Supravalvular pulmonary stenosis following anatomic correction of transposition of great vessels: report of a successful balloon dilatation

Primary anatomical repair of TGA has several theoretical advantages over conventional atrial baffle techniques. However, one of the most common postoperative complications of the new technique is the development of an obstruction at the arterial anastomosis to the pulmonary artery (PA). A supravalvular pulmonary stenosis developed progressively over the first months after an arterial switch operation of a simple TGA in a newborn infant. The diagnosis was easily performed by Doppler-echocardiographic follow-up studies. Hemodynamic assessment by cardiac catheterization performed when the patient was five months old revealed a systolic gradient of 76 mm Hg at the arterial anastomosis. Percutaneous balloon angioplasty was successfully performed.     

Resorptions- und Sekretionsprüfungen bei Perfusion des Rattendarms mit hypo- und hypertonischen Glucoselösungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The Kallikrein-Kinin system and muscle metabolism—Clinical aspects

The influence of synthetic bradykinin (BK) on disturbed protein and carbohydrate metabolism was studied in chemical and manifest maturity-onset diabetics, in surgical patients and in alloxan diabetic rats. BK,mixed with insulin and injected subcutaneously twice daily in alloxan diabetic rats lowered the morning blood glucose concentration in a dose-dependent way, whereas in a control group treated with insulin only no decrease was seen. Accelerated local blood flow or enhanced vascular permeability as a cause of increased glucose uptake could be ruled out by control experiments using papaverine and eledoisin. Better metabolic control in the BK/insulin-treated group was also indicated by lower arterial levels of free fatty acids and of -hydroxybutyrate, normalized hepatic glycogen content and better growth of body weight. In healthy man an intravenous infusion of BK (80 g/h) did not influence normal fasting blood glucose concentrations, whereas elevated glucose levels in maturity-onset diabetics were continuously reduced within 100 min by 12.2±1.4%. A comparable diabetic group receiving saline alone showed no spontaneous drop of blood glucose concentration. An improvement of pathological carbohydrate metabolism by infusion of BK i.v. could also be demonstrated using the intravenous glucose tolerance test in chemical and manifest maturity-onset diabetics and in surgical patients: in all groupsk values of the glucose tolerance test were significantly increased by BK. This effect was neither due to stimulated insulin release nor to changed glucose pool or to increased renal glucose loss, which was even reduced by BK. Interestingly, normalk values in healthy volunteers were not further improved by BK. A stimulated protein breakdown, which occurs after surgery due to peripheral insulin resistance, can also be restricted by intravenous infusion of BK: in surgical patients urinary nitrogen excretion was reduced by 50% during infusion of BK and was accelerated again after cessation of the infusion. These results indicate that BK can improve the efficacy of exogenous insulin in insulin-deficient animals and depressed insulin sensitivity in maturity-onset diabetics and surgical patients.     

Organ-preference of metastasis

Summary The initial, site-specific colonization of secondary organs by blood-borne cancer cells appears to be mediated by endothelial cell adhesion molecules. These molecules are part of the organ-specific microvascular phenotype and are regulated through complex interactions of the endothelium with the extracellular matrix (e.g., distinct matrix macromolecules and growth factors). They are inducedin vitro by growing unspecific (large vessel) endothelial cells on extracts of organ-specific biomatrices. In many respects, these molecules are similar to the various classes of chemically different adhesion molecules that regulate lymphocyte traffic, but are believed to be distinct from the inducible adhesion molecules that govern leukocyte adhesion during acute episodes of inflammation. Biochemical and biophysical data indicate that preference of tumor cell adhesion to organ-specific microvascular endothelium may not require qualitative differences of such homing receptors between endothelia, but may be explained on the basis of quantitative receptor differences as well as differences of receptor avidity. Following adhesion, the metastatic cascade proceeds by the establishment of metabolic conduits between the endothelium and adherent tumor cells. This heterotypic coupling represents an early step in the extravasation of cancer cells from the microvasculature, initiating endothelial cell retraction from its basement membrane and recanalization around the arrested tumor cell. These events, together with local growth promoting effects exerted by the metastasized organ, are believed to provide the basis for Paget's seed and soil hypothesis of metastasis.     

Extrarenal effects of potassium-canrenoate. Haemodynamic investigations during neuroleptanalgesia in cardiosurgical patients (author's transl)]

Direct cardiac and vascular effects of the antikaliuretic diuretic potassium-canrenoate were measured in cardio-surgical patients during extracorporal circulation and immediatly after operations, each time in neuroleptanalgesia. During "steady state" extracorporeal circulation (aorta cross-clamped, constant flow rate of heart-lung-machine, constant hypothermia), in 13 patients no significant influence on peripheral circulation was found after i.v.-injection of 800 mg potassium-canrenoate. Neither arterial perfusion pressure (representing an arterial vascular reaction) nor changes in oxygenator-volume (indicating venous vasodilation or contraction) demonstrated significant differences in comparison to a control group. After cardiac surgery haemodynamic measurements were performed for a period of 60 minutes in 10 patients given 800 mg potassium-canrenoate. In comparison with a control group (n = 6), no significant differences in arterial pressure, heart rate, cardiac index and pulmonary arterial pressure were found. Left ventricular measurements, using a catheter tip manometer, revealed no direct positive inotropic effect of a single i.v.-injection of potassium-canrenoate. In acute myocardial failure during anaesthesia or in "low cardiac ouptut" following open heart surgery no improvement in myocardial contractility is obtained by i.v.-application of potassium-canrenoate; at the present there seems no alternative to other positive inotropic agents such as calcium, glucagon, dopamine, orciprenaline and epinephrine.     

Complete atrioventricular septal defect associated with tetralogy of Fallot. Favourable outcome of transatrial transpulmonary repair

BACKGROUND: Complete correction of atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) associated with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) has been reported to account for an increased surgical risk. Impaired right ventricular function after classic transventricular repair, residual outflow tract stenosis, and incompetence of the pulmonary or atrioventricular valves are considered to be essential factors affecting the results. METHODS: From 3/95 to 6/98 six consecutive patients with AVSD and TOF underwent repair (age 18 months to 7.3 years) using a combined transatrial-transpulmonary approach. RV outflow tract balloon dilatation preceded transatrial correction in 4 patients. Pulmonary annulotomy but not transanular patching was necessary in 4 cases. The septal defects were closed by two separate patches using a Dacron patch with short depth and anterior extension for the ventricular component. RESULTS: All patients survived and had stable sinus rhythm. Echocardiography demonstrated mild, but hemodynamically insignificant mitral regurgitation in two and tricuspid regurgitation in four patients. Right ventricle to pulmonary artery gradients ranged from 5 to 35 mmHg (mean 24.2 mmHg) without progression. During follow-up ranging from 4 months to 3.5 years (mean 16.8 months) no reoperation was necessary. CONCLUSIONS: The transatrial-transpulmonary approach for correction of AVSD with TOF contributes to improved results after repair of this rare combination of defects.     

Aortic valve replacement and ascending aorta replacement in ankylosing spondylitis: report of three surgical cases and review of the literature

Out of 887 consecutive patients who underwent aortic valve replacement between January 1976 and December 1981 at Hannover Medical School Hospital, 3 patients had severe aortic valve insufficiency associated with ankylosing spondylitis (Morbus Bechterew). One of them had huge aneurysmatic dilatation of the ascending aorta and successfully underwent replacement of the ascending aorta by a vascular prosthesis. Microscopical examination of the resected aortic wall showed characteristic findings of aortitis in ankylosing spondylitis. The 3 patients are in good clinical condition at 5 and 6 months, and 2 1/2 years, respectively, after uneventful surgery. It is concluded that aortic valve replacement in patients with ankylosing spondylitis can be performed feasibly and clinical results have been satisfactory. The risk of aneurysmatic dilatation of the ascending aorta resulting from aortitis associated with ankylosing spondylitis is emphasized.