Cesarean section in a patient with non-compaction cardiomyopathy managed with ECMO.

Isolated ventricular non-compaction is a rare cardiomyopathy associated with left heart failure, severe arrhythmias and thromboembolism. We report about our interdisciplinary strategy in a patient with severe isolated ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy scheduled for caesarean section in general anaesthesia. Monitoring included placement of an arterial line, a central venous catheter and a pulmonary artery catheter with pacing option. Small introducer gates were placed in the femoral artery and vein to facilitate quick percutaneous institution of extracorporeal life support via extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in case of acute cardiac failure refractory to medical treatment. Inotropic pharmacological therapy with 3 µg/kg/min dobutamine and 0.25 mg/kg/min milrinone was started before surgery. Induction of general anesthesia and rapid sequence intubation was performed with an analgesic dose of 0.5 mg/kg S ketamine, 0.25 mg/kg etomidate and 5 mg rocoronium followed by 1.5 mg/kg succinylcholine. This regimen provided completely stable hemodynamics in this critical period until delivery of the child and continuation of anaesthesia with continuous infusion of propofol and remifentanyl. The current strategies, particularly the preparation for femoro-femoral extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, may be considered in similar cases with a high risk of acute cardiac decompensation which may be refractory to medical treatment. Anaesthesiologist involved in performing caesarean section in women with complex cardiac disease, should encompass extracorporeal membrane oxygenation standby in management of the perioperative period.

Moderate dosage of tranexamic acid during cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and convulsive seizures: incidence and clinical outcome.

BACKGROUND: Convulsive seizures (CS) occur in ∼1% of the patients after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Recent investigations indicate an up to seven-fold increase in CS in cardiac surgical patients receiving high doses (≥60 mg kg(-1) body weight) of tranexamic acid (TA). METHODS: In a retrospective data analysis of 4883 cardiac surgical patients, we investigated the incidence of CS in patients receiving a moderate dose of TA (24 mg kg(-1) body weight) compared with a reference group not receiving TA as a primary endpoint. Secondary endpoints were intensive care unit stay and in-hospital mortality. We performed propensity score (PS)-adjusted logistic regression analysis to test the association between TA use/non-use and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Compared with the reference group, the PS-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for CS in the TA group was 1.703 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01-2.87; P=0.045; incidence 2.5% vs 1.2%]. Log-ICU-stay was significantly longer (P=0.004) and PS-adjusted relative in-hospital mortality risk was significantly higher for the TA group compared with the reference group (OR=1.89; 95% CI: 1.21-2.96; P=0.005). Both the TA-associated CS incidence and the in-hospital mortality risk were only significant in patients undergoing open-heart surgery (OR=2.034, 95% CI: 1.07-3.87; P=0.034 and OR=2.20, 95% CI: 1.32-3.69; P=0.003, respectively) but not in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (OR=1.21, 95% CI: 0.49-3.03; P=0.678 and OR=1.13, 95% CI: 0.42-3.02; P=0.809, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In open-heart surgery, even moderate TA doses are associated with a doubled rate of CS and in-hospital mortality. Prospective trials are needed to further evaluate the safety profile of TA in cardiac surgery.

Intermittent aortic cross-clamping for isolated CABG can save lives and money: experience with 15307 patients.

BACKGROUND: The ideal myocardial protection during isolated CABG is still a matter of debate. Cardioplegia versus intermittent aortic cross-clamping (IACC) are the main opponents; the following article shows that IACC can be safe, efficient and might be cheaper than cardioplegia. METHODS: Demographics and co-morbidities of 15307 CABG only patients consecutively operated on between January 1993 and October 2001 in the Heart Center in Bad Oeynhausen were assessed by the German Quality Assurance data set and risk-stratified using the EuroSCORE. Outcome (30-day or in-hospital mortality) was compared to the expected EuroSCORE estimation. RESULTS: Expected mortality was 3.25 %, observed mortality was 1.3 %, being significantly lower in the low, medium as well as high risk patients subgroup. Complication rates increased steadily with expected mortality rates. Stroke and myocardial infarction rates for patients with peripheral vessel disease were not higher than in comparable studies. More than 1000000 EUR were saved by lower cardioplegia bills. CONCLUSION: Myocardial protection with intermittent aortic cross-clamping for isolated CABG can be safe, effective, and economically advantageous when compared to cardioplegic solutions.