Category Archives: Cardiac Surgery

PUBLISHED: Introduction to Bedside Cardiac Ultrasound

Introduction to Bedside Cardiac Ultrasound

Allyson Peterson, MD
UChicago Medicine

Nadim Michael Hafez, MD
UChicago Medicine

Point of care cardiac ultrasound is a key diagnostic tool in evaluating any patient who is in extremis. Indications for a bedside cardiac ultrasound include cardiac arrest, unexplained hypotension, syncope, shortness of breath, chest pain, and altered mental status. There are no absolute contraindications for a limited bedside cardiac ultrasound. Point of care cardiac ultrasound mainly consists of four views: the parasternal long, parasternal short, apical four chamber, and subxiphoid views. Here, Dr. Peterson and Dr. Hafez at UChicago Medicine discuss image acquisition, pearls and pitfalls, and pathology for each of these views as an introduction to the bedside cardiac ultrasound.

PREPRINT RELEASE: Minimally Invasive Direct Coronary Artery Bypass (MIDCAB)

Minimally Invasive Direct Coronary Artery Bypass (MIDCAB)
VA Boston Healthcare System
Marco Zenati, MD
Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, VA Boston Healthcare System & Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

After experiencing chest pressure while exercising, a 72-year-old patient tested positive in both a stress test and nuclear medicine study, triggering a left heart catheterization that revealed a high grade lesion of the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery. His cardiologist determined the lesion would not be amenable to angioplasty or stenting, so Dr. Marco Zenati performs a minimally invasive coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB).

PREPRINT RELEASE: Cox-MAZE IV with Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) & Mitral Valve Replacement (MVR)

Cox-MAZE IV with Coronary Artery Bypass Graft and Mitral Valve Replacement
VA Boston Healthcare System
Marco Zenati, MD
Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, VA Boston Healthcare System & Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

In this long and complicated case, Dr. Marco Zenati performs a full, biatrial Cox-MAZE IV procedure with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and a mitral valve replacement (MVR), moving between the three procedures as necessary to minimize time on the ischemic heart. The patient suffers from congestive heart failure that recently escalated from class II to class III.