Sublingual tablets of buprenorphine (Temgesic sublingual) were given in a controlled trial of 41 patients for 2804 patient-days. With a mean starting dose of 1.09 mg and a final dose of 1.53 mg buprenorphine daily there was a good pain-relieving effect. The interval between doses was six to eight hours. The trial did not reveal any direct pointers as to tolerance or addictiveness after long-term intake of the drug. Because of its effectiveness and good duration of action, as well as the absence of negative long-term effects, the drug can be recommended in the long-term management of cancer pain.

A 30-year-old woman with severe mitral stenosis was admitted to hospital in cardiogenic shock (tachycardia, hypotension, low cardiac output) requiring artificial ventilation. As the cardiovascular state failed to respond to drug treatment, percutaneous mitral valvoplasty (MVP) was performed as an emergency with the Inoue balloon catheter. This brought about immediate improvement in the clinical and haemodynamic condition. As later seen at open-heart surgery, the MVP had produced a tear in the anterior mitral leaflet with considerable regurgitation. Mitral valve replacement was performed as an elective procedure 4 weeks after the MVP, at a time when the patient was mobile. MVP with the Inoue catheter system can achieve a stable clinical and haemodynamic state when there is cardiogenic shock due to severe mitral stenosis and conservative measures have failed.

Objective: The long-term durability and hemodynamics of stentless valves are . largely unknown. In this study we prospectively analyzed 8-year clinical results with the CryoLife-O'Brien Stentless Aortic Porcine Bioprosthesis (CryoLife Inc, Kennesaw, Ga) and assessed its hemodynamic performance by serial echocardiography.Methods: A total of 206 patients with a mean age of 72.8 years were followed up prospectively after aortic valve replacernent with the CryoLife-O'Brien stentless bioprosthesis. Patients have been followed up from 2 to 96 months for mean 56 months. Echocardiography was performed by a single echocardiographer preoperatively, intraoperatively, postoperatively at discharge, 3 to 6 months later, and annually thereafter.Results: The 30-day operative mortality was 4.8%. Sixty-five percent of patients received a valve 25 mm in diameter or larger, and 37% underwent concomitant coronary bypass grafting. Twelve late deaths, none valve-related, have occurred. Severe aortic insufficiency caused by oversizing led to early reoperation in 3 patients. The peak and mean systolic gradients decreased significantly during the first 12 months after implantation (P < .001), and the effective valve areas increased significantly during this interval (P < .001). At 8 years, 2 patients have mild to 4 moderate aortic insufficiency. The actuarial survival at 8 years was 82% +/- 3%. The freedom from endocarditis was 100%, and the freedom from thromboembolic events was 93%.Conclusion: Despite more demanding surgical technique than with conventional bioprostheses, the CryoLife-O'Brien bioprosthesis can be implanted safely in a population predominantly older than 70 years at the time of the operation, with excellent measures of hernodynamics, clinical outcomes, prosthesis durability, and survival through 8 years.

Background. It is suggested that a simplified implant model Cryolife-O'Brien (CryoLife International, Kennesaw, GA) offers less satisfactory outcome compared with standard stentless models. This study was conducted to prospectively evaluate the midterm results after aortic valve replacement with the Cryolife-O'Brien stentless bioprosthesis.Methods. In 1996, a prospective clinical trial using different stentless valves was initiated. From September 1996 through September 2002, 156 consecutive patients with a mean age of 74.5 years underwent aortic valve replacement with the Cryolife-O'Brien porcine stentless bioprosthesis. The predominant aortic valve lesion was stenosis in 128 and insufficiency in 28 cases. Patients have been followed from 2 to 72 months (mean, 42 months). Echocardiography was performed by one echocardiographer preoperatively, intraoperatively, postoperatively at discharge, 2 to 6 months later, and annually thereafter.Results. Sixty percent of patients received a valve 25 mm. in diameter or larger; 39% had concomittant coronary bypass grafting. The 30-day operative mortality rate was 6.4%. Ten late nonvalve-related deaths have occurred. Severe aortic insufficiency caused by oversizing leads to early reoperation in 3 patients. The peak and mean systolic gradients decreased significantly during the first 12 months after implantation, p < 0.001, and the effective valve areas increased significantly during this time interval p < 0.001. At 5 years, ten patients have moderate aortic insufficiency. The actuarial survival at 5 years was 88 +/- 3%. The rate for freedom from endocarditis was 100% and for freedom from thromboembolic events was 94%.Conclusions. Midterm results after aortic valve replacement with the Cryolife-O'Brien stentless bioprosthesis are encouraging. Good hemodynamics have been coupled with low rate of valve-related complications, thus representing a very good alternative to conventional stented bioprostheses. (c) 2005 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

AIM:Improved hemodynamics with stentless bioprosthesis compared to stented valves have been well documented. It has been suggested that a simplified implant model, the Cryolife-O'Brien, offers less satisfactory outcomes compared with standard stentless models. This study was conducted to prospectively evaluate the midterm results after aortic valve replacement with the Cryolife-O'Brien stentless bioprosthesis.METHODS:In 1996, the prospective clinical trial using different stentless valves was initiated in our center. From September 1996 through August 2001, 132 consecutive patients with a mean age of 72.5 years underwent aortic valve replacement with the Cryolife-O'Brien porcine stentless bioprosthesis by the same surgeon. The predominant aortic valve lesion was stenosis in 110 cases and insufficiency in 22 cases. Patients have been followed-up from 2 to 60 months, mean 28 months. Echocardiography was performed by the same echocardiographer preoperatively, intraoperatively, postoperatively at discharge, 2 to 6 months later and annually thereafter.RESULTS:Sixty-five percent of patients received a valve 25 mm in diameter or larger, 42% had concomitant coronary bypass grafting. The 30-day operative mortality rate was 6.8 %. Nine late deaths, none related to the valve, have occurred. Severe aortic insufficiency caused by oversizing led to early reoperation in 3 patients. The peak and mean systolic gradients decreased significantly during the first 12 months after implantation (p<0.001) and the effective valve areas increased significantly during this time interval (p<0.001). Eleven patients have aortic insufficiency, trivial in 7 and mild in 4. The actuarial survival at 5 years was 86+/-3%. The rate for freedom from endocarditis was 100% and for freedom from thromboembolic events 92%.CONCLUSIONS:The Cryolife-OBrien stentless bioprosthesis has superior hemodynamics and a low rate of valve-related complications thus representing a very good alternative to conventional stented bioprosthesis. The midterm results are encouraging but further follow-up is needed to determine the valve's durability.

History: Twelve years prior to hospitalization because of a severe bleeding, a 70 year old patient was diagnosed with a May-Hegglin anomaly, which is a Fare autosomal dominant inherited form of thrombocytopenia.Investigations: The blood smear contained signs of the May-Hegglin anomaly: Dohle's inclusion bodies and giant platelets. Platelet counts were around 30 G/I. Coronary angiography revealed a highly severe left main stenosis.Treatment and course: Even using maximum drug therapy, angina pectoris could not be stabilized. Therefore emergency coronary artery bypass grafting had to be performed. Before skin incision 3 mug/kg DDAVP (Desmopressin) were administered and after extracorporeal circulation 8 units of platelets were transfused. In addition, perioperative coagulation management was performed according to usual standards. There were no bleeding complications. The patient could leave the clinic after 11 days in stable condition.Conclusion: Patients showing May-Hegglin anomaly, even with serious thrombocytopenia, can be operated using extracorporal circulation without a high risk of bleeding.

BACKGROUND:It is believed that, compared with stented valves, stentless bioprostheses at the aortic position offer a larger orifice area. METHODS:During the past 45 months, we have implanted 211 various types of aortic prostheses in our clinic. In the subcoronary position, we have used the Medtronic Freestyle, Toronto SPV, and Cryolife O'Brien prostheses, and as an aortic root replacement, the Medtronic Freestyle. There were no special indications for selection of each prosthesis except in 8 patients suffering from a disease of the ascending aorta in addition or in a redo procedure because of endocarditis or valve degeneration in which we implanted the full root Freestyle prosthesis. All patients had echocardiographic examinations postoperatively and after 1 year. RESULTS:Although the implantations took significantly longer time initially, recently the complication rate has shown itself to be no greater than in comparable patients with stented prostheses. The hemodynamic results are very good with the exception of the Freestyle prosthesis implanted in the subcoronary position. The gradients of the remaining three prosthesis after 1 year are between 5 mm Hg and 10 mm Hg, and the effective valve orifice is between 2 and 3 cm2 depending on valve size. CONCLUSIONS:The use of stentless tissue valves offers better hemodynamic results than that of stented valves with essentially no increased operative risk.

In order to enable comparison of haemodynamic data, 21 patients in whom the ON-X valve had been implanted in the aortic position were compared using echocardiography findings with 21 patients who had received two different stentless bioprostheses, either in the subcoronary position, or as aortic root replacement over the same period of time. The stentless prostheses were the model 300 Cryolife O'Brien valve and the Medtronic Freestyle valve. Implantation of the stentless valve as an aortic root replacement took longer than the mechanical and subcoronary valves, although the results were not inferior. The studies showed that the haemodynamic data of the mechanical valves were not inferior to those of the stentless prostheses.

In Germany an increasing number of patients are directly discharged to the care of their general practicioner (GP) after heart surgery. 174 patients (151 males, 23 females, age 62 +/- 9 years), which were discharged less than 10 days after operation, were interviewed with respect to complications after their discharge.Results: 1. Deaths or lifethreatening events did not occur 2. 36 (20,7%) patients revealed complications, which necessitated the help of their GP or emergency services. Wound healing problems, pain and arrhythmias (4% respectively) were the main causes. 3. 17 (10,9%) patients reported a subjective worsening of their state of health during their treatment at home. 12 (6,9%) patients had to be readmitted to hospital. 4. Although 37,4% of the patients conceived their discharge as too early only 10% would have preferred to be transferred to a hospital.Conclusion: Patients, that reveal uncomplicated recovery after heart surgery can be discharged to general practitioner care at the beginning of the second week at acceptable risk.

OBJECTIVE:The prognostic significance of recanalisation of a chronically occluded infarct vessel in single-vessel coronary disease remains controversial, in contrast to early re-opening of the infarct vessel in the acute state of infarction. It was the purpose of this prospective study to discover whether successful recanalisation in the former influences the incidence of cardiac events (death, infarction, by-pass operation) and clinical symptoms in the long term. PATIENTS AND METHOD:Recanalisation procedures were successful in 58, unsuccessful in 41 of 99 patients (81 men, 18 women; mean age 55 [28-79] years) with anterior wall (n = 53) or posterior wall (n = 46) myocardial infarction (AMI and PMI, respectively). The two groups were similar with respect to age, sex, left-ventricular function, indication, exercise capacity and premedication. But the interval between infarction and recanalisation was shorter in the patients who had successful recanalisation (5.1 +/- 5.3 vs 7.8 +/- 7.6 months; P < 0.05). Mean follow-up period for all patients was 55.8 +/- 8.9 months after the recanalisation procedure. RESULTS:There were significantly fewer cardiac events after successful than failed recanalisation, both for the total group of patients (5% vs 23%; P < 0.01) and those with AMI (9 vs 36%; P = 0.012). In the patients with PMI there was only a trend in favour of those with successful recanalisation (0% vs 14%; P = 0.058). Symptomatic improvement was reported by 73% of patients after successful but only 40% after failed recanalisation (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION:The results provide pointers towards prognostic indications of recanalisation even after chronic occlusion of the infarct vessel. The procedure should therefore be attempted if the occlusion is morphologically suitable.

Objective: The prognostic significance of recanalisation of a chronically occluded infarct vessel in single-vessel coronary disease remains controversial, in contrast to early re-opening of the infarct vessel in the acute state of infarction. It was the purpose of this prospective study to discover whether successful recanalisation in the former influences the incidence of cardiac events (death, infarction, by-pass operation) and clinical symptoms in the long term.Patients and method: Recanalisation procedures were successful in 58, unsuccessful in 41 of 99 patients (81 men, 18 women; mean age 55 [28-79] years) with anterior wall (n = 53) or posterior wall (n = 46) myocardial infarction (AMI and PMI, respectively). The two groups were similar with respect to age, sex, left-ventricular function, indication, exercise capacity and premedication. But the interval between infarction and recanalisation was shorter in the patients who had successful recanalisation (5.1 +/- 5.3 vs 7.8 +/- 7.6 months; P < 0.05). Mean follow-up period for all patients was 55.8 +/- 8.9 months after the recanalisation procedure.Results: There were significantly fewer cardiac events after successful than failed recanalisation, both for the total group of patients (5% vs 23%; P < 0.01) and those with AMI (9 vs 36%; P = 0.012). In the patients with PMI there was only a trend in favour of those with successful recanalisation (0% vs 14%; P = 0.058). Symptomatic improvement was reported by 73% of patients after successful but only 40% after failed recanalisation (P < 0.01).Conclusion: The results provide pointers towards prognostic indications of recanalisation even after chronic occlusion of the infarct vessel. The procedure should therefore be attempted if the occlusion is morphologically suitable.

A 30-year-old woman with severe mitral stenosis was admitted to hospital in cardiogenic shock (tachycardia, hypotension, low cardiac output) requiring artificial ventilation. As the cardiovascular state failed to respond to drug treatment, percutaneous mitral valvoplasty (MVP) was performed as an emergency with the Inoue ballooncatheter. This brought about immediate improvement in the clinical and haemodynamic condition. As later seen at open-heart surgery, the MVP had produced a tear in the anterior mitral leaflet with considerable regurgitation. Mitral valve replacement was performed as an elective procedure 4 weeks after the MVP, at a time when the patient was mobile. - MVP with the Inoue catheter system can achieve a stable clinical and haemodynamic state when there is cardiogenic shock due to severe mitral stenosis and conservative measures have failed.

A 30-year-old woman with severe mitral stenosis was admitted to hospital in cardiogenic shock (tachycardia, hypotension, low cardiac output) requiring artificial ventilation. As the cardiovascular state failed to respond to drug treatment, percutaneous mitral valvoplasty (MVP) was performed as an emergency with the Inoue balloon catheter. This brought about immediate improvement in the clinical and haemodynamic condition. As later seen at open-heart surgery, the MVP had produced a tear in the anterior mitral leaflet with considerable regurgitation. Mitral valve replacement was performed as an elective procedure 4 weeks after the MVP, at a time when the patient was mobile. MVP with the Inoue catheter system can achieve a stable clinical and haemodynamic state when there is cardiogenic shock due to severe mitral stenosis and conservative measures have failed.

Cardiac tamponade following coronary perforation is a rare complication in conventional balloon angioplasty. In a series of 8000 dilatations we observed this complication after PTCA in 2 female patients (0.25/1000). In both cases cardiac tamponade occurred 2 h after PTCA of small, in 1 case calcified, coronary arteries during monitoring on the coronary care unit. By immediate percutaneous pericardiocentesis and subsequent drainage by a pigtail catheter we could manage the complication. One patient suffered an acute myocardial infarction 3 days after PTCA because of a subacute occlusion of the perforated vessel.

Buprenorphine sublingual tablets (0.2 mg) were investigated in therapy of cancer pain. In 67 patients there was a good analgetic effect in 60%, even in those cases treated with other opiates before. The induction time was quite long (60 min.) but is no problem in chronic administration. Effective pain relief was obtained even in final stages of cancer. The mean daily dose of buprenorphine had been 1.2-1.7 mg, the mean duration of analgesia being 6-8 hours with a single dose of 0.2-1.0 mg buprenorphine. Typical opiate-side-effects were registered and well tolerated after some days' treatment. There was no respiratory depression. Buprenorphine sublingual tablets are certainly a good alternative in orally available opioids.