Thin, metallic wires can easily penetrate the gastrointestinal system if ingested and cause serious cardiac issues in children. We report a pediatric case of such an object that caused cardiac tamponade after lodging in the left ventricle. The wire was extracted without cardiopulmonary bypass and a full recovery was made. Cardiac issues after ingestion of foreign objects are rare but immediate surgery is required for resolution.

Background: In severe cases, the COVID-19 viral pathogen produces hypoxic respiratory failure unable to be adequately supported by mechanical ventilation. The role of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) remains unknown, with the few publications to date lacking detailed patient information or management algorithms all while reporting excessive mortality. Methods: Case report from a prospectively maintained institutional ECMO database for COVID-19. Results: We describe veno-venous (VV) ECMO in a COVID-19 positive woman with hypoxic respiratory dysfunction failing mechanical ventilation support while prone and receiving inhaled pulmonary vasodilator therapy. After nine days of complex management secondary to her hyperdynamic circulation, ECMO support was successfully weaned to supine mechanical ventilation and the patient was ultimately discharged from the hospital. Conclusions: With proper patient selection and careful attention to hemodynamic management, ECMO remains a reasonable treatment option for COVID-19 patients.

Pyoderma Gangrenosum could mimic early postoperative sternal wound infection. Steroids therapy is the only method of treatment recognizing the fact that steroids can lead to immunosuppression and inhibits healing after major surgery.

Title Page:Title: Letter To The Editor: Long-Term Renal Function After Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.Article Type: Letter To The EditorCorrespondence: 1. Sapna GoindaniContact No: +971 54 344 9435. Email: Sapnagoindani123@Gmail.ComInstitute: Peoples University Of Medical And Health Sciences For Women (Pumhsw)Address: Flat No 9, Building No 10 Bastakia Building, Al Hamriya Bur Dubai, DubaiOrcid: 0000-0003-4906-8463Co-Authors: 2. Muhammad Abdullah KhanContact No: +923032992689. Email: Abd2992689@Gmail.ComInstitute: Ziauddin University KarachiAddress: House No R 133 Block 11 Gulshan E Iqbal KarachiOrcid: 0000-0002-0653-5060Co-Authors: 3. Satesh KumarContact No: +92-3325252902. Email: Kewlanisatish@Gmail.ComInstitute: Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical College Liyari, KarachiAddress: Parsa Citi Garden East, KarachiORCID: 0000-0001-7975-6297Word Count: 354Conflict of interest : NoneAcknowledgment : NoneDeclaration: NoneDisclosure : NoneFunding : None

High volume ECMO centers have developed mobile ECMO programs in recent years to facilitate implementation of ECMO support at hospitals with lower capabilities, and transfer these patients for further care. We report a case of mobile ECMO on patient with COVID-19 related ARDS, and discuss the potential application in current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare early and long-term outcomes of redo isolated tricuspid surgery (RITS) after left-sided valve surgery (LSVS). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 173 patients underwent RITS for severe tricuspid regurgitation after previous LSVS from January 1999 to December 2019. Patients were divided into two groups: RITS by median sternotomy (m-RITS, n = 78) and by totally endoscopic approach (e-RITS, n = 95). Perioperative outcomes and follow-up results were analyzed. Results: There were 19 (11%) in-hospital deaths (14.1% in m-RITS and 8.4% in e-RITS, p = 0.234) that decreased from 16.7% (1999–2014) to 6.9% (2015–2019) (p = 0.044). Tricuspid valve replacement [odds ratio (OR) = 6.778, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.370–33.549, p = 0.019] and NYHA function class IV (OR = 8.525, 95% CI: 2.153–33.760, p = 0.002) were independent risk factors of in-hospital mortality. The overall 1-, 5-year, 10-year, and 15-year survival rates were 97.2% (95% CI: 94.5–99.9%),80.3% (95% CI: 71.7–88.9%), 59.2% (95% CI: 43.5–75.5%) and 49.3% (95% CI: 27.2–71.4%), respectively. Conclusion: Patients undergoing redo isolated tricuspid valve surgery carry a high risk of early mortality. Satisfactory results are achievable with endoscopic tricuspid valve surgery and repair results in lower surgical mortality than replacement with acceptable residual tricuspid regurgitation.

Early and long term Clinical outcome after Minimally Invasive Direct Coronary Bypass Grafting versus off pump Coronary Surgery via Sternotomy In this retrospective study by Cichon Romuald et al (1), 194-patients met the inclusion criteria and were divided into the MIDCAB group (n=111) and OPCAB via median sternotomy group (n=83). The conclusion was that short as well as long-term outcomes of MIDCAB in terms of mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, and target vessel revascularization were satisfactory, and as safe and effective as OPCAB via sternotomy This retrospective study by Cichon Romuald et al (1), undoubtedly will generate interest for surgeons who want to perform minimally invasive coronary surgery. It is clear that, in order to attract patients to undergo surgery, surgeons must learn to perform minimally invasive coronary surgery. Advantages of minimally invasive coronary surgery include less post-operative discomfort, faster healing times, less risk of infection and avoidance of trauma associated with OPCAB Surgeons must also take the initiative and play an active role in the Hybrid Revascularization Procedures Current surgeons, and those in residency training programs, should learn wire skills and participate in placement of stents. There is a lot to learn from our interventional cardiologists who embrace new technology and procedures. Surgeons will have to adapt to the new reality, and move some of his/her practice outside the operating room.

Bilateral antegrade selective cerebral perfusion has the undisputed advantage of being more physiological and theoretically ensuring complete perfusion of the whole brain. However, it requires longer execution times and manipulation of the epiaortic vessels. On the other hand, unilateral selective cerebral perfusion (u-ASCP) avoids the vessels manipulation, placement of catheters into the ostia of the great vessels which clutters the operative field and incurs both atherosclerotic and air embolism risk. Neverthless, an ongoing debate about which technique yields the best clinical outcomes is still open.

Nitric oxide has been used to treat respiratory failure in post-pediatric cardiac surgical patients. High frequency oscillator ventilation is used to rescue infants who have failed conventional ventilation. In this issue a study is presented showing the benefit of combining these two therapies for improved outcomes in infants with hypoxic respiratory failure after congenital heart surgery

Infectious complications have been shown to increase the morbidity of venous-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) population, including the use of right ventricular assist devices. We aimed to evaluate our VV-ECMO population for ECMO related bloodstream infections (E-BSI) and characteristics that affect risk and overall outcomes. We report a low infection rate of 2.7%. We postulate our low BSI rate may be due to our use of perioperative antimicrobials as well as a majority of our cannulations occurring in the operating room. Further investigation into trends, risks, and outcomes related to E-BSI is needed.

We present a rare case of atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect with a vascular ring. The ring was formed by a right-sided aortic arch with an aberrant left subclavian artery that gave rise to a patent ductus arteriosus connecting to the main pulmonary artery. We performed a single-stage repair of the intra-cardiac defects and division of vascular ring with a novel sternotomy approach instead of the traditionally practised dual approach. Our novel approach included implantation of the aberrant left subclavian artery to the left carotid artery after transection. We could perform single-stage division of vascular ring along with the closure of both septal defects.

Background Randomised trials show high long-term patency for no-touch saphenous vein grafts in coronary artery bypass grafting. The patency rate in off-pump coronary bypass surgery for these grafts has not been investigated. Our centre participated in the CORONARY randomized trial, NCT00463294. This is a sub-study aimed to assess the patency of no-touch saphenous veins in on- versus off-pump coronary bypass surgery at five-year follow-up. Methods Fifty-six patients were included. Forty of 49 patients, alive at five years, participated in this follow-up. There were 21 and 19 patients in the on- and off-pump groups respectively. No-touch saphenous veins were used to bypass all targets and in some cases the left anterior descending artery. Graft patency according to distal anastomosis was evaluated with computed tomography angiography. Results The five-year patency rate was 123/139 (88.5%). The patency for the no-touch vein grafts was 57/64 (89.1%) in the on-pump vs 37/45 (82.2%) in the off-pump group. All left internal thoracic arteries except for one, 29/30 (96.6%), were patent. All vein grafts used to bypass the left anterior descending and the diagonal arteries were patent 32/32. The lowest patency rate for the saphenous veins was to the right coronary territory, particularly in off-pump surgery (80.0% vs 62.5% for the on- respective off-pump groups). Conclusions Comparable five-year patency for the no-touch saphenous veins and the left internal thoracic arteries to the left anterior descending territory in both on- and off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. Graft patency in off-pump CABG is lower to the right coronary artery.

CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting) has been the treatment of choice for coronary artery disease for over 50 years and is the most common cardiac surgery procedure performed. Traditionally CABG was performed with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass and the use of cardioplegia to allow the surgeon to operate on a stable field. In the mid-1990s, interest emerged in performing CABG without the use of cardiopulmonary bypass - off pump CABG. This invited commentary focuses on sharing our experience with Low Ejection fraction off-pump CABG and why this approach could be beneficial to this patient population.

I read with interest the article by Vendramin and colleagues , reminding us with the 70th anniversary for the first artificial heart valve that was invented by Hufnagel and was first implanted in 1952. This was in an era, where standard heart valve replacement was not feasible, and the heart lung machine was in its very primitive phase to allow such operation to be performed in the way we do it today. This made me dig a bit in the literature and read more in depth about Dr. Hufnagel, one of the most gifted American surgeons and his pioneer work.

Objectives Redo sternotomy and explantation of left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) for heart transplantation (HT) involve prolonged dissection, potential injury to mediastinal structures and/or bleeding. Our study compared a complete expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) wrap versus minimal or no ePTFE during LVAD implantation, on outcomes of subsequent HT. Methods Between July 2005 and July 2018, 84 patients underwent a LVAD implant and later underwent HT. Thirty patients received a complete ePTFE wrap during LVAD implantation (Group 1), and 54 patients received either a sheet of ePTFE placed in the anterior mediastinum or no ePTFE (Group 2). Results Baseline characteristics were similar between Groups 1 and 2. Surgeons reported subjective improvements in speed, predictability and safety of dissection with complete ePTFE compared with minimal or no ePTFE. Time from incision to initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) were similar between groups (97±38 min vs 89±29 min, p=0.3). Injury to mediastinal structures during the dissection was similar between groups (10% vs 11%, p>0.9). While surgeons reported less intraoperative bleeding in Group 1 (43% vs 61%), this trend did not reach significance (p=0.1). In-hospital mortality, ICU length of stay and hospital length of stay were similar between both groups. Conclusions In patients undergoing LVAD explant-HT, there was a trend towards reduced surgeon reported intraoperative bleeding with ePTFE placement. Despite qualitatively reported greater ease and speed of mediastinal dissection with ePTFE membrane placement, time to initiation of CPB did not differ, likely because surgeons remained cautious, allowing extra time for unanticipated difficulties.

Background The Organ Care System (OCS) is a revolutionary ex vivo organ perfusion technology that can potentially expand the organ retrieval range. The OCS Lung device uses packed red blood cells (pRBC) with a proprietary solution. We report the ability to reduce blood waste during this procedure by using a thermal packaging solution in conjunction with the OCS platform. Methods We retrospectively reviewed all OCS Lung recoveries performed by our recovery team, using packed red blood cells (pRBC) from May 2019 to January 2021. Initially, units were stored using passive refrigeration with the Performance cooler at a temperature range of 1 to 6 °C for 4 hours. Subsequently, thermal control technology with the ProMed cooler was utilized to maintain the same temperature range for 72 hours. Results Twenty-three recoveries were initiated with 63 pRBC. The Performance cooler was used for eight while the ProMed cooler for thirteen. 37.5% of pRBC transported with the Performance cooler was used within the validated time range, while 25.0% were used beyond the validated time range based on clinical judgment. In addition, 37.5% of pRBC transported with the Performance cooler were returned to the institution after canceled recoveries with an estimated loss of $1,800; the ProMed cooler had no wastage. Conclusions This study showed that using an advanced thermal packaging solution facilitates proper storage of pRBC and represents an advancement for extended donor lung preservation. The elimination of blood wastage in this initial study portends ongoing benefits for the limited blood supply and reduced cost.

Importance: Cardiac tamponade requiring emergent intervention is a possible complication of COVID-19 infection. Favorable clinical outcomes are possible if timely management and drainage are performed, unless ventricular failure develops. Observations: Cardiac tamponade in COVID-19, based on the limited reported cases, seems to be more common among middle-aged men. Prognosis is worse amongst patients with concomitant ventricular failure. Design and methods: This is a case series of three COVID-19 patients complicated by cardiac tamponade, requiring surgical intervention at a single institution in New York. Interventions: Pericardial window, Pericardiocentesis Outcomes: One patient had recurrence of cardiac tamponade with hemorrhagic component but fully recovered and was discharged home. Two patients developed cardiac tamponade with concomitant biventricular failure, resulting in death. Conclusions and Relevance: Cardiac Tamponade with possible concomitant biventricular failure can develop in COVID-19 patients; incidence seems to be highest at the point of marked inflammatory response. Concomitant ventricular failure seems to be a predictor of poor prognosis.

ABSTRACT: Objective To investigate the Aneurysmal of the left sinus of Valsalva, and to improve the understanding of the disease and the level of diagnosis and treatment. Methods This article mainly reports a case of huge Aneurysmal of the left sinus of Valsalva patients treated with surgical treatment. Results After surgery, the prognosis of the case was good. Conclusion Aneurysmal of the left sinus of Valsalva has low incidence，which is rare in clinical with no clinical specific symptoms leading to difficulty in early detection. The appropriate surgical method should be considered to the patient condition, to prevent the tumor rupture and the death of patients.