Late Follow-Up of Cyanoacrylate Usage in Cardiothoracic Surgery

Abstract

In cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, troublesome bleeding and sternal dehiscence can be life-threatening if not managed appropriately. We used commercially available cyanoacrylate adhesive 21 times in 20 sporadic patients for the management of 6 different problems: sternal gluing in 7 cases; anastomotic line reinforcement and bleeding control with a glued Teflon or pericardial patch in 6; right ventricular or superior vena caval patch repair in 5; and 1 case each of left ventricular apical glued Teflon felt, arterial wall reinforcement, and control of air leakage after lung surgery. The mean age of the patients was 55.7 ± 12.5 years, ranging from 34 to 71 years. Successful results were obtained in 18 patients and 17 were alive on follow-up at 7.7 ± 5.5 months (range, 2 to 16 months). We used two different commercial brands of adhesive but obtained good results with only one of these preparations. Although commercially available cyanoacrylate is a new adjunct to cardiac surgery with documented safety and lifesaving results at negligible cost, the appropriate polymer for best results needs to be defined.