Melatonin has been shown to diminish ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in many tissues. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the protective antioxidant effect of melatonin in skeletal muscle during I/R injury. Wistar albino rats were randomly divided into three groups. Hindlimb ischemia was achieved by clamping the common femoral artery in two groups but not in control group. Limbs were rendered ischemic for 1.5 hr; at the end of the reperfusion period of 1.5 hr muscle tissue samples were taken for the histological evaluation and biochemical analysis. Melatonin (10 mg/kg) was injected i.p. in the I/R + Mel group at the onset of ischemia whereas the vehicle solution was injected in the I/R group. In I/R + Mel group histological damage was significantly less than in the I/R group (P < 0.001). In the I/R + Mel group, the mean malonedialdehyde level was lower than in the I/R group (P < 0.01) and was quite near to the levels in the control group (P > 0.05). Glutathione levels were found to be reduced in the I/R group compared with the control (P < 0.01) and I/R + Mel group (P < 0.01). Melatonin has a protective effect against I/R injury in skeletal muscle and may reduce the incidence of compartment syndrome, especially after acute or chronic peripheral arterial occlusions.

The results of this study clearly demonstrated that a minimally invasive approach using robotic-assisted surgery has advantages in terms of body image, self-esteem, and cosmetic outcomes over the conventional approach in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Background: Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a prognostic predictor in a wide range of cardiovascular disease. Acute aortic dissection (AD) is an uncommon but fatal cardiovascular disease. In this study, we investigated both prognostic factors in patients with AD and whether NLR can be a predictor for mortality. Methods: We analyzed retrospectively the data of 57 patients with AD who had undergone emergent surgery in our hospital and included 128 consecutive patients with chest pain admitted to the emergency room as a control group. Also, patients who were operated on due to aortic dissection as another subgroup were compared to NLR values. Baseline clinical features, cardiovascular risk factors, and surgical and laboratory parameters were obtained from the hospital database. Results: Patients with AD had higher NLR than the control group (1.7 ± 0.5 versus 7.6 ± 3.3, P < .001). In the AD group, 15 deaths occurred and non-survivors had significantly higher NLR, compared to survivors (11.6 ± 2.4 versus 6.6 ± 2.3, P < .001). In multivariate analysis, high NLR (odds ratio [OR] 1.913, 95% CI 1.030-1.081, P = .04) and cross-clamp time (OR 1.265, 95% CI 1.003-1.596, P = .04) were determined as independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. In receiver operating characteristics curve analyses, the NLR > 9.3 predicted the mortality in AD with a specificity of 91% and a sensitivity of 86% (P < .001).Conclusion: This study shows that high NLR can be used as a marker for prognosis in short-term mortality of patient with AD. Additionally, increased lactate level in perioperative period, prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass time, and additional cardiac procedures are strong independent predictors of short-term mortality in patients with acute AD.

We report a 38-year-old female, who presented with progressive dyspnea and fatigue. Echocardiography revealed a giant and freely mobile left ventricular myxoma causing left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction. The patient underwent totally endoscopic robotic excision of a giant left ventricular myxoma. The tumor was completely removed through the mitral valve orifice with a left atriotomy incision.

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