[Pediatric heart surgery in developing countries. Twenty years experience of La Chaine de L'espoir (Chain of Hope)]. / La chirurgie cardiaque pédiatrique dans les pays en voie de développement. Vingt ans d'expérience de la chaîne de l'Espoir.

Because of their high incidence, cardiac disorders in children are now a public health issue. These children require multidisciplinary management, but surgery is sometimes unavoidable. The two most frequent types of cardiac disorder in children are congenital defects and rheumatic valve disease. La Chaine de l'Espoir (Chain of Hope) is present in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Due to the socio-economic context and lack of technical resources, pediatric heart surgery has several particular characteristics in developing countries. Infants rarely undergo cardiac surgery, given the complexity of their management and particularly the need for intensive care. Another specificity is the need to limit treatment to reparatory or conservative methods. Surgery is rarely attempted in terminally ill patients. Costs must be kept to a minimum, and this is why we have optedfor local manufacture of mitral rings, led by Daniel Roux. After 20 years of practice we have found that regional hospitals are the smallest structures that can offer acceptable results in terms of patient care and professional training

Cardiac surgery in low-income settings: 10 years of experience from two countries.

BACKGROUND: Access to cardiac surgery is limited in low-income settings, and data on patient outcomes are scarce. AIMS: To assess characteristics, surgical procedures and outcomes in patients undergoing open-heart surgery in low-income settings. METHODS: This was a cohort study (2001-2011) in two low-income countries, Cambodia and Mozambique, where cardiac surgery had been promoted by visiting non-governmental organizations. RESULTS: In Cambodia and Mozambique, respectively, 1332 and 767 consecutive patients were included; 547 (41.16%) and 385 (50.20%) were men; median age at first surgery was 11 years (interquartile range [IQR] 4-14) and 11 years (IQR 3-18); rheumatic heart disease affected 490 (36.79%) and 268 (34.94%) patients; congenital heart disease (CHD) affected 834 (62.61%) and 390 (50.85%) patients, with increasingly more CHD patients over time (P<0.001); and the number of patients lost to follow-up reached 741 (55.63%) and 112 (14.6%) at 30 days. A total of 249 (32.46%) patients were lost to follow-up in Mozambique, remoteness being the only influencing factor (P<0.001). Among patients with known vital status, the early (<30 days) postoperative mortality rate was 6.10% (n=40) in Mozambique and 3.05% (n=18) in Cambodia. Overall, 109 (8.18%) patients in Cambodia and 94 (12.26%) patients in Mozambique underwent re-do surgery. In Mozambique, a further 50/518 (9.65%) patients died at a median of 23months (IQR 7-43); in Cambodia, a further 34/591 (5.75%) patients died at a median of 11.5months (IQR 6-54.5). CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac surgery is feasible in low-income countries with acceptable in-hospital mortality and proof of capacity building. Patient outcomes after cardiac surgery in low-income countries remain unknown, given the strikingly high numbers of lost to follow-up.

Long-term results of mitral valve repair in active endocarditis.

BACKGROUND: Several investigators have reported the feasibility of mitral valve repair in active endocarditis, but the long-term results are still unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: We reviewed 37 consecutive patients who underwent mitral valve repair with the Carpentier technique for active endocarditis in our center between 1989 and 1994. This repair involved prosthetic annuloplasty in 31 patients (84%), valve resection in 31 (84%), chordal shortening or transposition in 19 (51%), pericardial patch in 16 (43%), and direct suture of leaflet perforation in 4 (11%). Associated procedures were primarily aortic valve repair or replacement in 11 (30%) and tricuspid repair in 2 (6%). Early complications included 1 operative death (3%; 95% CI, 0 to 15.5) and 1 reoperation for pericardial patch dehiscence. Recurrence of endocarditis was observed in 1 patient (3%; 95% CI, 0 to 16). The 10-year survival rate and freedom from mitral valve reoperation were 80% (95% CI, 66 to 94) and 91% (95% CI, 81 to 100), respectively. At 10 years, most patients (96%) were in good functional status (NYHA class I to II) with no or trivial mitral regurgitation (92%) on echocardiography. CONCLUSIONS: Mitral valve repair using Carpentier's techniques in patients with active endocarditis offers very good long-term results with a low rate of recurrence or reoperation.

Management of commissural lesions in native mitral valve endocarditis: long-term results of valve repair and partial homograft replacement.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: Commissural lesions in the context of native mitral valve endocarditis are a technically challenging condition for conservative surgery. Herein are reported the authors' 10-year results for mitral valve repair (MVRep) or partial homograft replacement (PHR) performed in this setting. METHODS: Data were reviewed from 19 consecutive patients who underwent MVRep using either Carpentier's technique (n = 14) or PHR (n = 5) for endocarditis at the authors' institution between 1989 and 1994. RESULTS: There was one operative death (5%; 95% CI 0-15.5%). Two reoperations were performed in each subgroup for recurrence of endocarditis (n = 2) and mitral valve failure (n = 2). The 10-year survival rate and freedom from mitral valve reoperation were 95% (95% CI 84-100%) and 78% (95% CI 59-97%), respectively. At 10 years, 13 (93%) surviving and non-reoperated patients were in good functional status (NYHA class I-II), and 14 (100%) were in sinus rhythm. Although echocardiographic results were excellent in the MVRep group, all PHR patients had moderate or severe mitral valve dysfunction. CONCLUSION: Commissural reconstruction using Carpentier's techniques demonstrated excellent long-term results in patients with native mitral valve endocarditis. In contrast, the results for PHR were rather disappointing.

Frequency, predictors, and consequences of atrioventricular block after mitral valve repair.

This study examines the incidence, predictors, and evolution of postoperative atrioventricular block (AVB) after mitral valve repair (MVR) in 115 consecutive patients using Carpentier's technique (between November 1996 and April 1997). Postoperative AVB occurred in 27 patients (23%). Third-degree AVB was found in 7 patients (6%) in the immediate postoperative period, but in 4 it was transient, resolving partially or completely before the seventh postoperative day. Second-degree AVB (Mobitz type I) occurred in 4 patients (3%) immediately after operation and resolved in all before hospital discharge. Isolated first-degree AVB occurred in 16 patients (14%) and was permanent in 12. Neither the preoperative variables nor the mitral procedures including anterior versus posterior leaflet repair were related to postoperative AVB. A lesser systemic hypothermia during surgery was the only, modestly independent predictor of postoperative AVB (odds ratio 1.53; 95% confidence interval 1.04 to 2.25; p = 0.031). Three patients (2.6%) had permanent pacemaker implantation, on average 18 days after operation, and all had persistent third-degree AVB. With a mean follow-up of 3 years, no recurrence or worsening of conduction disturbances, no further pacemaker implantation, and no late deaths were observed.

Homemade mitral ring.

A simple and quick technique to fashion a mitral ring was developed using a stainless steel wire covered by a Gore-Tex strip. This technique allows a 15-fold reduction in the cost of a mitral ring compared with commercially available rings. As such, cardiac surgery becomes more readily available to patients in developing countries such as Africa and Asia. These homemade rings were implanted in 6 patients with similar results to commercially available rings.

Aortic cusp extension valvuloplasty for rheumatic aortic valve disease: midterm results.

BACKGROUND: The surgical management of rheumatic aortic insufficiency in the young remains problematic owing to the drawbacks of prosthetic valve replacement at this age. In young foreign patients, for whom long-term anticoagulation therapy is unavailable, we have used a glutaraldehyde preserved autologous pericardium cusp extension technique to repair rheumatic aortic valve insufficiencies resulting from cusp retractions. METHODS: From September 1992 to December 2000, 89 consecutive patients with a mean age of 16 +/- 5 years underwent triple pericardial aortic cusp extension valvuloplasty. Eighty patients had pure aortic insufficiency, 9 had mixed aortic disease. Twenty-nine patients (33%) had isolated aortic valve disease and 60 patients (69%) had combined aortic and mitral valve disease with significant tricuspid valve disease in 21 (24%). Aortic repair consisted of free edge aortic cusp extension using three rectangular strips of glutaraldehyde stabilized autologous pericardium. Twenty-nine patients (33%) underwent an isolated aortic repair, 39 patients (44%) underwent combined aortic and mitral procedures (34 mitral repairs, 3 mitral homografts, and 2 prosthesis replacements), and 21 patients (23%) underwent a triple valve repair. RESULTS: The hospital mortality was 2.2%. Primary failure of the aortic repair requiring immediate reoperation occurred in 2 patients. During follow-up (mean of 62 +/- 22 months) 1 patient died and 7 underwent redo valvular surgery. At 5 years the actuarial survival rate was 96.4%, and 92.1% of the patients were free from redo valvular surgery. At 7 years 90% of the patients were free from valve-related complications. Among the 76 patients free from redo valvular surgery at follow-up, 6 had deterioration of the repair resulting in grade II aortic and mitral insufficiencies. CONCLUSIONS: Our midterm results of glutaraldehyde stabilized autologous pericardial aortic cusp extension are encouraging and suggest that this technique should be considered as a viable alternative palliative procedure in a young rheumatic population, allowing for growth of the annulus and delaying to a less critical period the need for the lifelong anticoagulation therapy required for a prosthetic mechanical valve.

Intermittent cyanosis: unusual diagnosis of an ascending aortic aneurysm.

The authors report here an unusual case of an ascending aorta aneurysm diagnosed in the event of a check-up for a dyspnea with cyanosis. The right atrium compression by the aneurysm initiated a right-to-left shunt through a patent foramen ovale.

Fulminant myocarditis in adults and children: bi-ventricular assist device for recovery.

OBJECTIVE: Fulminant myocarditis (FM) is uncommon and may be followed by a rapidly intractable cardiogenic shock. We report five consecutive patients with FM successfully bridged to recovery with a mechanical paracorporel biventricular assist device (BiVAD). METHODS: Five patients, four adults and one child (mean age 27+/-6 years, range, 5-36 years) underwent implantation from November 1999 to May 2003, for FM. Prior to implantation, all patients required maximal inotropic support, three of them had an intra-aortic balloon pump, the child had an extra-corporel membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support previously inserted in another institution. Cardiac catheterisation showed a mean CPW of 37+/-1 mmHg, mean CVP 18+/-2 mmHg, and mean CI 1.7+/-0.1l/min. Echocardiogram showed a severe biventricular hypokinesia, without any ventricular dilatation and a mean LVEF at 12.5%. Two patients were implanted in cardiac arrest under external cardiac resuscitation. All patients underwent BiVAD implantation (MEDOS HIA-VAD). A 72 ml right paracorporel ventricle (a 23 ml in the child) was instituted between the double stage venous canula used during CPB and a pulmonary artery outflow canula. A 80 ml left paracorporel ventricle (a 25 ml in the child) was instituted between a left ventricle apical canula and an aorta outflow canula. RESULTS: There was no death. The mean duration support time was 11+/-6 days (from 7 to 21 days). Two patients experienced transitory deficiency due to a stroke. Four patients showed signs of FM on histological findings. Despite serologic examination and viral genome research on myocardial biopsies, pathogenic agents were not identified. At mean follow-up of 31+/-15 months, all the patients fully recovered with a mean LVEF=60% and no left ventricular dilatation. CONCLUSIONS: In FM with intractable cardiogenic shock, the use of a BiVAD as a bridge to recovery is a life saving approach and should be considered before multi-end organ failure.

Triple valve repair for young rheumatic patients.

BACKGROUND: Facing young foreign polyvalvular rheumatic patients, for which long-term anticoagulation is not available, we have chosen to attempt triple valve repair procedures in order to avoid prosthetic implantation in this particular population suffering from triple valve disease. METHODS: Twenty-one young rheumatic patients (mean age:11+/-4 years) underwent triple valve repair procedures including cusp extension on the aortic valve aortic between September, 1992 and December, 2000. Valvular pathology characteristics according to Carpentier's classification included mitral insufficiency type III post+II ant (n=10), type III post (n=4), type II ant (n=2), mitral stenosis (n=5), type III aortic insufficiency (n=21), type I (n=13) and type III (n=8) tricuspid insufficiency. RESULTS: Firstly, the mitral valve disease were corrected using Carpentier's techniques of repair: prosthetic ring annuloplasty (n=16), commissurotomy (n=12), chord transposition (n=11) or shortening (n=4), papillary muscle sliding plasty (n=4) and pericardial patch leaflet enlargement (n=6). Secondly, aortic lesions were corrected using glutaraldehyde stabilized autologous pericardium triple cusps extension technique (n=21). Lastly, tricuspid repairs were always performed on beating hearts using commissurotomy (n=8), prosthetic ring (n=12) or other techniques (n=9) of annuloplasty. The operative mortality was 4.7% (one patient died). Echocardiograms before discharge showed grade I mitral insufficiency in seven patients and grade I aortic insufficiency in five patients. There was no late death during a mean follow-up of 51+/-31 months. Two patients underwent valvular redo surgery because of aortic and mitral plasty deterioration due to rheumatic disease progress. After 5 years, 90% of the patients were free from redo valvular surgery. CONCLUSIONS: In rheumatic patients, autologous pericardial patch extension of the aortic valve permitted widespread use of reconstructive surgery even in patients suffering from triple valve disease. Triple valve repair, in this particular challenging setting of patients, has provided satisfactory initial and mid-term results and could be considered as an interesting palliative surgical approach.

Pericardial patch anterior leaflet extension in rheumatic mitral insufficiency.

This report describes a technique for anterior leaflet extension using an autologous pericardial patch in patients suffering from rheumatic mitral regurgitation. The technique has recently evolved and now enables us to correct both vertical and transversal fibrotic leaflet retraction.

Is it reasonable to treat all calcified stenotic aortic valves with a valved stent? Results from a human anatomic study in adults.

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to study the behavior of a stent deployed inside human stenotic aortic valves. BACKGROUND: Endovascular valved stent (VS) implantation is a promising new therapy for patients with severe calcific aortic stenosis (AS). The precise characteristics of stent deployment in humans have been poorly studied so far. METHODS: Thirty-five patients with severe AS were included in the study. Sixteen patients (46%) had bicuspid aortic valves. A self-expandable stent specifically designed for VS implantation was deployed intraoperatively inside the aortic valve before surgical aortic valve replacement. RESULTS: In tricuspid aortic valves, the shape of stent deployment was circular, triangular, or elliptic in 68%, 21%, or 11%, respectively. Noncircular stent deployment was frequent in bicuspid aortic valves (the elliptic deployment being the rule [79%]), and stent underdeployment was constant. The incidence of gaps between the stent external surface and the aortic valve did not differ between tricuspid and bicuspid valves (58% vs. 43%; p = 0.49). Sharp calcific excrescences protruding inside the stent lumen were present in 3 cases (9%). Ex vivo study of a homemade VS confirmed that the regularity of the coaptation line of the leaflets was critically dependent on the presence or the absence of stent misdeployment. CONCLUSIONS: Stent misdeployment was constant in bicuspid valves and occurred in one-third of cases of tricuspid valves. Premature failure of implanted VS (secondary to valve distortion or traumatic injury to the leaflets by calcific excrescences) might be an important concern in the future.

Congenital mitral valve regurgitation in adult patients. A rare, often misdiagnosed but repairable, valve disease.

OBJECTIVE: Congenital mitral valve regurgitation (MVR) is a rare disease occurring in infancy or childhood. Although congenital MVR has been described in adults, no surgical series has been reported so far. We describe here a 6-year surgical experience of congenital MVR in adults at a single institution. METHODS: We reviewed the data of 15 consecutive patients (8 men), aged more than 16 years (median: 38 years; range: 16-70 years) operated on for severe congenital MVR from June 2000 to March 2006. Congenital MVR represented 2.1% of mitral valve surgery performed in adults during the same period. Patients with atrio-ventricular septal defect or atrio-ventricular discordance were excluded. RESULTS: The congenital MVR was preoperatively diagnosed in six (40%) cases. Two (13%) patients had a Williams-Beuren syndrome. The lesions consisted in annular dilation (100%), prolapsed leaflet (87%), chordal abnormalities (80%), papillary muscle abnormalities (40%) or valvular cleft (33%). Mitral valve repair was performed in all cases using Carpentier's techniques. There was no hospital death or late mortality. At last follow-up (median: 60 months; range: 6-83 months), all patients were in NYHA functional class I or II and in a sinus rhythm. On transthoracic echocardiography, 11 (73%) patients had no or trivial MVR. Mild MVR was present in four (27%) patients. No patient was reoperated and endocarditis did not occur. CONCLUSION: Congenital MVR is rare in adults, often misdiagnosed and accessible to valve repair with excellent mid-term results.

Reoperation for failure of mitral valve repair in degenerative disease: a single-center experience.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to report our 19-year experience in redo surgery for failure of mitral valve repair (MVRep) in degenerative disease. METHODS: From 1987 to 2006, 43 consecutive patients (32 males) underwent either redo MVRep (n = 21) or redo mitral valve replacement (n = 22) for failure of MVRep. Age ranged from 10 to 78 years (median, 59 years). Forty-one patients (95%) had grade 3+ or greater mitral regurgitation, and 3 patients had chronic systolic anterior motion of the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve. Repair was mainly performed using Carpentier's techniques. RESULTS: There was no perioperative death in the MVRep group and 2 deaths in the redo mitral valve replacement group. In univariate analysis, long-term survival was significantly superior in the MVRep group compared with redo mitral valve replacement (p = 0.011). There were three reoperations (14%) in the MVRep group for recurrent severe mitral regurgitation. One patient (5%) in the redo mitral valve replacement group underwent reoperation for prosthetic endocarditis. The 7-year freedom from reoperation rate was 95% (95% confidence interval, 84% to 99%) in both groups. At the latest follow-up, 16 (94%) patients in the MVRep group were in New York Heart Association I or II functional status. Fifteen (88%) had no or mild mitral regurgitation on echocardiography. Two patients (12%) presented with moderate (2+) mitral regurgitation. CONCLUSIONS: In case of failure of MVRep for severe degenerative mitral valve disease, re-repair is feasible in about 50% of the patients with encouraging results at 7 years.

Late posterior failure after mitral valve repair in degenerative disease.

OBJECTIVES: Little is known regarding the mechanisms, the feasibility and the long-term results of re-repair in 'posterior failure' of a previous mitral valve repair performed for severe degenerative mitral regurgitation. We report our 16-year experience in redo surgery for late posterior failure of mitral valve repair in degenerative disease. METHODS: From 1991 to 2004, 13 consecutive patients (10 males; median age: 65 years) were reoperated for late posterior failure of mitral valve repair. All patients had grade > or =3+ mitral regurgitation. Repair was mainly performed using Carpentier's techniques. RESULTS: Repair failure was due to posterior leaflet prolapse, leaflet retraction or leaflet dehiscence in eight (62%), three (23%) and two (15%) patients, respectively. Repair was performed in nine patients (69%). There was no perioperative death. During follow-up (median: 105 months; range: 40-170 months) one late death occurred in the mitral valve replacement group. One (11%) patient underwent mechanical mitral valve replacement 125 months after re-repair. Congestive heart failure occurred in one patient in each group. At the latest follow-up, all but one patient in the mitral valve repair group were in NYHA functional class I or II and all were in sinus rhythm. Doppler echocardiographic studies of the re-repaired valves (n=8) showed no or trivial, grade 1+ and grade 2+ residual mitral regurgitation in 6 (75%), 1 and 1 patients, respectively. Mean transmitral gradient was 3 mmHg (2-8 mmHg) and left ventricular ejection fraction was 59% (43-77%). CONCLUSION: In case of late posterior failure of mitral valve repair for severe degenerative, re-repair is feasible in about 70% of the patients with encouraging results at 10 years.