Journal of Cardio -Thoracic Medicine
Volume:8 Issue: 1, Winter 2020

Covid-19 is a novel virus with high affinity to spread in the community. In December 2019, it was first identified in Wuhan, China. The symptoms are non-specific, so fever, cough, dyspnea, are prominent features. Respiratory failure and mortality have also been reported. The most common lung CT scan findings are bilateral ground glass opacities.

Chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) is a chronic multisystem disease with a considerable burden. One of its most common complications is pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH). It has been demonstrated that the development of PAH is correlated with decreased quality of life and survival. Different medications have been proposed for the treatment of PAH, among which one can name statins. However, the same as other medications for the treatment of PAH, statins are still providing controversial results across different study settings. Moreover, the effect of statins on PAH in COPD patients has not been widely investigated so far. According to the present review, most of the available clinical trials demonstrated that the utilization of statins, including pravastatin, atorvastatin, and rosuvastatin may have beneficial effects on PAH in COPD patients. Nonetheless, it is necessary to conduct clinical trials with longer follow-up duration

Deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) is one of the most complex and potentially devastating complications following median sternotomy in cardiac surgery. Despite many advances in prevention, it still remains significant and ranges between 0.5% and 6.8%. We aim to study the role of vancomycin paste applied locally over sternal edges in reducing DSWI. We retrospectively collected data of patients who underwent open heart surgery from June 2017 to May 2019 in our institution. The rate of DSWI was compared in patients in whom vancomycin paste was applied and not applied. Vancomycin paste was prepared using 3 g of vancomycin with 4ml 0.9% normal saline and stirred until a ‘paste’ was formed. This vancomycin paste was applied just after sternotomy and at the time of sternal closure. The rate of DSWI was compared also compared in the following high risk sub groups: female patients, diabetes mellitus (DM), morbidly obese (Body Mass Index i.e. BMI>30) and chronic obstructive lung diseases (COPD). A total of 862 patients underwent open heart surgery during the specified period. Overall incidence of DSWI in our study was 3.48 %. DSWI was found to be significantly lower in vancomycin group (adjusted Odds ratio 2.116 and p=30) patients. These results need to be substantiated in randomized controlled trials and multiple centers.

Although cardiac involvement is an infrequent presentation in human hydatidosis, early diagnosis and prompt surgical intervention of cardiac hydatid cyst are of utmost importance for the prevention of potential complications. We report a young female patient who presented with a huge cardiac hydatid cyst and severe heart failure symptoms undergoing successful surgical cyst removal with late follow-up.

Hemoptysis is the rarest presentation of thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA).This critical condition is one of the life-threatening medical emergencies. Even with prompt approaches, TAA can have highly terrible outcomes.   Although TAA is an almost asymptomatic condition that is accidentally discovered, imaging with contrast is the most useful modality to diagnosis it.

Sternal tumors are very rare and challenging. Secondary sternal tumors are more common than primary tumors. These tumors are usually refractory to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and surgery is the best choice for their treatment. In this study, we reported the collected data of 15 patients with primary and secondary tumors of the sternum, histological type, as well as kind of resection and reconstruction. Out of 15 subjects, 13 and 2 cases had primary tumors and sternal metastases, respectively

A 45-year-old female presented with symptoms of hyperthyroidism and hot nodules in the right lobe, which was diagnosed as nodular goiter by fine-needle aspiration. An anomalous thyroidectomy and difficult dissection with multiple rotations were performed around the trachea. As a remark, the pathology confirmed the presence of goiter with modular nodules (Figure 1). A macroscopic photograph showing the thyroid.

A 35-year-old male presented with a history of chest wall pain and swelling. It was decided to perform a CT-scan of the thorax that revealed of a rib involvement in the right hemithorax (Fig 1). We evaluated the yield of core needle biopsy in patients that the was diagnosed lymphoproliferative disorder. Investigation abdominal and pelvic CT scan and blood tests were found no other lesions. The patient underwent resection with reconstruction mesh and cement and muscle flap (Fig 2). Final Pathologic Diagnoses for Patients was reported with Lymphoma.