This article summarizes the general experience and results achieved by heart transplantation during 19 years of activity.Between 1987 and 2005, 439 heart transplantations and 24 cardiopulmonary transplantations were performed by the Cardiovascular Surgery Department of Hospital Universitario La Fe, Valencia, Spain. Indication variation over time, donor/receptor profiles, urgent vs. programmed transplantations and short/long term results over different periods of time were subject to analysis, while correlating the results with changes of surgical technique, myocardial protection and immunosuppression protocols.For the last 5 years, the number of heart transplantations remained stable at 30 cases per year. The most frequent etiology was ischaemic cardiopathy (41%); 25% of the emergency heart transplantations were carried out in patients with inotropic support, mechanical ventilation and/or intraaortic balloon pump contrapulsation. The early mortality rate was 8%, and 4,7% considering only the last period; the most frequent cause of death during the first postoperative month was acute graft failure, followed by infection. After the first year, graft vascular disease was the leading cause of mortality. Emergency transplantation and re-transplantation had a significantly higher mortality.Cardiac transplantation is the best treatment for terminal miocardiopathies. The early mortality rate was low. At present time, the number of heart transplantations became stable due to a low number of donors. In the future, better prevention and treatment of graft vascular disease shall be achieved in order to increase long-term survival. The comparative analysis of survival shows similar results to others published in the world scientific literature, including a continuing trend towards improving survival over the last years.
El angiomiolipoma es el tumor mesenquimal benigno más frecuente del riñón.Suele tener una cantidad variable de vasos sanguíneos, músculo liso y tejido adiposo, y por lo general es un hallazgo incidental.Algunas de sus raras complicaciones son la invasión de los ganglios linfáticos, la diseminación vascular a través de la vena cava inferior y, más excepcional aún, el desarrollo de embolia grasa.Presentamos dos casos con diseminación vascular a través de la vena renal extendiéndose hasta la vena cava inferior, uno de ellos con embolia grasa asociada.La diseminación vascular y la embolia grasa son complicaciones raras, pero conocidas, de los angiomiolipomas; una vez que aparecen, el tratamiento siempre será quirúrgico, aunque el paciente se encuentre totalmente asintomático.
El corazón univentricular es una entidad compleja al incluir todas aquellas cardiopatías congénitas donde no es posible aplicar una corrección biventricular. En el corazón univentricular, la circulación pulmonar y sistémica forman circuitos en paralelo, lo que supone una sobrecarga de volumen para ese ventrículo único que provocará su deterioro funcional. El objetivo del tratamiento quirúrgico es separar progresivamente esos circuitos pulmonar y sistémico colocándolos en serie. Desde la década de 1980 este tratamiento quedó establecido en tres estadios paliativos sucesivos: primer estadio o paliación neonatal, segundo estadio o derivación cavopulmonar superior bidireccional, y tercer estadio o derivación cavopulmonar total. La ecocardiografía y el cateterismo cardíaco son fundamentales para establecer una correcta valoración anatómica, funcional y hemodinámica de cada paciente, para poder individualizar su tratamiento. Las técnicas quirúrgicas empleadas en el segundo estadio son la operación de Glenn bidireccional y el procedimiento hemi-Fontan. La elección entre ambas dependerá de la técnica quirúrgica que planifiquemos para completar el tercer estadio. El manejo postoperatorio debe basarse en el conocimiento fisiopatológico particular de cada paciente. Las complicaciones postoperatorias propias más importantes son la hipoxemia mantenida y la elevación persistente de la presión venosa en el territorio superior. Los resultados iniciales del segundo estadio son satisfactorios, lográndose supervivencias hospitalarias cercanas al 100% en las series más recientes, independientemente del tipo de técnica empleada. Es muy importante el estrecho seguimiento de estos pacientes para establecer el momento idóneo para el tercer estadio y conseguir mejores resultados a largo plazo. The univentricular heart is a complex entity. It includes all congenital hearts where it is not possible to apply a biventricular correction. In univentricular heart, pulmonary circulation and systemic form circuits in parallel; this represents a volume overload for that single ventricle that will cause its functional impairment. The aim of surgical treatment is gradually separate these circuits placing them in series. Since the 80s this treatment was established in three successive palliative stages: first stage or neonatal palliation, second stage or bidirectional superior cavopulmonary connection and third stage or total cavopulmonary connection. Echocardiography and cardiac catheterization are essential to establish a correct anatomical, functional and hemodynamic assessment in each patient in order to individualize their treatment. The surgical techniques used in the second stage are the bidirectional Glenn operation and the hemi-Fontan procedure. The choice of one of them depends on the surgical technique that will be performed to complete the third stage. The postoperative management should be based on pathophysiological knowledge of each patient. The most important postoperative complications are hypoxemia and persistent high venous pressure in the upper territory. Initial results of the second stage are very successful, achieving hospital survival close to 100% in the latest series, regardless of the type of surgical technique. It is very important to closely watch these patients to establish the ideal time to complete the third stage, thereby achieving better results in the long-term.