Iatrogenic Aortic Dissection Associated With Cardiac Surgery: A Narrative Review.

Iatrogenic aortic dissection (iAD) is a relatively rare but a life-threatening complication associated with cardiac surgery. All members of the team caring for cardiac surgical patients (surgeons, perfusionists, and anesthesiologists) must be familiar with this complication to minimize its incidence and improve outcome. The present narrative review focuses on iAD occurring intraoperatively and during the early postoperative period (within 1 month) of cardiac surgery. The review also addresses iAD that occurs late (beyond 1 month) after cardiac surgery and iAD associated with other procedures. iAD occurs in about 0.06% of cases when the ascending aorta is the site of arterial cannulation, in about 0.6% when the femoral or iliac arteries are used, and in about 0.5% when the axillary or subclavian arteries are used. Mortality is estimated to be 30% but is more than double if not recognized until the postoperative period. Site of origin of dissection is most commonly the arterial inflow cannula (∼33%). Other common sites are the aortic cross-clamp or partial occlusion clamp (∼29%) and the proximal saphenous vein anastomosis site (14%). Sixty percent of cases occur during coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and 17% during aortic valve surgery with or without CABG. iAD may be somewhat less common in off-pump versus on-pump CABG but is still not very rare. Risk factors, presentation, diagnosis, and management are reviewed in detail as is the key role of the use of echocardiography in the early diagnosis of iAD and for guiding its management.

Michael K. Cahalan: In Celebration of His Life and Contributions to Cardiac Anesthesiology.

Dr. Michael K. Cahalan, former chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, died March 9, 2019, at the age of 69 after a brief illness. He was a giant in anesthesiology and a pioneer in the development of transesophageal echocardiography applications in anesthesia. He made many other important contributions to the specialty of anesthesiology, having achieved a notable measure of success in all the traditional missions of academics, including research, teaching, clinical care, and administration. In this summary, his early life, education, and the contributions he made to the practice of anesthesiology in general and to cardiac anesthesia and echocardiography in particular are reviewed. The attributes that made Cahalan a model in the profession of anesthesiology that all can strive to emulate also are described.

What's New in Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

This is a narrative review of recent articles (mainly published in 2017 and 2018) related to the conduct of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) that should be of interest to the cardiac anesthesiologist. Some of the topics covered include recent guidelines on temperature management, anticoagulation, perfusion practice, use of transesophageal echocardiography during CPB, optimal mean arterial pressure, vasoplegia, bleeding, perioperative anemia, post-cardiac surgery transfusion, acute kidney injury, delirium and cognitive decline, CPB during pregnancy, lung management, radial-to-femoral artery pressure gradients during CPB, prophylactic perioperative intra-aortic balloon pump, del Nido cardioplegia, antibiotic prophylaxis, and use of levosimendan in cardiac surgery. The review concludes with a perspective on the effect of these development on the practice of cardiac anesthesia.

US Food and Drug Administration Disruption of Generic Drug Market Increases Hospital Costs.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the US Food and Drug Administration's Marketed Unapproved Drugs Initiative is to decrease marketing of older unapproved medications. The administration has recently extended its rulings by including sterile injectable drugs administered in the inpatient environment. The impact of this initiative on the inpatient environment has been minimally studied. METHODS: Consecutive retrospective purchase data of vasopressin for injection (vasopressin) and neostigmine methylsulfate for injection (neostigmine) from 720 hospitals and 746 hospitals, respectively, were included. Purchases occurred from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2016. The average noncontract drug price was calculated and compared to the purchase data during the impact of the initiative. Comparison was made of hospital purchases made before and after the initiative. The year 2014 was considered a washout transition year due to the large amounts of discontinued unapproved formulations that were still available and purchased by hospitals. The analysis was completed using a matched paired t test. RESULTS: The noncontract price for vasopressin increased from $12.83 per vial to $158.83 per vial (1138% increase) and for neostigmine from $27.74 per vial to $175.14 per vial (531% increase) across the pre- and postinitiative intervals; however, purchase volumes after the price increases were not found to have a statistically significant difference compared to purchases before the price increases (P = .98 and P = .4, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Health systems have experienced a significant cost increase of vasopressin and neostigmine and are absorbing price increases for these older, generic sterile injectable drugs.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and its relevance to anesthesiology: a narrative review.

PURPOSE: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTCM) is a form of stress cardiomyopathy that may occur in the perioperative period and among the critically ill. Therefore, anesthesiologists should be aware of its diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this narrative review is describe the features of TTCM and its relevance to the practice of anesthesiology. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy occurs in about 2-9/100,000 persons in the general population annually and may occur in up to one in 6,700 cases in the perioperative period. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy often presents like an acute coronary syndrome and is likely caused by excessive catecholamine stimulation. Although its early course may be complicated, more than 90% of patients survive the acute episode. A review of the literature revealed 131 cases encountered in many different types of surgical procedures, with 37% occurring during anesthesia or surgery and 58% occurring postoperatively. Compared with non-perioperative cases, this population involved more males, was younger, less likely to have an obvious precipitating factor, less likely to present with chest pain, and less likely to exclusively exhibit the apical ballooning pattern. In addition, perioperative TTCM had a lower ejection fraction and was prone to higher mortality. Detection is facilitated by early echocardiography. Anesthesiologists may encounter TTCM in other situations including patients undergoing other non-surgical procedures (e.g., electroconvulsive therapy), those with acute central nervous system conditions, those with pheochromocytoma, in other critical illnesses, and during allergic reactions. CONCLUSION: Perioperative TTCM is more common than appreciated and should be considered in any hospitalized patient presenting with acute coronary syndrome and/or hemodynamic instability, acute respiratory distress, as well as cardiac arrhythmias and arrest.

Therapeutic hypothermia after in-hospital cardiac arrest: a critique.

More than 210,000 in-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually in the United States. Use of moderate therapeutic hypothermia (TH) in comatose survivors after return of spontaneous circulation following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOH-CA) caused by ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia is recommended strongly by many professional organizations and societies. The use of TH after cardiac arrest associated with nonshockable rhythms and after in-hospital cardiac arrest (IH-CA) is recommended to be considered by these same organizations and is being applied widely. The use in these latter circumstances is based on an extrapolation of the data supporting its use after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest associated with shockable rhythms. The purpose of this article is to review the limitations of existing data supporting these extended application of TH after cardiac arrest and to suggest approaches to this dilemma. The data supporting its use for OOH-CA appear to this author, and to some others, to be rather weak, and the data supporting the use of TH for IH-CA appear to be even weaker and to include no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or supportive observational studies. The many reasons why TH might be expected to be less effective following IH-CA are reviewed. The degree of neurologic injury may be more severe in many of these cases and, thus, may not be responsive to TH as currently practiced following OOH-CA. The potential adverse consequences of the routine use of TH for IH-CA are listed and include complications associated with TH, interference with diagnostic and interventional therapy, and use of scarce personnel and financial resources. Most importantly, it inhibits the ability of researchers to conduct needed RCTs. The author believes that the proper method of providing TH in these cases needs to be better defined. Based on this analysis the author concludes that TH should not be used indiscriminantly following most cases of IH-CA, and instead clinicians should concentrate their efforts in conducting high-quality large RCTs or large-scale, well-designed prospective observation studies to determine its benefits and identify appropriate candidates.

Current Strategies in Medical Management of the Geriatric Hip Fracture Patient.

Orthogeriatric hip fractures have high morbidity and mortality rates. Modern management focuses on multidisciplinary collaboration for prompt surgical stabilization, early mobilization with multimodal pain control to avoid opioid consumption, and an enhanced recovery pathway. Despite these advances, postoperative complications and mortality rates remain higher than age-matched control subjects. The authors of this article represent the orthopaedic, anesthesia, and hospitalist medicine members of a multidisciplinary team at a single, Level 1 trauma center. Our goal was to provide an up-to-date comprehensive review of orthogeriatric hip fracture perioperative management from a multidisciplinary perspective that every orthopaedic surgeon should know.

Optimal perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass: an evidence-based approach.

In this review, we summarize the best available evidence to guide the conduct of adult cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) to achieve "optimal" perfusion. At the present time, there is considerable controversy relating to appropriate management of physiologic variables during CPB. Low-risk patients tolerate mean arterial blood pressures of 50-60 mm Hg without apparent complications, although limited data suggest that higher-risk patients may benefit from mean arterial blood pressures >70 mm Hg. The optimal hematocrit on CPB has not been defined, with large data-based investigations demonstrating that both severe hemodilution and transfusion of packed red blood cells increase the risk of adverse postoperative outcomes. Oxygen delivery is determined by the pump flow rate and the arterial oxygen content and organ injury may be prevented during more severe hemodilutional anemia by increasing pump flow rates. Furthermore, the optimal temperature during CPB likely varies with physiologic goals, and recent data suggest that aggressive rewarming practices may contribute to neurologic injury. The design of components of the CPB circuit may also influence tissue perfusion and outcomes. Although there are theoretical advantages to centrifugal blood pumps over roller pumps, it has been difficult to demonstrate that the use of centrifugal pumps improves clinical outcomes. Heparin coating of the CPB circuit may attenuate inflammatory and coagulation pathways, but has not been clearly demonstrated to reduce major morbidity and mortality. Similarly, no distinct clinical benefits have been observed when open venous reservoirs have been compared to closed systems. In conclusion, there are currently limited data upon which to confidently make strong recommendations regarding how to conduct optimal CPB. There is a critical need for randomized trials assessing clinically significant outcomes, particularly in high-risk patients.