Platelet dysfunction secondary to cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is one of the major reasons for nonsurgical post-operative bleeding in cardiac surgery. Whether platelet size is an indicator for platelet function was investigated in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor in view of the recommendation of Justus Liebig University (JLU) that papers published by Dr. Boldt be retracted due to inconsistencies in scientific integrity and falsified data. A JLU statement on the scientific credibility of articles published by Dr. Joachim Boldt can be found at https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S000709122030163X-mmc3.pdf RETRACTED: Cardiorespiratory responses to hypertonic saline solution in cardiac operationsThe Annals of Thoracic SurgeryVol. 51Issue 4PreviewThis article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal ( http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy ). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor in view of the recommendation of Justus Liebig University (JLU) that papers published by Dr. Boldt be retracted due to inconsistencies in scientific integrity and falsified data. A JLU statement on the scientific credibility of articles published by Dr. Joachim Boldt can be found at https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S000709122030163X-mmc3.pdf Full-Text PDF

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Hugh Hemmings, based on the recommendations of Justus-Liebig-University Giessen following an internal review of research conducted by Joachim Boldt at the University. This is further described in 'Further Retractions of Articles by Joachim Boldt', https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2020.02.024.

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Hugh Hemmings, based on the recommendations of Justus-Liebig-University Giessen following an internal review of research conducted by Joachim Boldt at the University. This is further described in 'Further Retractions of Articles by Joachim Boldt', https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2020.02.024.

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Hugh Hemmings, based on the recommendations of Justus-Liebig-University Giessen following an internal review of research conducted by Joachim Boldt at the University. This is further described in 'Further Retractions of Articles by Joachim Boldt', https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2020.02.024.

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Hugh Hemmings, based on the recommendations of Justus-Liebig-University Giessen following an internal review of research conducted by Joachim Boldt at the University. This is further described in 'Further Retractions of Articles by Joachim Boldt', https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2020.02.024.

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor. Reason: By comparing the results of this article with results reported by Berend Fedderson (Hämofiltration als blutsparendes Verfahren in der Herzchirurgie: sechs verschiedene Hämofilter im Vergleich; Niebüll, Germany; http://d-nb.info/930239350), it has been determined that experimental outcomes have been altered. Thus, the research published in this article was misrepresented to The Annals of Thoracic Surgery and the article should be retracted from the scientific record.

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor. Reason: An institutional investigation at Justus-Liebig Universitat Giessen confirms data fabrication and falsification by J. Boldt. Thus, the research published in this article was misrepresented to The Annals of Thoracic Surgery and the article should be retracted from the scientific record. RETRACTED: Acute preoperative plasmapheresis and established blood conservation techniquesThe Annals of Thoracic SurgeryVol. 50Issue 1PreviewThis article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal ( http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy ). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor. Reason: An institutional investigation at Justus-Liebig Universitat Giessen confirms data fabrication and falsification by J. Boldt. Thus, the research published in this article was misrepresented to The Annals of Thoracic Surgery and the article should be retracted from the scientific record. Full-Text PDF

The above article, published online on 30 December 2008 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted by agreement between the journal Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Lars S. Rasmussen, and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed following an investigation carried out by the Justus Liebig University, which has concluded that there is evidence that the original research data on which the article builds has been manipulated. Reference Boldt J, Zickmann B, Rapin J, Hammermann H, Dapper F, Hempelmann G. Influence of volume replacement with different HES-solutions on microcirculatory blood flow in cardiac surgery. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand 1994; 38: 432-438. doi:.

We investigated whether pulsatile flow in cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), which has been shown to improve intestinal perfusion, reduces endotoxin translocation from the gut and, in consequence, decreases cytokine generation. The study population consisted of 48 adult patients who underwent elective CPB surgery. Pulsatile flow was used during aortic cross-clamping in 24 patients and nonpulsatile flow in 24 patients. Plasma endotoxin concentration increased in all patients during CPB. Significantly (P < 0.05) lower peak levels of 8.25 +/- 1.17 (SEM) pg/mL were reached 30 min after CPB in patients with pulsatile flow in contrast to 11.26 +/- 1.42 pg/mL in patients with nonpulsatile flow. The extent of endotoxemia was not related to the duration of CPB. Following the increase of plasma endotoxin, the concentrations of IL-6 and IL-8 increased with delay of approximately 1 h. The peak levels of these cytokines corresponded significantly (P < 0.005 and P < 0.01, respectively) with duration of CPB, but not with flow mode. Thus, in patients with CPB of more than 97 min (median), IL-6 reached a peak of 335.5 +/- 48.87 pg/mL and IL-8 of 64.86 +/- 24.79 pg/mL in contrast to 210.9 +/- 18.45 pg/mL and 21.2 +/- 10.19 pg/mL, respectively, with bypass times of less than 97 min. The degree of endotoxemia in CPB mainly depends on the quality of tissue perfusion. Cytokine generation, however, is not triggered exclusively by endotoxin, but rather by the trauma of CPB and surgery.

715 From June 1988 to December 1998 49 heart transplantations were performed in newborns and infants below 1 year of age in our clinic. Diagnosis included hypoplastic left heart syndrom (n = 38), endocardial fibroelastosis (n = 4), cardio- myopathy (n = 5) and other complex congenital heart defects (n = 2). We divided the patients into two groups according to the time of surgery. The first group (n = 11) was transplanted between 1988 and 1992. The second group (n = 38) was transplanted from 1993 to 1998. We noticed a significant change of survival between these groups. While in the first group the survival rate was about 45 %, the total survival in the second group was about 92 % and the one year survival rate of this group is about 93 %. The reasons for death have been right ventricular failure (n = 3), acute rejection (n = 4), viral infection (n = 1) and multi organ failure (n = 1). Only one patient died later than one month after transplantation. During the first month after surgery 69 % of all rejections occured. We found 58 rejection episodes in 36 patients. Until today we could not find any signs of coronary heart desease or malignomas in the transplanted children. The qualitiy of life of our patients is excellent and the somatic development is normal. The infants and babies live at home and beside the immune supressive therapy life of the transplanted children does not differ from those of children of similar age. Our conclusions are, that cardiac transplantation in infants and newborns is a reasonable therapeutic concept of severe and treatment of complex cardiac abnormalities and offers excellent survival rates in experienced Heart-centers.

To attain satisfactory results in aortic arch surgery a reliable method of cerebral protection, avoidance of emboli, and control of hemorrhage is mandatory. Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest is the most common technique at present but gives only a limited period of protection, whereas a complicated aortic arch operation may require more time than anticipated. Therefore the selective cannulation and perfusion of the innominate artery has not been widely used until now because it is uncertain whether the left hemisphere of the brain is adequately perfused. Between 1990 and 1995, 21 of 69 patients within the last 36 months, consisting of 15 men and 6 women averaging 45±13.4 years, underwent operative treatment for aneurysm (n=9) or type A dissection (n=12) involving the aortic valve and aortic arch; selective innominate perfusion (SCP [i]) in moderate hypothermia (28°C) for brain protection was used.