BACKGROUND: Finding the optimum vascular grafts (VG) to replace damaged blood arteries in cardiac surgery is still a work in progress. To be employed, a tissue-engineered VG (TEVG) must have the appropriate biological and mechanical qualities. Decellularized arteries may be a better TEVG than synthetic grafts because of their natural three-dimensional architecture. AIM: The goal of this study was to compare different concentrations and times of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to decellularize tissue to find the best decellularized VG. METHODS: In all decellularized scaffolds, which are 1% SDS-2 weeks group, hematoxylin and eosin and Masson’s trichrome staining exhibited looser collagen networks and fewer nuclei. RESULTS: The orientation of collagen fibers was identical to native vascular scaffolds. Collagen I deposition was seen in the immunohistochemistry assay. A tensile strength test revealed that the decellularized scaffold (0.5% SDS for 4 weeks and 0.5% SDS for 2 weeks) had exceeded the native arteries’ maximal strength. In comparison to 1% SDS in 4 weeks treated groups, scanning electron microscopy following decellularization revealed no endothelial cells on the inner side of 1% SDS in 2 weeks group with minimum extracellular matrix damage. The endothelial cells remained marginally visible on the inner side of all 0.5% SDS treated groups. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide test was used to determine the cytotoxicity of the decellularized scaffolds. CONCLUSION: This study reveals that exposing a bovine mesenteric artery to 1% SDS for 2 weeks is an excellent procedure for extracting the most acellular VG, potentially serving as a biological scaffold for TEVGs.

Introduction: The incidence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) globally is 700 million people approximately. Patients with ESRD need vascular access for hemodialysis as renal replacement therapy (RRT). Among hemodialysis access, arteriovenous fistula is considered as the most preferred form of vascular access due to its characteristics. This study aimed to to present a descriptive characteristic of arteriovenous fistula creation cases in a tertiary care hospital with a specific view of demographic parameters, fistulas' sites, type of fistulas. Methods: We conducted a descriptive study of single-center in the Department of Thoracic, Cardiac and Vascular Surgery of Dr. Soetomo Academic General Hospital Surabaya, collected data from January 1st, 2017 to December 31st, 2020. All patients who undergo arteriovenous fistula creation considered as a subject in this study. We retrieved the characteristics of the patients, the type of fistula, the site, surgical technique, and underlying disease from patients’ electronic medical data records. Results: A total of 167 patients requiring long-term hemodialysis in our center. Females were dominantly in our study with 56.9% (95). Most of AVFs were created on the left arm. Radiocephalic type of AVF was the most common arteriovenous fistula type found in 111 subjects (66.5%). The highest postoperative successful rate was found in brachiocephalic type in 78.8%, followed by radiocephalic AVF type with 66.7%. The wrist region was favorable in subjects (43.1%). Conclusions: Arteriovenous fistulas for hemodialysis are needed and in our center. Radiocephalic AVFs are the most common type. Further study to learn the different aspects of arteriovenous fistula cases is needed to fulfill queries in the local population.

Background Healthcare workers are still the front liners in health care services, and have major roles during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a resource-limited country like Indonesia, it is necessary to provide safe screening and management both for patients and healthcare workers to minimize the transmission. We report our experience in the cardiac surgery department on how to provide safe management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A retrospective observational study was performed in a single-tertiary-center cardiac surgery department in Surabaya and included all patients who underwent cardiac surgery during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also collected the patients from a 1-year period before the pandemic as the comparison data. Analysis of the patient characteristics, operative data, and postoperative outcome, was performed. This study also provides our experience in changes of admission in the cardiac surgery preoperative system that can be utilized for others. Results A total of 179 patients were admitted to and had cardiac surgery. Of these, 3.80% ( n = 7) were COVID-19 confirmed by a real-time polymerase chain reaction. Five patients were delayed to have cardiac surgery with no mortality or morbidity reported in these patients. During the period after changes of admission procedural in cardiac surgery patients, there were no healthcare workers infected by COVID-19 by patient transmission in our center (0%). Conclusion Our study reported a systematic screening and that possible delay in cardiac surgery appears to be feasible and safe, both for patients and for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.