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. 1991;18(3):186–193.

Mediastinitis and Mycotic Aneurysm of the Aorta after Orthotopic Heart Transplantation

Matthias Anthuber 1,2, Bernhard M Kemkes 1,2, Ekkehard Kreuzer 1,2, Michael Gokel 1,2, Albert Schuetz 1,2, Christian Kugler 1,2, Frank Sudhoff 1,2
PMCID: PMC324995  PMID: 15227478

Abstract

After cardiac transplantation, bacterial mediastinitis is a rare but dangerous early complication. Of the 113 patients who underwent heart or heart-lung transplantation at our hospital from August 1981 to April 1989, 8 developed purulent mediastinitis. Treatment involved surgical débridment, local irrigation, drainage, and high-dose systemic antibiotics. No patient died of an acute mediastinal infection. In 2 cases, however, chronic mediastinitis led to the formation of a huge mycotic aneurysm of the ascending aorta. Eleven days after surgical intervention for rupture, 1 patient died of aneurysmal rerupture; the 2nd patient remains well 16 months after prosthetic replacement of the ascending aorta and reconstruction of the necrotic proximal portion of the left coronary artery with a saphenous vein patch. (Texas Heart Institute Journal 1991;18:186-93)

Keywords: Aneurysm, infected

Keywords: heart transplantation

Keywords: mediastinitis

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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