Morphological and immunological markers of repeated heart remodeling after surgical reconstruction of the left ventricle in ischemic cardiomyopathy.

INTRODUCTION: Effective treatment of patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) is one of the most challenging issues in modern cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to assess the state of cardiomyocytes and myocardial extracellular matrix, as well as to identify informative markers of an unfavorable prognosis for surgical treatment of ICM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent surgical treatment of ICM between 2011 and 2018 at a single center. Patients were divided into groups depending on the presence of repeated left ventricle (LV) remodeling in one-year follow-up after surgical reconstruction of the LV in ICM patients. RESULTS: A total of 45 patients with ICM were reviewed. The mean age of the patients was 57.9 ± 7.8 years. According to the results of the study, the area of cardiomyocyte nuclei differed statistically significantly among the regions with varying degrees of impaired local contractility (p = 0.042). According to the results of the pairwise comparison in dyskinetic areas of the myocardium, the area of cardiomyocyte nuclei was higher than in normokinetic areas (p = 0.042). A moderate positive correlation was found between the LV ejection fraction measured in one-year follow-up period after surgery and the number of CD163-positive cells (p = 0.012). CONCLUSION: In the myocardium of patients with LV reverse remodeling in the long-term postoperative period, perivascular fibrosis occurs more frequently than in patients with progressive LV remodeling. The number of M2-anti-inflammatory macrophages prevails in the myocardium of the patients with reverse remodeling compared with patients with progressive remodeling.

Frozen elephant trunk technique with different proximal landing zone for aortic dissection.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to evaluate early and midterm outcomes after the frozen elephant trunk (FET) procedure with different proximal landing zones in patients with aortic dissection. METHODS: Forty-four patients with type A and type B aortic dissection that extended down to the abdominal aorta were enrolled in the study. All of the patients had the FET procedure. The patients were divided in 2 groups according to the level of the proximal landing zone: the zone 2 (Z2) group and zone 3 (Z3) group. Early and midterm outcomes including the false lumen (FL) thrombosis rate were monitored in both groups. RESULTS: The incidence of stroke, delirium and spinal cord ischaemia was 5.9% vs 3.7% (P = 0.533), 5.9% vs 7.4% (P = 0.903) and 5.9% vs 0 (P = 0.533) in the Z2 and Z3 groups, respectively. The 30-day mortality was 9.1% in both groups. The mean distal landing zone was T7.5 (T7; T9) in the Z2 group vs T9 (T8; T10) in the Z3 group (P = 0.668). The 2-year overall survival was 62.2% with no significant difference in the Z2 and Z3 groups (61.6% vs 64.2%; P = 0.940). There were no aortic-related deaths during the follow-up period. Freedom from reintervention at 24 months was 73% and was comparable between Z2 and Z3 (74.1% vs 91.7%; P = 0.123). The rate of early complete FL thrombosis was comparable in the Z2 and Z3 groups. By 24 months of observation in the Z3 group, the rate of complete FL thrombosis was significantly higher (60% vs 77%; P = 0.046). CONCLUSIONS: No statistically significant differences were observed between landing zones 2 and 3 during the FET procedure with regard to early outcomes. Proximalization of the FET was associated with a shorter FL thrombosis in the midterm follow-up period that affected the distal aortic reintervention rate.

Results of reconstructive interventions in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Effective treatment of patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy is one of the most difficult issues in contemporary cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of reconstructive interventions on the left ventricle during chronic heart failure in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. METHODS: Between March 2013 and December 2017, 178 patients underwent surgical treatment for ischemic cardiomyopathy. Isolated coronary artery bypass grafting was compared with coronary artery bypass grafting with left ventricular reconstruction, using propensity score matching analysis. The primary endpoints of the study were hospital mortality and long-term survival. RESULTS: After propensity score matching, 29 pairs of patients were compared. The 30-day hospital mortality was comparable (6.8% versus 6.8%, p = 0.952), the average follow-up was 37.4 ± 12.6 months, with no statistically significant difference in mortality from all causes (p = 0.352). After coronary artery bypass in combination with left ventricular reconstruction, patients showed a statistically significant decrease in clinical and functional indicators of chronic heart failure compared to those who had coronary artery bypass grafting alone, in terms of peak oxygen consumption (15.3 versus 13.5 mL·kg-1·min-1, p = 0.043) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide concentrations (298.6 versus 461.1 pg·mL-1, p = 0.032). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to isolated coronary artery bypass, coronary artery bypass in combination with left ventricular reconstruction for the treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathy leads to a significant decrease in the clinical and functional parameters of chronic heart failure in the long-term postoperative period.