Ihor Huk is an International Member of Ukrainian Academy of Science. He has participated in scientific meetings of Medical University of Vienna and given some lectures.His interest was always with regards to biochemistry and pathophysiology of humans cells. In Vienna, he became one of the famous surgeons, as his rector mentioned it recently, by doing thousands of organ transplantations and vascular procedures. From his experimental laboratory Medi-cal University of Vienna many exciting papers were published in top journals e.g. Circulation, Stroke, EJVES, JVS etc. His fundamental work was published in Circulation trying to explain how endothelial nitric oxide synthase can derange and in spite of nitric oxide is going to synthetize oxygen radical-superoxide. This paper is a classical citation paper on the patho-physiology of endothelium.

Aortic abdominal aneurysm is a pathology that has become ever more prevalent and in the event of rupture, have fatal consequences.There are two widely accepted methods of treatment: open surgery (OS) and endovascular repair (EVAR). A combination of both, called a hybrid operation (HO), is useful in dealing with complex aortic morphologies. One of the main risk factors in dealing with complex forms of aortic aneurysm relates to ischaemia/reperfusion. We have, over the past 20 years, accumulated a greater understanding of how to mitigate ischaemia/reperfusion injury. Single-center experience in dealing with reperfusion phenomena will be discussed, and experimental and clinical data will be presented. Experience with some new mediators, in addition to nitric oxide, will be covered. The fundamental role of gasotransmitters will be examined, as will pertinent therapeutic concepts.

Rainer Moosdorf started his career as a Resident at the University Hospital in Giessen in 1978. In 1990, he became a Full Professor for Cardiovascular Surgery at the University in Bonn and Vice Chairman of the respective department. In 1989 and 1990, he spent two semesters at the Carolinas Heart Institute in Charlotte/NC as a Research and Clinical Fellow. Since 1994, he is working at the University Hospital in Marburg as a Full Professor for Cardiovascular Surgery and Director of the department. Between 2001 and 2011, he also held the position of the Vice Medical Director and since 2006 the Medical Director of the University Hospital in Marburg. His main specialties within cardiovascular surgery are laser- and arrhythmia surgery, endovascular procedures including TAVI´s and endovascular reconstructions of the aortic arch and reconstructive surgery of the coronaries. As the Chairman of the Board of Medical Network Hessen, he is an official representative of the State of Hessen in the field of Clinical Medicine and Medical Education.

Transapical aortic valve implantation (TAVIs) have become an established alternative to conventional aortic valve replacement in elderly high to intermediate risk patients. The main access is transfemoral; alternatively transapical, transaortic and other rare vascular approaches are used. Some patients however, are present with severe comorbidities, which necessitate further considerations.We will present two such patients. The first patient, 81 years of age, had severe bilateral carotid artery disease with status post stroke together with significant aortic stenosis. We choose to perform a bilateral carotid endarterectomy and in the operation also a transcarotid catheter guided aortic valve implantation via a vascular graft attached to the left common carotid artery. The second patient was referred to us for a TAVI, but heart catheterization revealed a filiform left main stem stenosis. We decided to perform an on pump double CABG and a direct transaortic TAVI through a mini aortotomy. By this hybrid approach, x–clamp time was really minimized and the 91 year old patient had an uneventful course as well. Since then we have performed a small series of such hybrid

interventions.

Tadeusz Malinski PhD, Is the Marvin & Ann Dilley White Chair and Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Ohio University. His research is interdisciplinary in the areas of Biochemistry, Biotechnology, and Nanomedicine. He was first in the world to measure, nitric oxide concentration in single cells and neurons with nanosensors.His ground-breaking discovery of the regulatory role of nitric oxide in the beating heart and the mechanism of dysfunction of nitric oxide synthase are historical contributions to world science. The dysfunction of nitric oxide synthase is a common denominator of several diseases of modern civilization heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, atherosclerosis, aging, obesity and stroke. His work appears in nearly 400 publications. He has received approximately 35 Awards and Distinctions among others:International Academy of Cardiology Award, Maria Curie Award in Biochemistry, and the Grand Gold Medal in Medicine from the Society of Arts, Sciences and Letters.

A dysfunctional endothelium is a common denominator of several cardiovascular diseases, including: hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart failure, diabetes, obesity and aging. Normal functioning endothelium mainly produces cytoprotective vasorelaxant, nitric oxide (NO) and traces of the cytotoxic vasoconstrictor, peroxynitrite (ONOO-). However, in dysfunctional endothelium, these proportions are reversed. The recent development of nanomedical systems allows for the simultaneous measurements, in situ, of small biomolecules like NO, ONOO- and superoxide (O2- in single a cell. NO is produced from L-arginine and O2 by a dimeric form of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). However, destabilized/uncoupled eNOS dimer in dysfunctional endothelium can concomitantly produce O2- and NO. NO is a rapid scavenger of O2- to generate ONOO-, one of the most powerful oxidants in the cardiovascular system. ONOO- can also trigger a cascade of events leading to nitrosylation, nitration, apoptosis, necrosis,lipid peroxidation, enzyme inactivation and DNA modification. Using nanosensors, we found that absolute values of NO and ONOO- concentrations do not necessarily reflect the efficiency of the cardiovascular system. We observed that the balance between the concentrations of NO, [NO], and ONOO-, [ONOO-], was a more accurate metric. This balance between [NO]/[ONOO-] in functional endothelium varies between 2 and 6. However, if this balance falls below 1.0, it is usually associated with severe endothelial dysfunction in a diseased state. These nanomedical measurements of the [NO]/[ONOO-] balance/imbalance in a single endothelial cell can be used for the early diagnosis of cardiovascular dysfunction, as well as the design of early pharmacological intervention to restore endothelial function. The early diagnosis of the adverse balance of [NO]/[ONOO-] can be partially reversed with treatments of L-arginine, vitamin D3, nitroso albumin, and also by statins, β-blockers and some ACE inhibitors.