Thoracic Key

In the operating room, standard monitoring techniques (e.g., central venous line, arterial line, bladder catheter) are used. Swan-Ganz catheter monitoring is useful in high-risk patients with elevated pulmonary pressure or…

Carcinoid tumors are rare with an incidence of about 4 per 100,000 general population per year. They originate from enterochromaffin cells, which are localized in 70% of cases in the…

Reoperations are uncommon following a successful valvular reconstruction. When they become necessary, the circumstances of the recurrent dysfunction, the mechanisms involved, and the surgical management are important considerations since accurate…

Surgeons who prefer valve replacement over valve reconstruction often claim that they are uncertain about the long-term benefits of valve reconstruction. Another assertion is that failure following valve repair is…

Although rare, various types of trauma can be responsible for valvular lesions that may not be recognized unless a systematic search is conducted after major penetrating or blunt trauma or…

Mediastinal irradiation, such as that used in the treatment of Hodgkin’s disease or breast cancer, may induce cardiac lesions namely constrictive pericarditis, restrictive cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, conduction disturbances, and/or…

Primary cardiac valve tumors are rare and comprise about 10% of all cardiac tumors, which are rare themselves. The most common tumors are papillary fibroelastoma followed by myxoma and fibroma…

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a disease of the left and/or right ventricle characterized by the development of myocardial hypertrophy predominant at the interventricular septum. There is no direct cause, such as…