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Ann Thorac Surg 2005;80:2212
© 2005 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

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Original article: Cardiovascular

Invited commentary

Department of Surgery, Buffalo VAMC, 3495 Bailey Ave, Buffalo, NY14215

(Email: eddie.hoover@med.va.gov).

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

These authors [1] report their experience with 22 patients who had deep mediastinal wound infections develop after cardiac surgery in which a vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) system was utilized to facilitate wound healing. Patients with copious drainage or sepsis were excluded. Sixty percent underwent revascularization procedures, 36% had valve replacement, and 4.5% had aortic reconstruction. The presence of mediastinitis has serious implications for possible graft occlusion, endocarditis of prosthetic valves, and contamination of grafts used in reconstruction. Clearly, early and efficacious wound healing is necessary to mitigate these complications. Patients were classified . . . [Full Text of this Article]