The pathogenesis of post-cardiac injury syndronme was studied prospectively in 62 patients who underwent coronary bypass grafting. Preoperative and serial postoperative titres of actin and myosin antibodies were measured by an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Perioperative cumulative release of serum aspartate and alanine aminotransferases, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatine kinase was calculated by approximation formulas that are used to estimate infarct size. Complete post-cardiac injury syndrome developed in eight (13%) patients and an incomplete syndrome developed in 16 (26%). There was a significant correlation between frequency and intensity of the syndrome and the ratio of postoperative to preoperative titres of actin and myosin antibodies. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between the cumulative release of lactate dehydrogenase, serum aspartate aminotransferase, and creatine kinase and the number of coronary vessels that were grafted, but no correlation was found between the incidence of post-cardiac injury syndrome and the number of coronary bypasses grafted or between the cumulative enzyme release and the postoperative immunological response against the major contractile proteins, actin and myosin. The amount of enzymes released during coronary bypass surgery seems to be a good indicator of the extent of myocardial damage during operation but it does not determine either the incidence of post-cardiac injury syndrome or the postoperative immunological response against the main contractile proteins actin and myosin.Post-cardiac injury syndrome is a frequent complication of cardiac surgery' -7; it is seen less often after acute myocardial infarction,7 8 despite the generally more severe myocardial damage produced by infarction. Furthermore, post-cardiac injury syndrome was found to be significantly more frequent after valve replacement surgery than after coronary bypass operation.69 According to Engle et al more severe myocardial damage after valve replacement explains this observation.9 Aortic valve replacement gives rise to a greater cumulative enzyme release of creatine kinase, creatine kinase MB, and a hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase than coronary artery bypass grafting which in turn gives rise to greater cumulative enzyme release than mitral valve replacement.10o 1 Thus the reason for the significantly Requests for reprints to Dr Ivan De Scheerder, higher frequency of post-cardiac injury syndrome after valve replacement surgery than after coronary artery bypass grafting remains controversial. De Scheerder etal demonstrated that the difference in occurrence of post-cardiac injury syndrome after cardiac surgery and acute myocardial infarction correlated well with the difference of post-cardiac injury humoral immune response against myocardial tissue and the major contractile proteins, actin and myosin,7 suggesting that this immune response is important in the pathogenesis or postcardiac injury syndrome.We have studied the correlation between the tissue damage during coronary artery bypas...

The optimal anticoagulation regimen for hemodialysis (HD) in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) has not been defined. Hemodiafiltration (HDF) adds a large convective component to HD, thereby changing the pharmacokinetics of most anticoagulants. Data on coagulation regimens for HDF are scant. We therefore aimed to study the feasibility, effectiveness, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of fondaparinux anticoagulation in HDF. This was a prospective observational dose-finding study. Patients were started on fondaparinux at a dose of 0.05 mg/kg postdialysis body weight. Per protocol dose escalation was performed when significant clotting was observed and reduced when the anti-Xa activity postdialysis exceeded 0.4 IU/mL. Dose adjustments were made by steps of 0.01 mg/kg postdialysis weight. Anti-Xa activity was measured using a chromogenic method calibrated with low-molecular-weight heparin and validated against fondaparinux-calibrated anti-Xa activity. Four patients with HIT were followed for 160 sessions in total. At the end of the dose titration study, three patients ended at a maintenance dose of 0.03 mg/kg and one patient at 0.04 mg/kg of fondaparinux. Significant bleeding attributable to fondaparinux did not occur. The occurrence of clotting increased parallel to the reduction of fondaparinux dose, from 0/53 and 0/15 sessions at the higher doses (0.04 and 0.05 mg/kg) to 3/75 (4%) at 0.03 mg/kg and 1/17 (6%) at 0.02 mg/kg. Fondaparinux may be safely used and provides adequate anticoagulation for HDF in patients with HIT. We recommend to adjust dosage of fondaparinux to body weight and to initiate therapy at a dose of 0.03 mg/kg to prevent accumulation. Dose titration can be achieved by targeting postdialysis anti-Xa activity.

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The existence of a sheet around a single lumen dialysis catheter tip, which provokes a valve mechanism, is proved by the observation that several times during the replacement procedure of a dialysis catheter, a sheet surrounding the surface of the catheter is removed with the dialysis catheter. This sheet is grey, approximately 1 mm thick and 30 mm long and consists of fibrin and thrombocytes. Bacteriological examinations were always negative. The existence of the sheet in vivo is demonstrated by digitalized angiography during the removal procedure for single lumen dialysis catheters. Rarely, only the sheet is removed with the catheter. It all other instances, the sheet is stripped off and remains in the subcutaneous tunnel or in the vascular bed without causing much clinical discomfort in most patients. Occasionally an episode of cough, dyspnea, hypotension, retrosternal oppression or hemoptae after removing the single lumen dialysis catheter, suggest pulmonary embolism or lung infarction.