Post-transplant survival in adult congenital heart disease patients as compared to dilated and ischemic cardiomyopathy patients; an analysis of the thoracic ISHLT registry.

Previous studies have shown that adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) is associated with high early post-transplant mortality but improved long-term survival in comparison to the overall heart transplant population. We aimed to evaluate survival outcomes of ACHD in adult transplant recipient patients as specifically compared to ischemic (ICM) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) groups. Adult heart transplant recipients between 2004 and 2014 were identified from the ISHLT registry. We used Kaplan-Meier analysis to evaluate overall survival, 1-year survival, and 1-year conditional survival among etiology groups and multivariable Cox proportional hazard (PH) models to assess the association between etiology of cardiomyopathy and 1-year and long-term all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality. We included 30 130 heart transplant recipients. One-year survival was 78.3% in ACHD, 84.3% in ICM, and 86.2% in DCM patients (P < .001). By multivariable analysis, during first post-transplant year, ACHD and ICM patients were at significantly higher mortality risk than DCM. Adjusted post-transplant mortality risk, conditional on 1-year survival, was not statistically different in ACHD and DCM while ICM patients had 17% higher long-term mortality risk than DCM patients leading to overall worse outcomes in ICM patients. Therefore, ICM patients have poorer outcomes in comparison to both DCM and ACHD patients.

EuroSCORE and neutrophil adhesion molecules predict outcome post-cardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND: This study tested the hypothesis that surgical stress and the host response to this trauma trigger an inflammatory cascade in which the neutrophil plays a central role. We hypothesised that pre-operative neutrophil migratory responses will correlate with post-operative clinical outcome in our shock model of open-heart surgery patients. We also tested the hypothesis that surface expression of adhesion molecules involved in the migratory process - CD11b, CD47 and CD99 - could be used to predict outcome. We believe that combining neutrophil migratory response, CD11b, CD47 and CD99 with the logistic European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) will strengthen the power of the EuroSCORE not only in predicting post-operative mortality but also other clinical endpoints. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Neutrophils were isolated pre-operatively from n = 31 patients undergoing open-heart surgery and allowed to migrate across endothelial monolayers in response to N-formyl-methionine-leucine-phenylalanine (fMLP). Isolated neutrophils were also assessed for surface expression of CD11b, CD47 and CD99 in response to fMLP by flow cytometry. Post-operative clinical parameters collected included days 1-5 white cell count and creatinine levels as well as intensive care unit (ICU) and post-operative hospital stay. RESULTS: Pre-operative surface expression of CD99 and CD47 correlates with post-operative creatinine levels (P < 0·05), a measurement of renal injury. We also show that while the logistic EuroSCORE alone can be used as a predictor of ICU stay, when combined with pre-operative CD99 surface expression, it improves its AUC value (0·794). CONCLUSION: Immunological markers, specifically the ability of the neutrophil to migrate, combined with the logistic EuroSCORE lead to improved sensitivity and specificity to predict patient outcome.

The impact of high-dose statin therapy on transendothelial neutrophil migration and serum cholesterol levels in healthy male volunteers.

RATIONALE: Cardiac surgery presents a risk to all major organs due to activation of the systemic inflammatory response. Patients referred for cardiac surgery are typically older, usually have comorbid conditions, and are thus at higher risk of postoperative multiorgan dysfunction. Patients demonstrating evidence of organ dysfunction require intensive postoperative management. Any means to predict and reduce the inflammatory response mounted postcardiac surgery could translate into a clinical benefit for the patient and reduce the length of stay in intensive care. OBJECTIVE: Statins are commonly used to prevent primary and secondary cardiovascular disease through their cholesterol-lowering effects. However, they have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties, which may help reduce postoperative mortality and morbidity for patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The purpose of this study was to analyze the in vivo effects of high-dose atorvastatin (statin) on ex vivo neutrophil migration in healthy volunteers. METHODS: Thirteen healthy male volunteers consented and were placed on high-dose (40 mg) statin therapy for 2 weeks. At week 0 and week 2, full blood count, liver function, serum cholesterol and creatine kinase were assessed, as was neutrophil migration. RESULTS: Neutrophil migration of healthy volunteers was significantly reduced after 2 weeks of high-dose statin therapy (p = 0.002), as was serum cholesterol (p <0.001). There was no change in liver function during statin treatment. CONCLUSION: Statins have an established role as cholesterol-lowering agents, and this study demonstrates that they also potentially have an anti-inflammatory effect in healthy male volunteers.

Mortality in patients with cardiogenic shock supported with VA ECMO: A systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the impact of etiology on 29,289 patients.

BACKGROUND: Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) is associated with variable outcomes. In this meta-analysis, we evaluated the mortality after VA ECMO across multiple etiologies of cardiogenic shock (CS). METHODS: In June 2019, we performed a systematic search selecting observational studies with ≥10 adult patients reporting on short-term mortality (30-day or mortality at discharge) after initiation of VA ECMO by CS etiology published after 2009. We performed meta-analyses using random effect models and used metaregression to evaluate mortality across CS etiology. RESULTS: We included 306 studies (29,289 patients): 25 studies on after heart transplantation (HTx) (771 patients), 13 on myocarditis (906 patients), 33 on decompensated heart failure (HF) (3,567 patients), 64 on after cardiotomy shock (8,231 patients), 10 on pulmonary embolism (PE) (221 patients), 80 on acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (7,774 patients), and 113 on after cardiac arrest [CA] (7,814 patients). With moderate certainty on effect estimates, we observed significantly different mortality estimates for various etiologies (p < 0.001), which is not explained by differences in age and sex across studies: 35% (95% CI: 29-42) for after HTx, 40% (95% CI: 33-46) for myocarditis, 53% (95% CI: 46-59) for HF, 52% (95% CI: 38-66) for PE, 59% (95% CI: 56-63) for cardiotomy, 60% (95% CI: 57-64) for AMI, 64% (95% CI: 59-69) for post‒in-hospital CA, and 76% (95% CI: 69-82) for post-out‒of-hospital CA. Univariable metaregression showed that variation in mortality estimates within etiology group was partially explained by population age, proportion of females, left ventricle venting, and CA. CONCLUSIONS: Using an overall estimate of mortality for patients with CS requiring VA ECMO is inadequate given the differential outcomes by etiology. To further refine patient selection and management to improve outcomes, additional studies evaluating patient characteristics impacting outcomes by specific CS etiology are needed.

Comparison of Heart Transplantation Outcomes: Adult Congenital Heart Disease vs Matched Cardiac Patients in a Quaternary Reference Centre.

BACKGROUND: The number of transplantations performed for adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) patients is increasing. We sought to compare survival and post-transplantation complications, including graft failure, rejection, dialysis, and use of a right ventricular assist device, between ACHD and a cohort of dilated (DCM) and ischemic (ICM) cardiomyopathy patients matched by age and year of transplantation. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed our single-institution heart transplantation database and selected all patients who had surgery from 1988 to 2017. In our primary analysis, we looked at survival and post-transplantation complications across cardiomyopathy groups. Our secondary analysis was matched to mitigate era effects as well as differences in age at transplant. RESULTS: We analyzed a cohort consisting of 303 heart transplant patients with cardiomyopathy due to either 1) ACHD (n = 38), 2) ICM (n = 110), or 3) DCM (n = 155). Kaplan-Meier analysis and a multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression model were used for all-cause mortality, and cause-specific hazard regression for cause-specific mortality and morbidity. There was no statistically significant survival difference across groups. The 1-year survival was 68.5% for ACHD, 85.4% for ICM, and 85.5% for DCM. In multivariable analysis, ICM and DCM patients showed a 66% lower risk of death relative to the ACHD group. The matched analysis showed no significant difference in survival across groups. CONCLUSIONS: ACHD patients represent a growing high-risk patient cohort referred for transplantation. To improve survival outcomes we need to address modifiable risk factors.

Giant right atrial aneurysm.

Only a handful of congenital aneurysms of the right atrium have been reported in the literature. They are most commonly found in the third decade of life, and the differential diagnosis depends on the patient's age profile. They are associated with 5% risk of sudden cardiac death. Once diagnosed, they should be surgically removed even in the absence of symptoms.

Transdiaphragmatic Gastroventricular Fistula.

Gastrocardiac fistulae are an exceedingly rare complication following esophagectomy with gastric conduit pull up. Unsurprisingly, there is a significant ascribed mortality with the disease process, often only identified postmortem. We report a case of transdiaphragmatic fistula between the intraabdominal gastric conduit and the right ventricle and surgical management thereof.