ObjectiveTo compare the cerebral protective effect of unilateral and bilateral antegrade selective cerebral perfusion during total aortic arch replacement, particularly with respect to neuropsychological outcome.MethodsFrom June 2003 to March 2004, 16 patients who underwent total aortic arch replacement were randomly allocated to one of two methods of brain protection: unilateral antegrade selective cerebral perfusion (unilateral group, n =8) or bilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion (bilateral group, n =8). Preoperative and postoperative neurological examination, brain computed tomography(CT) scan, and cognitive function tests were performed.ResultsAll patients survived the operations and were discharged from hospital. No new brain infarction occurred. Transient neurologic dysfunction occurred in 1 patient of each group. There were no intergroup differences in the scores of preoperative and post operative cognitive function ( P gt;0.05).ConclusionBoth methods of brain protection for patients undergoing total aortic arch replacement result in favorable and similar effect of brain protection in term of cognitive function provided the circle of Willis is patent and collateral flow is adequate.
Objective To identify the risk factors for coagulopathy after Stanford type A acute aortic dissection (AAD) repair to offer evidence for improvement of patients' prognosis. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 95 patients undergoing Stanford type A AAD repair in Beijing Anzhen Hospital between January 2013 and December 2014. Patients with thromboelastography-coagulation index (TEG-CI) ≤–3 after surgery were allocated to a coagulopathy group (n=17, average age 48.70 years), whereas patients with TEG-CI >–3 after surgery were allocated to a control group ( n=78, average age 46.80 years). Multivariate analysis was used to identify risk factors for coagulopathy after surgery. Results Seventeen patients suffered from coagulopathy after surgery. Patients in the coagulopathy group had larger amount of fluid drainage than that in the control group (P=0.008). Risk factors for postoperative coagulopathy were activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) at the end of surgery ( OR=0.011, 95% confidence interval 0.001 to 0.021, P=0.035), fibrinogen degradation products (FDP) at the end of surgery (OR=0.004, 95% confidence interval 0.001 to 0.007, P=0.022) and platelet count (×109/L) at the end of surgery (OR=–0.002, 95% confidence interval –0.003 to 0.000, P=0.049). The lower risk of postoperative coagulopathy was related to the platelet count at the end of surgery up to 137.00 ×109/L. Conclusion Postoperative coagulopathy could be related to the clinical and experimental variables. In a representative sample of Chinese adults undergoing Stanford type A AAD surgery, APTT, FDP and platelet count at the end of surgery are independent risk factors associated with postoperative coagulopathy. Adding haemostatic, such as fibrinogen and prothrombinase complex, is good for improving the recovery of coagulation function to reduce bleeding and postoperative blood transfusion, as well as adding platelet, plasma and other coagulation factors after AAD surgery.
Objective To analyze data for 1950 injured patients in the People’s Hospital of Deyang City following the Wenchuan earthquake, to provide relavent evidence to inform future decision-making in relation to establishing and improving frontline hospitals in disaster areas. Methods The basic situation of the wounded inpatients and the total situation of medical rescue were analyzed with data provided by the Department of Information at the hospital from May 12th to July 12th 2008. Microsoft EXCEL was used for data input and SPSS 11.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results By July 12th, a total of 1950 injured patients and 1378 inpatients had been treated in the hospital. Most inpatients were treated during the first week after the earthquake (about 65.6%), with the number of the inpatients reaching a peak of 703 on the first day, May 12th. The majority of the wounded inpatients were from the Mianzhu, Shifang and Jingyang districts of Deyang city. The diagnosis on admission included fracture (45.9%), craniocerebral injury (20.9%) and thoracoabdominal injury (14.7%). There were 48 deaths including 30 pre-hospital deaths, 10 emergency deaths and 8 inpatient deaths. There were 441 patients who were transported and transferred to the 2nd and 3rd hospitals from the People’s Hospital of Deyang City, which was the first hospital to organize the large-scale transporting of patients in the whole province. There were 1378 inpatients from the disaster area and 726 healthcare workers were sent to the disaster area to provide medical rescue. Psychological treatment was provided to more than 5000 inpatients, inhabitants, healthcare workers and army members. Conclusion The People’s Hospital of Deyang City successfully has accomplished a difficult task as the hospital nearest to the disaster area and played an important role during emergency medical rescue.