Prediction of the site and severity of obstruction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by color flow mapping and continuous wave Doppler echocardiography.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether the site and severity of an obstruction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can be accurately predicted by the combined use of color-coded and continuous wave Doppler echocardiography. BACKGROUND: Predicting the site of obstruction by end-systolic cavity shape is not reliable. Therefore, hemodynamic localization of the obstruction is required before surgery is performed. Such localization should be possible with color flow imaging, which provides two-dimensional velocity mapping reflecting the distribution of pressures within the left ventricle. Discrepancies in assessment of the pressure gradient by Doppler echocardiography and cardiac catheterization (which are usually not performed simultaneously) may be due to spontaneous variation of the dynamic obstruction in addition to technical factors related to both methods. METHODS: Twenty consecutive patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were examined 1 day before transseptal left heart catheterization. The obstruction site was defined by color flow mapping. The pressure gradient was determined by continuous wave Doppler echocardiography. Measurements were also performed simultaneously in 10 patients during cardiac catheterization. RESULTS: Midventricular obstruction was correctly identified in 4 patients and subvalvular obstruction in 15 patients. One patient had no obstruction at rest. Invasively and noninvasively determined pressure gradients correlated well (r = 0.89, SEE = 16.3 mm Hg). Multiple single-beat analysis in 10 patients, also simultaneously examined with Doppler echocardiography and catheterization, yielded an excellent correlation (r = 0.97, SEE = 13.1 mm Hg). Comparing the simultaneous (r = 0.96, SEE = 12.5 mm Hg) and nonsimultaneous (r = 0.81, SEE = 23.8 mm Hg) recordings in these patients, we found that the spontaneous variation of the dynamic obstruction mainly accounted for discrepancies (p less than 0.05). CONCLUSION: The combined use of color-coded and continuous wave Doppler echocardiography provides the relevant hemodynamic information required for decision-making in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who are considered for transaortic myectomy.

Mitral atresis with normal-sized ventricles, ventricular septal defect, and dextro-transposition of the great arteries.

A case is described of mitral atresia, patent foramen ovale, subcristal ventricular septal defects (VSD), and dextro-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA), coexisting with a normal-sized left ventricle and normal-sized great arteries in a 6 8/12-year old girl. The discussion is related to anatomic, embryologic, and surgical aspects of this particular condition, which, to our knowledge, has never been documented before.

Left-to-right shunt at atrial level due to anomalous venous connection of left lung: report of seven cases.

Our experience with seven patients with partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection (PAPVC) of the left lung, treated between 1955 and 1980, is reviewed. The developmental aspects and the hemodynamic effects of the anomaly are discussed, and the patterns of the abnormal venous connection in our patients are described. All the patients except one had an additional atrial septal defect (ASD). Treatment consisted in closure of the ASD and creation of a large anastomosis between the detached or ligated anomalous connecting vein and the left atrium, preferably the left auricular appendage. No operative or late deaths occurred; and except for atrial flutter, which lasted a few days in one case, there were no serious complications. The indication for repair, the problems of the anastomosis, and the points of postoperative attention are discussed.

No effect of saphenous intimal thickness on patency of aorta-coronary bypass grafts.

Forty-two of 261 aorta-coronary saphenous vein bypass grafts had closed by 8 +/- 7 months postoperatively. The average preoperative intimal thickness of the nonpatent bypass grafts (158 +/- 132 microns) was nearly identical to that of the patent grafts (160 +/- 133 microns).

Early and late results after resection and end-to-end anastomosis of coarctation of the thoracic aorta in early infancy.

Over a 9 year period, 55 infants underwent resection and end-to-end anastomosis for symptomatic coarctation of the thoracic aorta during their first 120 days of life (mean age 47 days; mean weight 3.7 kg). Forty-two had preductal coarctation and 13, postductal. Additional cardiac lesions were found in 48 patients. Ventricular septal defect, either isolated or associated with other malformations, was the most frequent finding (37 patients). Simultaneous banding of the pulmonary artery was performed in 14 infants because of nonrestrictive ventricular septal defects. The hospital mortality was 3.6% (two patients). There were no late deaths. All survivors have been reinvestigated, and 27 have been recatheterized. In the group as a whole, after an average follow-up of 4.5 years, the mean pressure gradient (arm/leg) was 7 mm Hg (range 0 to 45 mm Hg). In the recatheterized infants, the average systolic pressure gradient at the anastomotic site was 16 mm Hg (range 2 to 62 mm Hg), whereas the mean pressure gradient in this group was 7 mm Hg (range 0 to 33); only three of them had systolic pressure gradients of more than 20 mm Hg. One reoperation is scheduled. Our data suggest, that resection and end-to-end anastomosis for symptomatic coarctation in the first 3 months of life can be performed with very low operative mortality and excellent long-term results.

Internal thoracic artery: prevalence of atherosclerotic changes.

Use of the internal thoracic artery for myocardial revascularization has regained general acceptance because it offers better long-term results than do venous conduits. The aim of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of atherosclerosis in the internal thoracic artery and to correlate the prevalence with other known risk factors. A total of 117 patients (male/female ratio 84:33; mean age 56.8 years) were investigated. Sixty-eight patients had coronary artery disease, 25 had combined coronary artery and valvular heart disease, 14 had acquired valvular heart disease, and 10 had other types of heart disease. All but one patient underwent bilateral semiselective internal thoracic arteriography. Evidence of atherosclerotic change was present in 6.6% of the opacified vessels in 11.1% of the investigated individuals. Although all patients with atherosclerotic lesions in the internal thoracic artery had coronary artery disease, no correlation could be found between coronary artery disease and internal thoracic atherosclerosis. Peripheral vascular disease and hyperlipidemia could be identified as predictors of atherosclerotic changes in the internal thoracic artery. Atherosclerosis is somewhat more prevalent in the internal thoracic artery in this study than in the literature. Although the internal thoracic artery is a protected vessel, there is a certain extent of atherosclerosis, that correlates with known risk factors. Our observations should not preclude use of the internal thoracic artery, but they should be considered for patients who are at risk for atherosclerotic changes of the internal thoracic artery.

Lower intensity anticoagulation therapy results in lower complication rates with the St. Jude Medical prosthesis.

Six hundred consecutive patients were operated on between September 1978 and October 1982 for isolated aortic (n = 298), mitral (n = 215), or multiple valve replacement (n = 87) with the St. Jude Medical bileaflet prosthesis. Mean age of the 303 female and 297 male patients was 50.7 +/- 9.6 (range 12 to 83) years. All patients were followed up prospectively; follow-up was complete and averaged 122.2 +/- 1.1 months for operative survivors. Total follow-up for aortic patients was 2904.1 patient-years, for mitral replacement 1859.5 patient-years, and for multiple valve replacement 736 patient-years. When the prothrombin times measured with different thromboplastins were converted into an international normalized ratio, four patient groups could be separated; that is, the groups comprised patients whose anticoagulation was maintained during the follow-up within an international normalized ratio corridor of 4.0 to 6.0, 3.0 to 4.5, 2.5 to 3.5, or 1.75 to 2.75. Less intensive anticoagulation in terms of the international normalized ratio values caused only a mild increase in the incidence of thromboembolic complications but a highly significant decrease in the rate of bleeding. Severe bleeding complications in the aortic valve group were highest with an international normalized ratio of 4.0 to 6.0 (1.15 per patient-year) and lowest with an international normalized ratio of 1.75 to 2.75 (0.24 per patient-year). The same held true for patients with single St. Jude Medical mitral valve replacement (2.09 per patient-year versus 0.72 per patient-year) and multiple valve replacements (4.45 per patient-year versus 1.20 per patient-year). These results suggest that the generally recommended international normalized ratio of 3.0 to 4.5 may be too high for patients with St. Jude Medical aortic valve replacement and also for patients with St. Jude Medical prostheses in the mitral position if, with respect to the thromboembolic hazard, there is not a predominating patient-related comorbidity. A large multicenter prospective randomized study is therefore proposed to establish the safe international normalized ratio levels accompanied by the lowest complication rates for both bleeding and thromboembolic events after St. Jude Medical prosthesis implantation (German experience with low intensity anticoagulation study).

Isolated atrioventricular discordance. Report of two surgical cases with isolated ventricular inversion.

Isolated ventricular inversion is a term used for a congenital heart malformation with the segmental arrangement atrioventricular (AV) discordance and ventriculoarterial concordance. It describes a condition which from a physiological point of view resembles complete transposition of the great arteries. We have recently seen two patients with this anomaly. Both underwent intracardiac repair by means of a Mustard operation at 10 years and 10 months of age, respectively. Associated lesions in the first patient were an AV septal defect with two AV orifices (partial AV canal, ostium primum defect), partial anomalous pulmonary venous return, and anomalies in the systemic venous drainage. A perimembranous ventricular septal defect complicated the condition in the second patient.

Surgical treatment of ventricular tachycardias. Complete versus partial encircling endocardial ventriculotomy.

Forty consecutive patients underwent electrophysiologically guided encircling endocardial ventriculotomy as treatment for recurrent sustained ventricular tachycardia resulting from coronary artery disease and previous myocardial infarction. Twelve patients (30%, Group I) had a complete encircling endocardial ventriculotomy and 28 (70%, Group II) had a partial encircling endocardial ventriculotomy (54.4% +/- 2.2% of the left ventricular endocardial circumference) at the earliest electrical activation during ventricular tachycardia. There were no significant differences between the two groups in age, sex ratio, New York Heart Association class, coronary disease, aneurysm location, concomitant bypass grafting, and left ventricular function. One patient of Group I and two patients of Group II did not survive the perioperative period (8% versus 7%, not significant). The survivors were restudied electrophysiologically about 3 weeks after the operation. Eight patients of Group I and 19 patients of Group II were free of ventricular tachycardia (no spontaneous or inducible ventricular tachycardia) without antiarrhythmic drugs (73% versus 73%, not significant). The mean follow-up period in Group I is 22.6 months and in Group II, 15.2 months. Five patients of Group I and of Group II developed severe left ventricular dysfunction (46% versus 8%; p = 0.025). Also, congestive heart failure was a significant cause of death in Group I patients (p = 0.036). In conclusion, electrophysiologically guided partial encircling endocardial ventriculotomy is highly efficient as a surgical treatment of recurrent sustained ventricular tachycardia. Complete encircling endocardial ventriculotomy offers no better ablation of arrhythmias and should be avoided because of its apparent hazards to left ventricular performance.

The surgical treatment of ventricular tachycardias. Simple aneurysmectomy versus electrophysiologically guided procedures.

Between 1971 and 1982, 41 patients were operated upon for recurrent sustained ventricular tachycardia. All but three had severe coronary artery disease with a history of myocardial infarction. In 10 patients (Group I) simple aneurysmectomy with or without aorta-coronary bypass grafting was done. Thirty-one patients (Group II) had an electrophysiologically guided procedure, mainly partial or complete encircling endocardial ventriculotomy (EEV) at the earliest source of electrical activity during ventricular tachycardia. The results in the two groups indicate a clear superiority of electrophysiologically guided procedures over a simple aneurysmectomy regarding early and late disappearance of tachycardiac rhythm problems (p = 0.01); the differences between the two groups in hospital mortality (p = 0.43) and long-term survival are not significant. We compared our data with results in 160 cases of simple aneurysmectomy and 224 cases of electrophysiologically guided operations recently published in the literature. This comparison confirms the higher efficiency of mapping-guided procedures in eradicating ventricular tachycardias. The improvements in hospital and long-term survival, again, are not significant.

Duplex sonography of the internal thoracic artery. Preoperative assessment.

Ultrasonic duplex scanning was used to examine 211 internal thoracic arteries. The investigating vessels were classified as normal, abnormal, and occluded. The results of the duplex examination were compared with angiography as the reference method. The diameter measurements showed virtually no differences between the two methods. Normal internal thoracic arteries showed a continuous decrease of the systolic flow velocities from proximal to distal and a narrow to moderate spectral flow curve, whereas arteries classified as abnormal showed a velocity profile distinct from that--in particular, no decrease of the systolic peak velocities and an increased spectral broadening during systole with peak frequencies greater than 4 kHz at 60 degrees (> 1.2 m/sec). In occluded vessels no flow could be detected. The majority of changes were found in the proximal part of the internal thoracic artery. All lesions were detected by duplex sonography. Six normal vessels were misjudged as abnormal by the duplex method. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of duplex sonography compared with angiography as the reference method were 100% (95% CI, 74.4% to 100%), 96.9% (95% CI, 93.2% to 98.8%), and 97.2% (95% CI, 93.6% to 98.8%), respectively. Duplex sonography is a reliable, noninvasive technique for the preoperative assessment of the internal thoracic artery. It allows the detection of potential atherosclerotic changes in the internal thoracic artery and the assessment of adequacy of caliber and flow.

Prognosis of patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy after transaortic myectomy. Late results up to twenty-five years.

A complete clinical study was performed for 364 patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy who were operated on in the years 1963 to 1991 (217 male, 146 female, mean age 40 years, range 5 months to 76 years). Transaortic subvalvular myectomy was performed in 272 patients (hospital mortality 2.9%), and 92 patients needed additional cardiac procedures simultaneously (hospital mortality 10.9%). A complete follow-up study (100%) included 346 patients who survived the operation. The shortest follow-up time was 2 months and the longest 25.2 years (mean 8.2 years). Most of the patients improved clinically by one to three classes (New York Heart Association). During the observation period 38 patients (10.4%) died. The death of 17 patients was closely related to the original disease (4.9%). Other causes, unrelated to hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, were responsible for the death of 21 patients (5.8%). In consideration of these data, the yearly total death rate was 2.2%; in close relation to hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy it was about 0.6%. The cumulative survivals were 88% after 10 years and 72% after 20 years. In our long-term clinical experience it is increasingly evident, despite the restrictions of a retrospective study, that patients with symptomatic hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and failing medical therapy benefit from transthoracic subvalvular myectomy.

Predictable correction of tricuspid insufficiency by semicircular annuloplasty.

During surgical correction of multivalvular lesions, acquired tricuspid insufficiency is best treated by a semicircular annuloplasty technique. In order to achieve an individualized and accurate correction, the tricuspid annuloplasty suture is tied around an obturator, the dimensions of which are based upon Carpentier's tricuspid ring.

Cardiac rhythm after Mustard repair and after arterial switch operation for complete transposition.

We compared the prevalence of arrhythmias among the first consecutive 45 patients with complete transposition (concordant atrioventricular and discordant ventriculo-arterial connexions) after arterial switch operation and the last 47 patients after Mustard repair in infancy. Both groups had 24-hour Holter electrocardiographic studies at similar periods of follow up (24 +/- 14 and 25 +/- 18 months). A second group of patients undergoing the Mustard procedure had been repaired at an older age before 1981. They were studied to determine the frequency of disturbances of rhythm during later postoperative follow-up (85 +/- 24 months). Symptomatic brady-/tachyarrhythmia syndrome never occurred after the arterial switch and only once in the group of patients repaired by the Mustard procedure in infancy, but developed at a late stage (69 +/- 28 months); five times in the group of patients having Mustard's repair at an older age. In addition, Holter monitoring did not detect bradyarrhythmias indicating sinus node dysfunction in a single patient after the arterial switch, but did so to a similar extent in both groups having the Mustard procedure (recent: n = 14; older: n = 18). Three cases of the group of older patients undergoing a Mustard operation developed complete atrioventricular block during follow-up. Normal findings were present in 93% of the cases after arterial switch, but in only 51% of the cases with a similar follow-up repaired by the Mustard procedure, and in 29% of the group having the Mustard repair at an older age.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Unexpected findings concerning thromboembolic complications and anticoagulation after complete 10 year follow up of patients with St. Jude Medical prostheses.

Five hundred and four St. Jude Medical valves (SJM) were implanted in 435 patients between September 1978 and March 1982. There were 234 females and 201 males with a mean age of 52.8 +/- 10.1 years (range 12-83 years), who underwent 204 aortic, 163 mitral, 67 mitral plus aortic and one triple valve replacements. All patients were followed prospectively. Follow up was 100% complete and averaged 122.2 +/- 1.1 months for operative survivors. The total follow up for aortic patients was 1968.5, for mitral patients 1520.4, and for double valve replacement 573.9 pty. For the entire patient population the total follow up was 4080.8 pty. Early mortality was 2% after aortic, 4.3% after mitral and 5.9% after mitral plus aortic valve replacement. There were 68 late deaths representing a linearized incidence of 1.37%/pty in the aortic, 1.71%/pty in the mitral and 2.61%/pty in the double valve replacement groups. The corresponding cumulative survival after ten years at risk was 85% in the aortic, 78% in the mitral and 72% in the double valve replacement groups. The ten year event-free survival was 64% in the aortic, 57% in the mitral and 47% in the double valve replacement groups. The linearized incidence for thromboembolic events was 3.71%/pty taking all events into account, and 2.67%/pty taking only the first or most severe of several events into account for aortic, 5.1%/pty and 4.08%/pty for mitral, and 6.62%/pty and 5.40%/pty for double replacements, respectively. There were two cases of valve thrombosis, both with proven inadequate anticoagulation. When the prothrombin times measured with the different thromboplastize used in this patient group were converted to INR, the so far homogeneous values could be separated into three groups: INR = 3.0 to 4.5, 2.5 to 3.2 and 1.8 to 2.7. Low INR values caused only a marginal increase in the rate of embolism but a highly significant decrease in the rate of bleeding. These results suggest that the generally recommended INR of 3.0 to 4.5 is too high for the SJM. A large, multicenter, prospective randomized study is therefore proposed to establish the safe INR levels with low intensity anticoagulation after SJM implantation.

The effect of chordal preservation on late outcome after mitral valve replacement: a randomized study.

Postoperative survival, hemodynamic status and exercise tolerance with or without posterior chordal preservation were compared in a case-limited prospective randomized manner in 100 patients who underwent isolated mitral valve replacement with size 29mm or 31mm St. Jude Medical prostheses. The preoperative clinical and hemodynamic parameters were comparable in the two groups. The mean follow up was 293.3 months for those with and 263.1 months for patients without chordal preservation. Right heart cardiac catheterization was performed in every patients at the end of the follow up period and it demonstrated significantly better results with than without chordal preservation (cardiac index 2.81 +/- 0.47 vs. 2.63 +/- 0.52, p < 0.05; pulmonary arterial pressure 30 +/- 11 mmHg vs. 37 +/- 13 mmHg at 30 Watts bicycle exercise, p < 0.01; end-diastolic volume index 75 +/- 22 vs. 86 +/- 38 ml/m2, p < 0.02; and maximum exercise tolerance 1.8 +/- 0.3 vs. 1.2 +/- 0.5 Watt/kg, p < 0.01). Actuarial freedom from complications was 78.1 +/- 4.2% with and 70.7 +/- 6.2% without chordal preservation (p < 0.02). In particular, patients with severe mitral regurgitation benefited from the preservation of the posterior mitral leaflet with its chordal and papillary structure (p < 0.001).

Thrombosis of two St. Jude Medical prostheses in one patient after triple valve replacement. Case report and review of the literature.

Reports of experience with the St. Jude Medical (SJM) valve state that thrombosis of the prosthesis is a rare complication. In a 57-year-old woman, reoperation was necessary 12 months after triple valve replacement using SJM prostheses because of thrombosis of the valves in the tricuspid and aortic positions. Dysfunction of both mechanical valves was detected clinically by changing heart sounds and the appearance of murmurs. Echocardiography and cinefluoroscopy confirmed at least one fixed leaflet of the tricuspid prosthesis, but abnormalities of the aortic prosthesis could not be detected. At reoperation, the SJM prosthesis in the tricuspid position was almost completely thrombosed and was replaced by an Ionescu-Shiley bioprosthesis. A thrombotic formation at the hinge point of the SJM aortic prosthesis was removed. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a thrombotic complication of two SJM prostheses after triple valve replacement in one patient.

[Videodensitometric and electromagnetic flow measurements in aorto coronary bypass grafts (author's transl)]. / Vergleich videodensitometrischer und elektromagnetischer Flussmessungen in aortokoronaren Bypassgefässen.

Electromagnetic flow measurements in aorto coronary bypass grafts and cine angiography were performed simultaneously during bypass surgery. Using the front velocities of injected boli of contrast medium the videodensitometric measurement (QVD) overestimates the electromagnetically measured flow (QEM) systematically about 20% (QVD = 1.26 . QEM = 4 ml/min; Syx = 10.8 ml/min; r = 0.97). During the passage of the front of the contrast medium through the videodensitometric measuring windows, the flow is altered by the injection about + 13.6 ml/min on an average.

Energy demand of cardioplegically perfused human hearts.

Human adult hearts with aortic valve disease (n = 20) and hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (n = 1) were perfused intraoperatively with cold histidine buffered Bretschneider solution. During a seven minute cardioplegic perfusion the temperature level, the electrolyte level, the resistance of the left (LCA) and right coronary artery (RCA), and myocardial O2 consumption were analysed. Equilibration of K+ was terminated shortly after the start of the perfusion while Na+ equilibration lasted for about 5 minutes. Resistance of RCA did not change significantly, but that of the LCA was diminished significantly (p less than 0.025) within the perfusion period indicating a delayed washout of calcium from the extracellular space. Myocardial O2 consumption was reduced from 2.71 ml/min (1. minute) to 1.51 ml/min (4. minute) to 0.93 ml/min (7. minute) although the temperature had reached a low level after 3 minutes. The difference between 4. to 7. minutes is significant (p less than 0.001). By our results it is concluded that in adult hearts high-volume cardioplegic perfusion at a flow rate of 1 ml/min X gm at a perfusion pressure of 40 to 50 mmHg should be performed for at least 6 to 7 minutes to achieve a sufficient intra-ischemic myocardial protection.

Scanning-electron-microscopic and functional studies of oxygenator-membranes during long-term-perfusion.

Various types and amount of deposits were noted on the surface of different membrane oxygenators during experimental long-term perfusion in sheep studied by SEM. They were present in spite of adequate heparinization. The deposition of blood material suggests, that the imperfection of the membranes by fabrication must be controlled and improved by oneself for use in long-term perfusion.