Timing of ß-Blocker Reintroduction and the Occurrence of Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation after Cardiac Surgery: A Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: For cardiac surgery patients under chronic ß-blocker therapy, guidelines recommend their early postoperative reintroduction to decrease the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation. The authors hypothesized that the timing of ß-blocker reintroduction affects their effectiveness on the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation. METHODS: This multicenter prospective French cohort study included patients on ß-blockers (more than 30 days before surgery) in sinus rhythm without a pacemaker. The primary outcome, time sequence of ß-blocker reintroduction, was analyzed for 192 h after surgery. The secondary outcome, relationship between the occurrence of postoperative atrial fibrillation and timing of ß-blocker reintroduction, was analyzed based on pre- and intraoperative predictors (full and selected sets) according to landmark times (patients in whom atrial fibrillation occurred before a given landmark time were not analyzed). RESULTS: Of 663 patients, ß-blockers were reintroduced for 532 (80%) but for only 261 (39%) patients in the first 48 h after surgery. Median duration before reintroduction was 49.5 h (95% CI, 48 to 51.5 h). Postoperative atrial fibrillation or death (N = 4) occurred in 290 (44%) patients. After performing a landmark analysis to take into account the timing of ß-blocker reintroduction, the adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) for predictor full and selected (increased age, history of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and duration of aortic cross clamping) sets for the occurrence of postoperative atrial fibrillation were: adjusted odds ratio (full) = 0.87 (0.58 to 1.32; P = 0.517) and adjusted odds ratio (selected) = 0.84 (0.58 to 1.21; P = 0.338) at 48 h; adjusted odds ratio (full) = 0.64 (0.39 to 1.05; P = 0.076) and adjusted odds ratio (selected) = 0.58 (0.38 to 0.89; P = 0.013) at 72 h; adjusted odds ratio (full) = 0.58 (0.31 to 1.07; P = 0.079) and adjusted odds ratio (selected) = 0.53 (0.31 to 0.91; P = 0.021) at 96 h. CONCLUSIONS: ß-Blockers were reintroduced early (after less than 48 h) in fewer than half of the cardiac surgery patients. Reintroduction decreased postoperative atrial fibrillation occurrence only at later time points and only in the predictor selected set model. These results are an incentive to optimize (timing, doses, or titration) ß-blocker reintroduction after cardiac surgery.

Colour Doppler ultrasound after major cardiac surgery improves diagnostic accuracy of the pulmonary infection score in acute respiratory failure: A prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative pneumonia is a frequent complication after cardiac surgery, and its diagnosis is difficult. Little is known about the diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasound (LUS) in the detection of pneumonia in cardiac surgical patients. The substitution of chest radiography by colour Doppler LUS (LUS-sCPIS) in the simplified clinical pulmonary infection score (sCPIS) could improve the diagnosis of pneumonia following cardiac surgery. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of LUS-sCPIS and of sCPIS alone in the detection of postoperative pneumonia after cardiac surgery. DESIGN: A prospective study of diagnostic accuracy. SETTING: A Surgical Intensive Care Unit of a French University Hospital. PATIENTS: Fifty-one patients with acute respiratory failure within 72 h after cardiac surgery were enrolled between January and May 2015. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The two index tests, LUS-sCPIS and sCPIS, were calculated for all patients at the onset of acute respiratory failure. The reference standard for the diagnosis of pneumonia was based on the consensus of three physicians, blind to the sCPIS and LUS-sCPIS data, based on a posthoc review of all the clinical, radiological and microbiological evidence. The diagnostic accuracy of LUS-sCPIS was compared with that of sCPIS in the detection of postoperative pneumonia. RESULTS: Pneumonia was diagnosed in 26 out of 51 patients. The LUS-sCPIS detected the presence of pneumonia with a sensitivity of 92% (95% CI 0.85 to 0.99) and a specificity of 68% (95% CI 0.55 to 0.81). The sCPIS detected the presence of pneumonia with a sensitivity of 35% (95% CI 0.22 to 0.48) and a specificity of 84% (95% CI 0.74 to 0.94). The area under the curve (AUC) of LUS-sCPIS at 0.80 (95% CI 0.69 to 0.91) was higher than the AUC of sCPIS at 0.59 (95% CI 0.47 to 0.71; P = 0.0008). CONCLUSION: Compared with sCPIS, LUS-sCPIS improved diagnostic accuracy in the detection of postoperative pneumonia in patients with acute respiratory failure after cardiac surgery. It could be a useful bedside tool to guide pneumonia management. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT03279887.

PHARMECMO: Therapeutic drug monitoring and adequacy of current dosing regimens of antibiotics in patients on Extracorporeal Life Support.

INTRODUCTION: Optimisation of antibiotic therapy for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) patients remains a pharmacological challenge. The objective of this study was to observe the plasma concentrations of commonly used antibiotics in intensive care for patients treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The PHARMECMO study was a pilot, prospective study, conducted in a cardiac surgery intensive care unit. Every adult patient under ECMO support, with known or suspected sepsis and receiving antibiotic therapy, was eligible for inclusion. Plasma concentrations of antibiotics were determined by a combination of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Forty-four eligible patients were enrolled for 68 inclusions on a twelve-month period. For the association piperacillin-tazobactam (n=19), 68.7% of CT50 and 93.7% of Cmin reached the pharmacokinetic goals defined (64 mg.L-1 for CT50 and 16 mg.L-1 for Cmin). For cefotaxime (n=12), the pharmacokinetic goals (4 mg.L-1 for CT50 and 1 mg.L-1 for Cmin) were achieved in 100% of the cases for CT50 and in 81.8% of the cases for Cmin. Regarding imipenem (n=10), the pharmacokinetic goals were 16 mg.L-1 for CT50 and 4 mg.L-1 for Cmin. Only one CT50 was above 16 mg.L-1. For Cmin, 60% of the doses did not reach the target concentration. In our 10 patients, only one patient was considered as reaching the pharmacokinetic goals. Finally, for amikacin (n=6), four Cmax (66.7%) were infra-therapeutics for a target between 60 and 80 mg.L-1. CONCLUSION: These preliminary results suggest that therapeutic drug monitoring could optimise the achievement of pharmacokinetic objectives associated with an effective antibiotic therapy. For most patients, the recommended doses of imipenem and amikacin did not achieve the pK targets.

The effect of local anesthetic continuous wound infusion for the prevention of postoperative pneumonia after on-pump cardiac surgery with sternotomy: the STERNOCAT randomized clinical trial.

PURPOSE: Postoperative pain after cardiac surgery, exacerbated by cough and sternal mobilization, limits clearance of bronchopulmonary secretions and may predispose to postoperative pneumonia. In this study, we tested the ability of local anesthetic continuous wound infusion to prevent pneumonia after cardiac surgery with sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) owing to better analgesia and bronchopulmonary drainage. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted in five academic centers, patients undergoing cardiac surgery with sternotomy and CPB were enrolled from February 2012 until November 2014, and were followed over 30 days. Patients were assigned to a 48-h infusion (10 ml h-1) of L-bupivacaine (12.5 mg h-1) or placebo (saline) via a pre-sternal multiperforated catheter. Anesthesia and analgesia protocols were standardized. The primary end point was the incidence of pneumonia during the study period, i.e., until hospital discharge or 30 days. We hypothesized a 30% reduction in the incidence of pneumonia. RESULTS: Among 1493 randomized patients, 1439 completed the trial. Pneumonia occurred in 36/746 patients (4.9%) in the L-bupivacaine group and in 42/739 patients (5.7%) in the placebo group (absolute risk difference taking into account center and baseline risk of postoperative pneumonia, - 1.3% [95% CI - 3.4; 0.8] P = 0.22). In the predefined subgroup of patients at high risk, L-bupivacaine decreased the incidence of pneumonia (absolute risk difference, - 5.6% [95% CI - 10.0; - 1.1], P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: After cardiac surgery with sternotomy, continuous wound infusion of L-bupivacaine failed to decrease the incidence of pneumonia. These findings do not support the use of local anesthetic continuous wound infusion in this indication. Further study should investigate its effect in high-risk patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: EudraCT Number: 2011-003292-10; Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01648777.

Postoperative serum levels of Endocan are associated with the duration of norepinephrine support after coronary artery bypass surgery.

BACKGROUND: Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is associated with a systemic inflammatory response and an endothelial dysfunction, whose qualitative assessment appears to be a major issue. Endocan (ESM-1, endothelial cell specific molecule-1) is a protein preferentially expressed by the endothelium and previously associated with prognosis of septic shock or acute respiratory distress syndrome. In this pilot study, we investigated the kinetic of Endocan in planned coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery with CPB. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted an observational, prospective, mono centre study. All adult patients with left systolic ejection fraction>50%, undergoing planned on-pump CABG, were screened for inclusion. A written informed consent was obtained. Measurements and main results Serum Endocan concentrations were respectively 2.4 [2.1-3.0] ng. mL-1, 10.4 [7.4-13.9] ng.mL-1, 5.7 [4.4-8.2] ng.mL-1, and 5.4 [4.1-7.5] ng.mL-1 at day 0, day 1, day 3 and day 5. Endocan concentrations increased at day 1, day 3, and day 5 in comparison with preoperative concentration (P<0.001). In the multivariate analysis, age (P=0.002), history of acute coronary syndrome (P=0.024) and the catecholamine-free days at day 28 (P=0.007) were associated to the increase of perioperative Endocan concentrations. CONCLUSION: Serum Endocan concentration increases after CABG surgery with CPB until day 1. The norepinephrine support increases the risk of Endocan release, suggesting a relationship between the kinetic of Endocan and the vasoplegic syndrome. At day 3, Endocan concentration decreases slowly but is not normalised at day 5. Further studies should investigate the prognostic value of the magnitude of postoperative Endocan concentration after cardiac surgery.

Effect of Levosimendan on Low Cardiac Output Syndrome in Patients With Low Ejection Fraction Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting With Cardiopulmonary Bypass: The LICORN Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Low cardiac output syndrome after cardiac surgery is associated with high morbidity and mortality in patients with impaired left ventricular function. Objective: To assess the ability of preoperative levosimendan to prevent postoperative low cardiac output syndrome. Design, Setting, and Participants: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted in 13 French cardiac surgical centers. Patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction less than or equal to 40% and scheduled for isolated or combined coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass were enrolled from June 2013 until May 2015 and followed during 6 months (last follow-up, November 30, 2015). Interventions: Patients were assigned to a 24-hour infusion of levosimendan 0.1 µg/kg/min (n = 167) or placebo (n = 168) initiated after anesthetic induction. Main Outcomes and Measures: Composite end point reflecting low cardiac output syndrome with need for a catecholamine infusion 48 hours after study drug initiation, need for a left ventricular mechanical assist device or failure to wean from it at 96 hours after study drug initiation when the device was inserted preoperatively, or need for renal replacement therapy at any time postoperatively. It was hypothesized that levosimendan would reduce the incidence of this composite end point by 15% in comparison with placebo. Results: Among 336 randomized patients (mean age, 68 years; 16% women), 333 completed the trial. The primary end point occurred in 87 patients (52%) in the levosimendan group and 101 patients (61%) in the placebo group (absolute risk difference taking into account center effect, -7% [95% CI, -17% to 3%]; P = .15). Predefined subgroup analyses found no interaction with ejection fraction less than 30%, type of surgery, and preoperative use of ß-blockers, intra-aortic balloon pump, or catecholamines. The prevalence of hypotension (57% vs 48%), atrial fibrillation (50% vs 40%), and other adverse events did not significantly differ between levosimendan and placebo. Conclusions and Relevance: Among patients with low ejection fraction who were undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass, levosimendan compared with placebo did not result in a significant difference in the composite end point of prolonged catecholamine infusion, use of left ventricular mechanical assist device, or renal replacement therapy. These findings do not support the use of levosimendan for this indication. Trial Registration: EudraCT Number: 2012-000232-25; clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02184819.