The association of advanced age with various comorbidities increases the risk of mortality and morbidity in cardiac surgery. The utilization of high thoracic epidural anesthesia (HTEA) in this setting presents numerous potential benefits, including early recovery of consciousness and of spontaneous ventilation, hemodynamic stability, enhanced analgesia, improved pulmonary function, and earlier recovery. Moreover, this anesthesiological technique

A 74-year-old woman with mitral regurgitation secondary to ruptured chordae tendineae, complicated by a cleft in the posterior mitral leaflet and a severely calcified mitral annulus, underwent mitral valve repair by implantation of polytetrafluoroethylene chords and closure of the cleft, without the use of an annuloplasty ring. Immediately after the repair severe left ventricular outflow tract obstruction developed secondary to the systolic anterior

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of postinfarction ventricular septal defect (VSD) of patients referred to our institution for surgical treatment, by assessing the role of several operative, pre- and post-operative variables on mortality. The medical records of 58 consecutive patients (mean age 73+/-7 years), operated on after 14+/-12 days from the acute myocardial infarction were retrospectively reviewed and the data