="Abstract">Coronary endarterectomy is a good option for surgical revascularization in diffusely coronary artery disease. In coronary artery bypass surgery, a diffusely diseased right coronary artery is an obstruction to accomplishing complete myocardial revascularization, subsequently increasing the likelihood of a poor postoperative prognosis. Here, we report a case of extraction of a long segment coronary atheroma (14 cm) from right coronary artery during off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting using closed endarterectomy technique followed by reconstruction with saphenous venous graft.</p>

Background: This study evaluated pregnancy outcome in women with a prosthetic heart valve, especially with the oral anticoagulation therapy that must be weighed against the risk of intracardiac thrombosis. Methods: This multicenter, retrospective, cohort study was undertaken between January 2012 and June 2017. The principal maternal outcome variables included bleeding and thromboembolic complications, infective endocarditis, prosthetic valve thrombosis and heart failure. However, the main foetal outcome variables included miscarriage, mortality, preterm baby, warfarin embryopathy, low birthweight and the mode of delivery. Results: A total of 265 pregnancies in women with prosthetic heart valves were evaluated in two groups: Group I (n = 182) covers a mechanical valve, while Group II (n = 82) covers a bioprosthetic valve. The mean age of the patients was 25.2 ± 2.5 years and 24.5 ± 5.2 years in Group I and Group II, respectively. Approximately 80% of the patients had normal echocardiography findings. However, Group I (mechanical prostheses) has a higher incidence (11.54%) of thrombus formation in comparison with the bioprostheses. Hemorrhagic complications and spontaneous miscarriage were statistically significant (p⩽0.05) between the study groups. However, normal pregnancy outcome (91.57%) was significantly higher (p⩽0.05) in Group II compared to Group I (61.54%). Mean birthweight and mean APGAR score were found normal in both study groups. Only 2.75% of patients have warfarin embryopathy in Group I. Furthermore, comparison of SF-36 scores for HRQOL (Health-Related Quality of Life) before and after pregnancy were statistically insignificant among the study population. Conclusion: Proper antenatal care and early risk stratification are the fundamental measures to improve the maternal and foetal outcomes in a patient with a prosthetic heart valve.

<p class="Abstract">This study aims to evaluate the histopathological analysis as well as the effect of coronary endarterectomy with severe calcified coronary artery disease. During the year of 2015 to 2017, a total of 135 patients (56 patients of stable angina and 79 patients of unstable angina) underwent atherectomy in adjunct to off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Histopathological study of atheroma specimen demonstrates the presence of calcification, foam cell, cholesterol clefts, thrombus, smooth muscle cell, and also necrotic tissue using standard hematoxylin and eosin stain techniques. However, smooth muscle cells and foam cell were identified with plaque using the monoclonal antibodies. Thrombus was more common in unstable angina group of patients (64.4%) in comparison to the patients with stable angina (23.2%). An accelerated progression pattern of smooth muscle cell proliferation and calcification were observed which was also common and significantly higher in unstable angina group of patients. The presence of thrombus and accelerated progressive pattern of smooth muscle cell proliferation in unstable angina patients imply the episodic disruption of atheromatous plaque followed by subsequent healing and may play a vital role in the pathophysiology of underlying angina pectoris.</p>

The medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, is an excellent example of the use of invertebrates in the treatment of human disease. Utilized for various medical indications since the ancient times, the medicinal leech is currently being used in a narrow range of well-defined and scientifically-grounded clinical applications. Hirudotherapy is most commonly used in the setting of venous congestion associated with soft tissue replantations and free flap-based reconstructive surgery. This is a comprehensive review of current clinical applications of hirudotherapy, featuring a comprehensive search of all major medical search engines (i.e. PubMed, Google Scholar, ScientificCommons) and other cross-referenced sources. The authors focus on indications, contraindications, practical application/handling of the leech, and therapy-related complications.

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Introduction European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) was developed to identify patients who may have a greater postoperative risk for adverse effects following adult cardiac surgery. This study evaluated the discriminatory potential of using the EuroSCORE system in predicting the early, as well as late, postoperative outcomes following coronary artery bypass graft surgery in Bangladesh. Methods A total of 865 patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery were evaluated with the EuroSCORE risk scoring system. Moreover, we also compared the discriminatory potentials between the EuroSCORE II and the original logistic EuroSCORE. Results Operative mortality was best predicted by EuroSCORE II (area under the curve (AUC) 0.863, Brier score 0.030) compared to the original logistic EuroSCORE (AUC 0.849, Brier score 0.033). However, the overall expected-to-observed mortality ratio for EuroSCORE II was 1.1, whereas the observed ratio for the original logistic EuroSCORE was 1.7. EuroSCORE II was predictive of an intensive care unit stay of five days or more (AUC 0.786), prolonged inotropes use (AUC 0.746), stroke (AUC 0.646), de novo dialysis (AUC 0.810), and low output syndrome (AUC 0.715). Moreover, a high EuroSCORE II quintile significantly predicted the risk for late mortality (p < 0.0001). Conclusions EuroSCORE has an important role in predicting the early, as well as late, postoperative outcomes following coronary artery bypass surgery. However, the performance of EuroSCORE II is significantly better than the original logistic EuroSCORE in predicting postoperative morbidity and mortality after isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery among Bangladeshi patients.

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