title: How cold cardioplegia and other myocardial protective modalities changed valvular surgery.
abstract: Our study was done to determine the effect of cold cardioplegic myocardial protection on valvular heart surgery. Our techniques and results utilizing crystalloid cardioplegia in 337 consecutive patients undergoing valve replacement are presented, along with a review of the present-day status of cardioplegic solutions and the importance of each component. Our hospital mortality rates of 4 percent for single valve replacement and of 7 percent for more complex procedures represent a significant improvement compared with surgical results employing previous methods of myocardial protection. We conclude that cardioplegic myocardial protection is the current method of choice in valvular heart operations. Cardioplegia still falls short of the ideal. Continued efforts are required to improve the form of intraoperative myocardial protection.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006324:Heart Arrest, Induced / Q000379:methods*; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality; D012306:Risk