Surgery for acute type A aortic dissection in octogenarians.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Emergency surgery for type A aortic dissection (AAD) is associated with high mortality rates. The published outcomes of such surgery in aging patients are controversial and the optimal management for elderly patients has not been established. Our study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of surgery for AAD in patients over the age of 80 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 1996 and January 2010, 236 patients underwent surgery for AAD, of which 15 patients were older than 80 years. We evaluated the operative mortality in the whole cohort compared to the outcomes in the elderly subgroup. We assessed the preoperative risks factors and quality of life after surgery by performance status and the patients' ability to return home. RESULTS: Operative mortality was higher in patients aged >80 years (40% vs. 18%, p = 0.04). The survival rate for patients >80 years at one, three, and five years was 53.3% ± 0.12%, 42.6% ± 0.14%, and 42.6% ± 0.12%, respectively. Of the survivors, six patients were able to return home (40%) and the postoperative performance status was "3" in one patient, "2" in six patients, and "1" in two patients. A preoperative level of 2 or greater was found to be a significant risk factor (p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Survival in octogenarians undergoing surgery for AAD is possible, and some patients were able to return home with a reasonable level of autonomy. Larger series will be needed to define the optimal management for octogenarians presenting with AAD.

Nine-year routine clinical experience of aortic valve replacement with ATS mechanical valves.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: The study aim was to update the authors' experience with aortic valve replacement (AVR) using the ATS mechanical prosthesis in terms of early and long-term outcome in routine practice. METHODS: This retrospective analysis was extracted from clinical data available between April 1996 and February 2005, of AVR with the ATS Medical prosthesis in 510 consecutive patients (345 men, 165 women; mean age 62 +/- 12 years), of whom 296 underwent isolated AVR (iAVR). Concomitant surgical procedures included coronary artery bypass grafting (AVR+CABG, n = 47), mitral valve procedure (AVR+MVP, n = 59), ascending aortic replacement (AVR+AAR, n = 74) and other procedures (AVR+Miscellaneous, n = 34). Early and late morbidity/mortality were analyzed for the entire group in case of emergency surgery, preoperative low left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF <50%) and in elderly people (age > or = 70 years). RESULTS: The overall 30-day mortality was 7.2% (iAVR 4.7%; AVR+CABG 4%; AVR+MVP 8.5%; AVR+AAR 2.9%; AVR+Miscellaneous 14.7%). The five- and nine-year global survival rates were respectively 81.14 +/- 2.4% and 67.02 +/- 10.4%. Long-term survival was lower in case of emergency surgery (p = 0.001), when the preoperative LVEF was <50% (p = 0.03), and when patients were aged > or = 70 years (p = 0.0005). Linearized postoperative valve-related death was 1.1% per patient-year (pt-yr). However, nine years' freedom from valve-related death and valve-related morbidity were not significantly different when the patient age was > or = 70 years. The linearized rate for postoperative thromboembolism complication was 0.4% per pt-yr, and that for postoperative bleeding complication 0.63% per pt-yr. There were two perivalvular leaks (0.05%/pt-yr). Neither valve thrombosis, structural dysfunction nor endocarditis were observed. CONCLUSION: The findings of this retrospective study point to a globally very good performance of the ATS valve, and essentially similar to previously reported results with these and other available mechanical valves.

Modified Bentall procedure using two short grafts for coronary reimplantation: long-term results.

BACKGROUND: The modified Bentall procedure remains a gold standard of aortic root surgery. We present in this study the early and late outcomes of a particular modification using 2 separated grafts for the coronary reimplantation. METHODS: From 1995 to 2009, 153 patients aged 57±12 (mean±standard deviation [SD]) underwent elective (n=113) or urgent (n=40) aortic root replacement with a composite mechanical valve conduit reconstruction using 2 short, separated 8-mm Dacron grafts for the coronary reimplantation and were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Aortic disease etiologies were annuloaortic ectasia (n=108), type A aortic dissection (n=38), aortic false aneurysm, or Valsalva aneurysm evolution after previous cardiac surgery (n=7). The overall early mortality was 8.5% (20% for urgent procedure and 4.4% for elective procedure). For the whole group, actuarial survival at 5 and 10 years was 86.3%±2.78 and 73.7%±4.23, respectively. Among the 23 late deaths, 9 were valve-related deaths (stroke, n=3; endocarditis, n=1; unknown, n=5). During the follow-up, linearized rates of major bleeding, thromboembolism, and endocarditic evolution were, respectively, 1.3 %/patient-years, 0.42 %/patient-years, and 0.22 %/patient-years. One patient presented a nonseptic false aneurysm of the right coronary anastomosis and no structural valve dysfunction has been diagnosed. In total, only 2 patients required an aortic root reoperation. CONCLUSIONS: The modified Bentall procedure using 2 separated grafts for the coronary reimplantation is a feasible, safe, easy, and reproducible operative technique for aortic root surgery.

Failure of Marfan anatomic criteria to predict risk of aortic dissection in Turner syndrome: necessity of specific adjusted risk thresholds.

Patients with Turner syndrome are prompt to develop spontaneous acute aortic dissection following insidious aortic dilatation, with abnormal cardiovascular anatomy and consequently require specific guidelines for regular surveillance since they represent a subset of high-risk young patients. We report a rare and uncommon case of spontaneous acute aortic dissection in a 48-year old female patient with Turner syndrome who was not apparently eligible for a prophylactic surgery. A CT scan showed a Stanford type A aortic dissection and was urgently referred for surgical management. We operated on the patient under deep hypothermia (18°C) and circulatory arrest with a retrograde cerebroplegia as the primary entry tear was located in the arch. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged at the eighth postoperative day. Following description of this case, special attention was paid to determine predisposing risk factors for aortic dissection to be specifically adjusted to TS patients.

Cardiac surgery in cirrhotic patients: results and evaluation of risk factors.

OBJECTIVES: Liver cirrhosis increases mortality and morbidity following cardiac surgery. This study evaluated the results of cardiac surgery in cirrhotic patients and the relevance of EuroSCORE, Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) class and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score in terms of prediction of surgical mortality and survival. METHODS: The study involved 34 patients with hepatic cirrhosis who underwent cardiac surgery between January 1996 and January 2010. RESULTS: The in-hospital mortality was 26%. Postoperative mortality of patients with CTP class A, B or C was 18, 40 and 100%, respectively. In univariate analysis, a history of cerebrovascular disease and hypoalbuminaemia was predictive of operative mortality. Multivariate exact logistic regression revealed that hypoalbuminaemia was an independent factor. Long-term survival was 63 ± 0.08% at 1 year and 40.2 ± 0.12% at 5 years. The 1-year survival for CTP A, B and C was 76.7 ± 0.09, 60 ± 15.4 and 0%, respectively, and the 5-year survival was 60 ± 15.4, 25 ± 0.19 and 0%, respectively. The EuroSCORE was not a discriminant [area under the curve (AUC): 0.57 ± 0.15]. The performance of CTP class and MELD score was better, but neither provided optimal discrimination: AUC was 0.691 ± 0.110 for MELD and 0.658 ± 0.10 for CTP class. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac surgery can be performed safely in CTP class A patients. In CTP C patients, surgery is hazardous, and an alternative treatment must be considered. In CTP B, the MELD score could be helpful in deciding whether surgical intervention is a reasonable option.

Left main coronary disease treated by direct surgical angioplasty: long-term results.

BACKGROUND: Left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease is currently treated by coronary artery bypass grafting or, more recently, by percutaneous coronary intervention. Occasionally, direct surgical patch angioplasty of the LMCA can be proposed as an alternative treatment. The aim of this study was to analyze, on a long-term basis, the safety and efficacy of this technique. METHODS: This retrospective analysis was obtained from clinical data between April 1995 and December 2008: 91 consecutive patients (67 men, 24 women; mean age: 58+/-10 years) underwent surgical angioplasty of the LMCA with an autologous pericardial patch. Among them, 80 (87.9%) presented an isolated LMCA disease. Mean logistic European system for cardiac operative risk evaluation of this series was 3.9+/-2.9. Concomitant surgical procedures included coronary artery bypass grafting (n=11; 12%), valve procedure (n=5; 5.5%), and carotid endarterectomy (n=1; 1.1%). We analyzed the early and late mortality, major adverse cardiac or cerebral event rate, and repeat revascularization rate. RESULTS: The mean follow-up was 7.22+/-3.60 years (maximum 13.8 years, minimum 180 days). Perioperative mortality was 1.1%. Five and ten-year global survival was 95+/-4.5% and 80+/-8.3%, respectively. Major adverse cardiac or cerebral event rates at five and ten years were, respectively, 21+/-8.4% and 31+/-9.6%. First repeat postoperative revascularization rate was 12+/-6.8% at five and 17+/-7.8% at ten years (n=10 patients). Among them, repeat target lesion revascularization concerned four patients. CONCLUSIONS: Similar to other series, our study shows satisfactory long-term outcomes with the surgical patch-plasty of LMCA. This technique can be proposed as an efficient and safe alternative to selected patients, particularly in case of isolated LMCA disease without extended calcification.