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Right arrow Transplantation - heart

J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2003;126:896-897
© 2003 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Brief communications

Rigid sternal fixation in the cardiac transplant population

David H. Song, MDa,*, Jayant P. Agarwal, MDa, Valluvan Jeevanandam, MDb

a Section of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, Ill, USA
b Section of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, IllUSA

Received for publication January 4, 2003; accepted for publication February 12, 2003.

* Address for reprints: David H. Song, MD, Section of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Chicago Hospitals, 5841 S Maryland Ave, MC 6035, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
dsong@surgery.bsd.uchicago.edu

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

Infections delay posttransplantation recovery and are present in the majority of early complications causing transplantation failure. Deep sternal wound infections and mediastinitis result in multiple surgical procedures for the patient and have been shown to increase hospital stay and expenses.1,2

Risk factors for development of sternal dehiscence and subsequent mediastinitis include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, reoperation, off-midline sternotomy, renal failure, diabetes, chronic steroid use, morbid obesity, concurrent infection, and acquired or iatrogenic immunosuppression.3 Many patients undergoing cardiac transplantation have 3 or more of these risk factors, designating them as at high risk for sternal dehiscence.

Recognizing instability as the . . . [Full Text of this Article]






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