Key Points 1. Diseases of the thoracic aorta can occasionally be managed with medical treatment and surveillance, whereas others require surgical intervention. Depending on the disease process, some surgeries may be performed electively, whereas others are truly emergency operations. 2.…
Key Points 1. While medical treatment and surveillance can be used to manage select aortic pathology, it is not uncommon for patients with aortic disease to present for surgical intervention. In the setting of certain acute aortic syndromes, surgery is…
INTRODUCTION The importance of excessive blood loss after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is related to its significant association with deleterious perioperative outcomes, including all the risks of blood transfusion. Blood transfusion after CABG significantly increases mortality risk, ischemic morbidity…
INTRODUCTION Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has revolutionized the management of coronary artery disease (CAD), initially with balloon angioplasty (BA) and subsequently with coronary stenting, both with bare-metal stents (BMSs) and with drug-eluting stents (DESs). Historically, the high incidence of coronary…