Rapid Fulminant Case of Aspergillus Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis.

A 74-year-old male presented to the emergency department 46 days after undergoing an aortic valve replacement. He presented with nonspecific symptoms developed over the previous 15 days, with a new onset of a systolic panfocal murmur. Echocardiography revealed a great vegetation measuring 15 mm by 23 mm causing a severe obstruction of the bioprosthesis. The patient underwent an emergency surgical procedure due to his hemodynamic unsteadiness. During the procedure, we noted an obstruction of the left ventricle outflow tract with pseudoaneurysm of the aortomitral continuity. We debrided the aortic annulus, reconstructed the aortomitral continuity, and replaced the prosthesis, but the patient died. We present a rare fulminant case of Aspergillus endocarditis.

[Subaortic stenosis more than twenty years after surgical repair of a partial atrial septal defect in an adult]. / Estenosis subaórtica veinte años después de la reparación quirúrgica de un defecto septal auricular parcial en el adulto.

Subaortic stenosis after surgical correction of a partial atrioventricular septal defect is uncommon. When it occurs, it is usually diagnosed 6-8 years after early surgical repair in childhood. We present a female patient who underwent mitral valve cleft repair and closure of a partial atrial septal defect with a Teflon patch at the age of 48 years. Twenty-two years later, she presented with severe subaortic stenosis that required surgical repair. We analyze the intracardiac morphological factors associated with the development of late subaortic stenosis. We recommend long-term follow-up, even after surgical repair in adults.

Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury.

Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CSA-AKI) is a well-recognized complication resulting with the higher morbid-mortality after cardiac surgery. In its most severe form, it increases the odds ratio of operative mortality 3-8-fold, length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit and hospital, and costs of care. Early diagnosis is critical for an optimal treatment of this complication. Just as the identification and correction of preoperative risk factors, the use of prophylactic measures during and after surgery to optimize renal function is essential to improve postoperative morbidity and mortality of these patients. Cardiopulmonary bypass produces an increased in tubular damage markers. Their measurement may be the most sensitive means of early detection of AKI because serum creatinine changes occur 48 h to 7 days after the original insult. Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 are most promising as an early diagnostic tool. However, the ideal noninvasive, specific, sensitive, reproducible biomarker for the detection of AKI within 24 h is still not found. This article provides a review of the different perspectives of the CSA-AKI, including pathogenesis, risk factors, diagnosis, biomarkers, classification, postoperative management, and treatment. We searched the electronic databases, MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE using search terms relevant including pathogenesis, risk factors, diagnosis, biomarkers, classification, postoperative management, and treatment, in order to provide an exhaustive review of the different perspectives of the CSA-AKI.

Surgery for atrial fibrillation in patients with mitral valve disease: results at five years from the International Registry of Atrial Fibrillation Surgery.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to assess the clinical and survival benefit of atrial fibrillation surgery in patients submitted to mitral valve surgery after stabilization of postoperative rhythm at 1 year. METHODS: One thousand seven hundred twenty-three patients were enrolled. Patients with follow-up of longer than 1 year (n = 972) were divided into 3 groups according to surface electrocardiographic rhythm during follow-up visits: stable sinus rhythm, stable atrial fibrillation, and intermittent rhythms. Adverse cardiac event incidence and predictors of long-term outcome were compared among the 3 groups. RESULTS: In-hospital mortality was 2.6%. Risk factors for mortality were the cut-and-sew technique (odds ratio, 8.92; 95% confidence interval, 1.71-46.50; P = .009) and isolated left atrial procedure (odds ratio, 0.16; 95% confidence interval, 0.04-0.56; P = .004). At 1 year, 63.4% patients were in stable sinus rhythm. Stable sinus rhythm was found to be associated with early and late survival (P = .01, log-rank analysis). Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis found that left atrial dimension (odds ratio, 0.97; 95% confidence interval, 0.96-0.99; P = .005) and concomitant coronary revascularization (odds ratio, 0.48; 95% confidence interval, 0.25-0.92; P = .027) were independent predictors of stable sinus rhythm at 1 year after surgical intervention. At 48 months' follow-up, predictors for stable sinus rhythm were biatrial surgical approach and absence of preoperative permanent atrial fibrillation (odds ratio, 3.56; 95% confidence interval, 1.62-7.83; P < .002). Left atrial size (each millimeter) has a borderline statistical significance (odds ratio, 0.97; 95% confidence interval, 0.93-1.00; P = .065). Thromboembolic events were found to be associated with absence of stable sinus rhythm (P = .010, log-rank analysis). CONCLUSIONS: The achievement of stable sinus rhythm is a predictor of better survival and lower incidence of thromboembolic events. Predictors of stable sinus rhythm were smaller dimensions of the left atrium, biatrial approach, absence of preoperative permanent atrial fibrillation, and absence of concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting.