The impact of diffuseness of coronary artery disease on the outcomes of patients undergoing primary and reoperative coronary artery bypass grafting.

OBJECTIVE: Diffuse coronary artery disease jeopardizes myocardium, increasing surgical mortality in primary coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). We sought to determine the impact of diffuseness on pre- and post-discharge outcomes for both primary and reoperative CABG (REOP). METHODS: Using a validated system for measuring diffuseness of coronary disease, preoperative angiograms were scored for primary CABG (n=792) and REOP cases (n=268) performed 1997-2004. A diffuseness score (DS)>18 was defined as elevated. In-hospital mortality, intermediate-term survival, and in-hospital composite outcome (COMP) (one or more of: mortality, stroke, MI, deep sternal infection, sepsis, IABP insertion, or return to OR) were examined. RESULTS: In-hospital mortality and COMP for patients with DS>18 were significantly higher (7.9% vs 2.4%, p<0.0001), (17.8% vs 9.2%, p<0.0001). DS (mean+/-SD) was higher in REOP cases than primary CABG (18.9+/-7.1 vs 14.4+/-6.0, p<0.0001). By multivariate analysis, DS>18 (OR 2.00, 95%CI, 1.20-3.32, p=0.008) and REOP (OR 2.40, 95%CI, 1.53-3.77, p<0.0001) were independently associated with COMP. Using propensity scores 82% of cases with DS>18 (n=289) were matched 1:1 to cases with DS18 (6.9% vs 2.8%, p=0.02), (16.6% vs 10.4%, p=0.03). Comparing cases with DS18 and primary CABG versus REOP, survival at 2 years was 92.1% versus 84.5% (p=0.001) and 92.7% versus 82.7% (p<0.0001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Diffuse coronary artery disease is an important predictor of morbidity and mortality in primary and REOP CABG patients, and should be considered in both individual patient assessment and risk adjustment.

Transfemoral aortic valve implantation for severe aortic stenosis in a patient with dextrocardia situs inversus.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVR) has grown rapidly over the past 10 years. Device and delivery catheter systems have evolved to facilitate the procedure and reduce the risk of associated complications, including those related to vascular access. It is important to understand the utility of the TAVR equipment in patients with more challenging anatomy to select the most appropriate technique for this complex procedure. We report the first case, to our knowledge, of a patient with dextrocardia situs inversus and previous coronary artery bypass grafting who underwent TAVR from the femoral route using the Edwards SAPIEN XT Novaflex+ Transfemoral System (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA).

Canadian Cardiovascular Society/Canadian Association of Radiologists consensus training standards for cardiac computed tomography.

With the goal of optimizing patient care, standards for training in cardiac computed tomography have been developed collaboratively by the Canadian Association of Radiologists and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. These standards apply to both radiologists and cardiologists.