These results confirm both the safety and efficacy of the ROCsafeRX MPC for a large variety of cardiac patients. Minimized perfusion circuits should, therefore, play a greater role in daily practice so that as many patients as possible can benefit from their advantages.

Lack of device-related complications combined with a significant reduction in postoperative atrial fibrillation and transfusion requirements have shown the ROCsafeRX MPC to be both safe and efficient for large-scale use in cardiac patients. Additional data are expected to confirm these initial findings.

Objective To carry out the comparative analysis of early and midterm results of no-touch aorta multivessel small thoracotomy coronary artery bypass grafting (MVST CABG), conventional off-pump (OPCABG) and on-pump CABG (ONCABG). Methods From 2007 to 2014, 537 consecutive patients underwent CABG by the same surgeon. Propensity score computer matching was performed, and a total of 453 patients were successfully matched in 3 groups of 151 patients. Results Significant differences were found in the intraoperative blood loss: 220 (180; 300) mL in MVST CABG versus 400 (300; 550) mL in OPCABG vs 350 (250; 435) mL in ONCABG group; first 24-hour postoperative blood loss: 170 (100; 280), 320 (200; 470), and 380 (200; 500)mL, respectively; operation time: 352.4 ± 74.4,289.3 ± 55.0, and 280.4 ± 56.4 minutes, respectively; median time to return to full physical activity: 14, 56, and 56 days, respectively (P < 0.05); rate of deep wound infection: 0.0%, 2.0%, and 2.0%, respectively; and postoperative length of stay (surgical department): 4.5, 7.0, and 7.5 days, respectively (P < 0.1). No significant differences were observed in rates of severe in-hospital events (P > 0.05), cumulative midterm survival, and freedom from major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (P > 0.05). Conclusions The MVST CABG seems as safe as OPCABG and ONCABG and is associated with less wound infections, perioperative blood loss, shorter hospital length of stay and time to return to full physical activity. Multivessel small thoracotomy CABG can be applied to most patients with coronary heart disease saving the effectiveness during midterm follow-up. The MVST CABG can be introduced avoiding a prolonged learning curve.

Surgical treatment of infective and prosthetic endocarditis using allografts gives good results. Aortic allograft implantation is a common technique, while tricuspid valve replacement with a mitral allograft is very rare. Multiple valve disease in case of infective endocarditis is a surgical challenge as such patients are usually in a grave condition and results of surgical treatment are often unsatisfactory. In this article we describe a clinical case of successful surgical treatment in a patient with active infective endocarditis of aortic and tricuspid valve, complicated by an aortic-right ventricular fistula. The aortic valve and ascending aorta were replaced with a cryopreserved aortic allograft; the tricuspid valve was replaced with a cryopreserved mitral allograft.

Introduction The completeness of septal myectomy (SM) is the key to surgery of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM), but its planning is still based on echocardiographic findings. The need to perform radical SM requires the development of new cardio-visualisation techniques for monitoring myectomy quality. Aim To improve results in centres treating few patients with HOCM using a new method of optimal SM with the help of 3-dimensional models to achieve an ‘ideal’ interventricular septum (IVS) thickness of 10–11 mm. Material and methods Between 2017 and 2018, 30 patients underwent optimal SM after computed tomography angiography, creation of a virtual 3-dimensional model of the IVS, computer-aided mapping, virtual SM and 3-dimensional printing of models of the ‘ideal’ IVS and the fragment to be removed. Results Initial isolated extended SM ( n = 29, 97%) was effective in 23/29 (79%) patients. Four non-fatal complications were observed. A permanent pacemaker was implanted in three patients. No patients required mitral valve replacement. The mean postoperative left ventricle (LV) resting systolic gradient was 7.5 ±4.4 mm Hg, and at the latest follow-up this value was 7.1 ±4.2 mm Hg. The average weight of the excised myocardium was 12.0 g (range: 5.8–22.5 g). At follow-up both volumetric and dimensional LV echocardiography parameters increased compared with preoperative values ( p ≤ 0.007). Conclusions The proposed optimal SM provides intraoperative monitoring of the shape and volume of the myocardium resected to achieve the ‘ideal’ IVS, true radicality and an increase in the volumetric and dimensional parameters of the LV.