A total of 56 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting were allocated to two groups: the Cold group (28 patients) with cold (4°C) crystalloid cardioplegia and topical ice slush, and the Tepid group (28 patients) with tepid (32°C) blood cardioplegia delivered intermittently antegrade. The two groups were comparable in terms of preoperative New York Heart Association classification, age, gender, and number of grafts. Intraoperatively, tepid blood cardioplegia was associated with a significantly shorter cardiopulmonary bypass time and nearly uniform return of normal sinus rhythm. Cardiac output after bypass was significantly higher than before bypass only in the Tepid group. The absolute peak levels in the myocardial-specific isoenzyme of creatine kinase were higher in the Cold group (70±8IU/l) than in the Tepid group (31±5IU/l). There was a trend toward reduced incidence of perioperative myocardial infarction (0% versus 7.1%) and need for intraaortic balloon pump support (0% versus 3.6%) associated with the use of tepid blood cardioplegia. Our results suggest that intermittent tepid blood cardioplegia is a safe and effective technique for coronary artery bypass grafting.

This experimental study was conducted to histopathologically determine whether the low-dose irradiation of donor hearts before transplantation can inhibit graft vasculopathy. Immediately after donor F 344 rat hearts were removed, they were treated with a single dose of radiation using 7.5Gy, 15Gy, or no radiation (control group). The F 344 hearts were transplanted into Lewis rats heterotopically, and cyclosporine A was injected intramuscularly for 20 days after transplantation in all groups. The hearts were harvested 90 days after transplantation, and examined for intimal thickening using elastica van Gieson staining. Severe intimal thickening was observed in both the irradiated groups, the percent intimal area of the coronary arteries was significantly increased in both these groups, to 34.3±12.9 in the 7.5Gy group and 37.0±8.9 in the 15Gy group, compared with 23.1±9.8 in the control group (p<0.01). In conclusion, these findings show that low-dose irradiation to donor hearts before transplantation does not inhibit graft vasculopathy.

A 62-year-old man presented with hemoptysis and hoarseness. He was diagnosed with an aortopulmonary fistula due to a thoracic aortic aneurysm rupture and was referred to our department. Emergency in-situ reconstruction of the aorta and pulmonary lobectomy were performed. Nine days postoperative, he developed empyema. Intrapleural urokinase and antibiotic therapy were selected as management instead of a video-assisted thoracoscopic debridement and decortication due to his worsening condition. The treatment was successful, and he was discharged from the hospital without any further complications. This study highlights the benefit of intrapleural administration of urokinase and antibiotics in patients with acute empyema, when surgical treatment is inappropriate.