Female Gender in Cardiac Surgery: Is it Still a Significant Risk? A Retrospective Study in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Female sex is considered an independent predictor for mortality and morbidity following cardiac surgery. This study is to review the outcomes of adult cardiac surgery between males and females in a Saudi tertiary referral hospital. METHOD: This was a retrospective study for 925 adult patients operated on for ischemic coronary artery disease and acquired aortic and mitral valvular heart disease from 2015 to August 2023. We analyzed patient characteristics, intraoperative data, and postoperative results to compare outcomes between males and females. RESULTS: Preoperative risk factors were not significantly different in both groups. Postoperative outcomes showed gender-based differences. In univariable analysis, females, compared to males, had significantly greater odds of prolonged postoperative ventilation (>24 hours), 32.8% of females compared to 20.7% of males (p < 0.001). Also, sternal wound infection was notably higher among females (13.3%) (p < 0.001). Mortality also exhibited a significant association, with 14.2% of females experiencing mortality compared to 9.4% of males (p = 0.049). In the multivariable analysis for elevated postoperative troponin, the use of pre-operative intra-aortic balloon pump, urgent/emergent surgery, elevated pre-operative troponin and combined bypass grafting with valve surgery, were also predictive of higher post-operative troponin concentrations (beta = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.62, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Females in Saudi Arabia have an increased risk of short-term morbidity and mortality after cardiac surgery compared to males. Vague and delayed presentation and then the late diagnosis and referral are likely the main contributing factors. This highlights the need to implement preoperative measures to improve early diagnosis and referral to eliminate gender bias.

Apixaban in Patients With Post-Myocardial Infarction Left Ventricular Thrombus: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Direct oral anticoagulants are frequently used to treat post-myocardial infarction (MI) left ventricular thrombus (LVT). This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of use of apixaban, compared to the standard warfarin therapy, in post-MI LVT. Methods: This open-label, randomized controlled trial included patients with post-acute or recent anterior wall MI with transthoracic echocardiography-confirmed LVT. Patients were randomized to receive either apixaban 5 mg twice daily or warfarin to achieve an international normalized ratio of 2-3, in addition to dual antiplatelet therapy. The primary endpoint was LVT resolution at 3 months, with a noninferiority margin of 95% for apixaban compared to warfarin. The secondary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) or any relevant bleeding according to the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) classification. Results: Fifty patients were enrolled from 3 centres. The use of dual or single antiplatelet agents was similar in the 2 groups. The number of 1-, 3-, and 6-month LVT resolutions were 10 (40.0%), 19 (76.0%), and 23 (92.0%) in the apixaban group, and 14 (56%), 20 (80.0%), and 24 (96.0%) in the warfarin group, respectively, without significant differences (P < 0.036 for noninferiority at 3 months). Patients taking warfarin required longer hospital stays and more outpatient visits. Multivariate adjustment analysis revealed left ventricular aneurysm, larger baseline LVT area and lower left ventricular ejection fraction to be independent predictors of LVT persistence at 3 months. No MACE occurred in either group; 1 BARC-2 bleeding event occurred with warfarin. Conclusions: Apixaban was not inferior to warfarin in the resolution of post-MI LVT.

Contexte: Les anticoagulants oraux directs sont souvent utilisés pour traiter un thrombus du ventricule gauche (TVG) après un infarctus du myocarde (IM). Cette étude a été réalisée afin d'évaluer l'efficacité et l'innocuité de l'apixaban, comparativement au traitement de référence par la warfarine dans les cas de TVG consécutif à un IM. Méthodologie: Cette étude en mode ouvert, contrôlée et à répartition aléatoire portait sur des patients ayant subi un IM aigu ou un IM récent de la paroi antérieure et présentant un TVG confirmé par échocardiographie transthoracique. Les patients ont été répartis aléatoirement pour recevoir l'apixaban à 5 mg deux fois par jour ou la warfarine en vue d'obtenir un ratio international normalisé de 2-3, en plus d'une bithérapie antiplaquettaire. Le critère d'évaluation principal était la résolution du TVG à trois mois, avec une marge de non-infériorité de 95 % pour l'apixaban comparativement à la warfarine. Le critère d'évaluation secondaire était la survenue d'événements cardiovasculaires indésirables majeurs ou de tout saignement associé, selon la classification du Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC). Résultats: Cinquante patients provenant de trois centres ont été sélectionnés. L'utilisation d'un seul ou de deux agents antiplaquettaires était similaire dans les deux groupes. Le nombre de résolutions du TVG à 1 mois, à 3 mois et à 6 mois était de 10 (40,0 %), 19 (76,0 %) et 23 (92,0 %) respectivement dans le groupe apixaban, et de 14 (56,0 %), 20 (80,0 %) et 24 (96,0 %) respectivement dans le groupe warfarine, sans différence significative (p < 0,036 pour la non-infériorité à 3 mois). Les patients qui prenaient de la warfarine ont dû être hospitalisés plus longtemps et consulter plus souvent en externe. L'analyse multivariée sur les ajustements a révélé que l'anévrisme du ventricule gauche, plus grande zone TVG de base et une faible fraction d'éjection du ventricule gauche étaient des facteurs prédictifs indépendants de la persistance du TVG à trois mois. Aucun événement cardiovasculaire indésirable majeur ne s'est produit dans les deux groupes; un saignement de classe 2 selon le BARC s'est produit dans le groupe prenant de la warfarine. Conclusions: L'apixaban n'était pas inférieur à la warfarine dans la résolution du TVG après un IM.

Electrophysiologic recurrent laryngeal nerve monitoring during thyroid and parathyroid surgery: international standards guideline statement.

Intraoperative neural monitoring (IONM) during thyroid and parathyroid surgery has gained widespread acceptance as an adjunct to the gold standard of visual nerve identification. Despite the increasing use of IONM, review of the literature and clinical experience confirms there is little uniformity in application of and results from nerve monitoring across different centers. We provide a review of the literature and cumulative experience of the multidisciplinary International Neural Monitoring Study Group with IONM spanning nearly 15 years. The study group focused its initial work on formulation of standards in IONM as it relates to important areas: 1) standards of equipment setup/endotracheal tube placement and 2) standards of loss of signal evaluation/intraoperative problem-solving algorithm. The use of standardized methods and reporting will provide greater uniformity in application of IONM. In addition, this report clarifies the limitations of IONM and helps identify areas where additional research is necessary. This guideline is, at its forefront, quality driven; it is intended to improve the quality of neural monitoring, to translate the best available evidence into clinical practice to promote best practices. We hope this work will minimize inappropriate variations in monitoring rather than to dictate practice options.