V stenting technique with covered stents for the management of ostial circumflex perforation: Good or bad idea?

We report the case of a redo Ross surgery complicated by an ostial left circumflex occlusion requiring emergent percutaneous coronary intervention. The latter was complicated by coronary perforation treated by two covered stents with V-stenting technique. After immediate success, the clinical course was marked by acute stent thrombosis requiring emergent coronary bypass. Learning objectives: Ostial left circumflex perforation is a rare and potentially fatal complication that is challenging to manage. V stenting technique with two covered stents could be used as a life-saving procedure, but is associated with a high thrombotic risk.

Mid-Term Survival and Risk Factors Associated With Myocardial Injury After Fenestrated and/or Branched Endovascular Aortic Aneurysm Repair.

OBJECTIVE: Myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery (MINS) is an independent predictor of post-operative mortality in non-cardiac surgery patients and may increase health costs. Few data are available for MINS in vascular surgery patients, in general, and those undergoing fenestrated/branched endovascular aortic repairs (F/BEVAR), in particular. The incidence of MINS after F/BEVAR, the associated risk factors, and prognosis have not been determined. The aim of the present study was to help fill these knowledge gaps. METHODS: A single centre, retrospective study was carried out at a high volume F/BEVAR centre in a university hospital. Adult patients who underwent F/BEVAR between October 2010 and December 2018 were included. A high sensitivity troponin T (HsTnT) assay was performed daily in the first few post-operative days. MINS was defined as a HsTnT level ≥ 14 ng/L (MINS14) or ≥ 20 ng/L (MINS20). After assessment of the incidence of MINS, survival up to two years was estimated in a Kaplan-Meier analysis and the groups were compared according to MINS status. A secondary aim was to identify predictors of MINS. RESULTS: Of the 387 included patients, 240 (62.0%) had MINS14 and 166 (42.9%) had MINS20. In multivariable Cox models, both conditions were significantly associated with poor two year survival (MINS14: adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 2.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10 - 4.19; MINS20: aHR 2.43, 95% CI 1.36 - 4.34). In a multivariable logistic regression, age, revised cardiac risk index, duration of surgery, pre-operative estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and haemoglobin level were independent predictors of MINS. CONCLUSION: After F/BEVAR surgery, the incidence of MINS was particularly high, regardless of the definition considered (MINS14 or MINS20). MINS was significantly associated with poor two year survival. The modifiable predictors identified were duration of surgery, eGFR, and haemoglobin level.

Central venous-to-arterial PCO2 difference, arteriovenous oxygen content and outcome after adult cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass: A prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Rapid identification and treatment of tissue hypoxia reaching anaerobiosis (dysoxia) may reduce organ failure and the occurrence of major postoperative complications (MPC) after cardiac surgery. The predictive ability of PCO2-based dysoxia biomarkers, central venous-to-arterial PCO2 difference (ΔPCO2) and ΔPCO2 to arteriovenous oxygen content difference ratio, is poorly studied in this setting. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the ability of PCO2-based tissue dysoxia biomarkers, blood lactate concentration and central venous oxygen saturation measured 2 h after admission to the ICU as predictors of MPC. DESIGN: A prospective, observational cohort study. SETTING: Single-centre, academic hospital cardiovascular ICU. PATIENTS: We included adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and measured dysoxia biomarkers at ICU admission, and after 2, 6 and 24 h. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary endpoint was MPC, a composite of cardiac and noncardiac MPC evaluated in the 48 h following surgery. After univariate analysis of MPC covariates including dysoxia biomarkers measured at 2 h, multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the association of these biomarkers with MPC for confounders. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were determined for biomarkers which remained independently associated with MPC. RESULTS: MPC occurred in 56.5% of the 308 patients analysed. ΔPCO2, blood lactate concentration and central venous oxygen saturation measured at 2 h, but not ΔPCO2 to arteriovenous oxygen content difference ratio, were significantly associated with MPC. However, only ΔPCO2 was independently associated with MPC after multivariate analysis. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of ΔPCO2 measured at 2 h for MPC prediction was 0.64 (95% CI 0.57 to 0.70, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: After cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, ΔPCO2 measured 2 h after ICU admission was the only dysoxia biomarker independently associated with MPC, but with limited performance. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03107572.

C-reactive protein kinetics after major surgery.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of sepsis in the postoperative period is a challenge. Measurements of inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), have been proposed in medical patients, but the interpretation of these values in surgical patients is more difficult. We evaluated the changes in blood CRP levels and white blood cell count in postoperative patients with and without infection. METHODS: All patients admitted to our 34-bed Department of Intensive Care after major (elective or emergency) cardiac, neuro-, vascular, thoracic, or abdominal surgery during a 4-month period were prospectively included. Patients were screened daily and characterized as infected or noninfected. CRP levels and white blood cell counts were recorded daily in all patients for up to 7 days after the surgical intervention. RESULTS: Of the 151 patients enrolled, 115 underwent elective surgery and 36 emergency surgery; cardiac surgery was performed in 49 patients, neurosurgery in 65, abdominal surgery in 25, vascular surgery in 7, and thoracic surgery in 5. In noninfected patients (n = 117), mean CRP values increased from baseline to postoperative day (POD) 3 (P < 0.0001, estimated mean difference [EMD] = 99.7 mg/L [95% confidence interval, 85.6-113.8]) and then decreased until POD 7 but remained higher than the level at baseline (P < 0.0001, EMD = 49.2 mg/L [95% confidence interval, 27.1-71.2]). Postoperative infection occurred in 20 patients (13.2%). In these patients, CRP values were already higher on POD 1 than in noninfected patients (P = 0.0054). CONCLUSIONS: CRP levels increase in the first week after major surgery but to a much larger extent in infected than in noninfected patients. Persistently high CRP levels after POD 4, especially when >100 mg/L, suggest the presence of a postoperative infection.