Association Between Early Extubation and Postoperative Reintubation After Elective Cardiac Surgery: A Bi-institutional Study.

OBJECTIVE: It is unknown if remaining intubated after cardiac surgery is associated with a decreased risk of postoperative reintubation. The primary objective of this study was to investigate whether there was an association between the timing of extubation and the risk of reintubation after cardiac surgery. DESIGN: A retrospective, observational study. SETTING: Two university-affiliated tertiary care centers. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 9,517 patients undergoing either isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or aortic valve replacement (AVR). INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 6,609 isolated CABGs and 2,908 isolated AVRs were performed during the study period. Reintubation occurred in 112 patients (1.64%) after CABG and 44 patients (1.5%) after AVR. After multivariate logistic regression analysis, early extubation (within the first 6 postoperative hours) was not associated with a risk of reintubation after CABG (odds ratio [OR] 0.53, 95% CI 0.26-1.06) and AVR (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.22-1.22). Risk factors for reintubation included increased age in both the CABG (OR per 10-year increase, 1.63; 95% CI 1.28-2.08) and AVR (OR per 10-year increase, 1.50; 95% CI 1.12-2.01) cohorts. Total bypass time, race, and New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class were not associated with reintubation risk. CONCLUSION: Reintubation after CABGs and AVRs is a rare event, and advanced age is an independent risk factor. Risk is not increased with early extubation. This temporal association and low overall rate of reintubation suggest the strategies for extubation should be modified in this patient population.

Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists/European Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists Practice Advisory for the Management of Perioperative Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery.

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (poAF) is the most common adverse event after cardiac surgery and is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and hospital and intensive care unit length of stay. Despite progressive improvements in overall cardiac surgical operative mortality and postoperative morbidity, the incidence of poAF has remained unchanged at 30%-50%. A number of evidence-based recommendations regarding the perioperative management of atrial fibrillation (AF) have been released from leading cardiovascular societies in recent years; however, it is unknown how closely these guidelines are being followed by medical practitioners. In addition, many of these society recommendations are based on patient stratification into "normal" and "elevated" risk groups for AF, but criteria for that stratification have not been clearly defined. In an effort to improve the perioperative management of AF, the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) Clinical Practice Improvement Committee developed a multidisciplinary Atrial Fibrillation Working Group that created a summary of current best practice based on a distillation of recent guidelines from professional societies involved in the care of cardiac surgical patients. An evidence-based set of survey questions was then generated to describe the current practice of perioperative AF management. Through collaboration with the European Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists (EACTA), that survey was distributed to the combined memberships of both the SCA and EACTA, yielding 641 responses and resulting in the most comprehensive understanding to date of perioperative AF management in North America, Europe, and beyond. The survey data demonstrated the broad range of therapies utilized for the prevention and treatment of poAF, as well as a spectrum of adherence to published guidelines. With the goal of improving adherence, a graphical advisory tool was created with an easily accessible format that could be utilized for bedside management. Finally, given that no evidence-based threshold currently exists to differentiate patients at normal risk to develop poAF from those at elevated risk, the SCA/EACTA AF working group created a list of poAF risk factors using expert opinion and based on published risk score models for poAF. This approach allows stratification of patients into risk groups and facilitates adherence to the evidence-based recommendations summarized in the graphical advisory tool. It is our hope that these new additions to the clinical toolkit for the management of perioperative AF will improve the evidence-based care and outcomes of cardiac surgical patients worldwide.

Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists/European Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists Practice Advisory for the Management of Perioperative Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery.

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (poAF) is the most common adverse event after cardiac surgery and is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and increased hospital and intensive care unit length of stay. Despite progressive improvements in overall cardiac surgical operative mortality and postoperative morbidity, the incidence of poAF has remained unchanged at 30% to 50%. A number of evidence-based recommendations regarding the perioperative management of atrial fibrillation (AF) have been released from leading cardiovascular societies in recent years; however, it is unknown how closely these guidelines are being followed by medical practitioners. In addition, many of these society recommendations are based on patient stratification into "normal" and "elevated" risk groups for AF, but criteria for that stratification have not been defined clearly. In an effort to improve the perioperative management of AF, the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) Clinical Practice Improvement Committee developed a multidisciplinary Atrial Fibrillation Working Group that created a summary of current best practices based on distillation of recent guidelines from professional societies involved in the care of cardiac surgical patients. An evidence-based set of survey questions then was generated to describe the current practice of perioperative AF management. Through a collaboration with the European Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists (EACTA), that survey was distributed to the combined memberships of both the SCA and the EACTA, yielding 641 responses and resulting in the most comprehensive understanding to date of perioperative AF management in North America and Europe and beyond. The survey data demonstrated the broad range of therapies used for prevention and treatment of poAF, as well as a spectrum of adherence to published guidelines. With the goal of improving adherence, a graphical advisory tool was created with an easily accessible format that could be used for bedside management. Finally, given that no evidence-based threshold currently exists to differentiate patients at normal risk of developing poAF from those at elevated risk, the SCA/EACTA AF working group created a list of poAF risk factors using expert opinion, based on published risk score models for poAF. This allows stratification of patients into risk groups and facilitates adherence to the evidence-based recommendations summarized in the graphical advisory tool. It is the working group's hope that these new additions to the clinical toolkit for management of perioperative AF will improve the evidence-based care and outcomes of cardiac surgical patients worldwide.

The genetic component of bicuspid aortic valve and aortic dilation. An exome-wide association study.

BACKGROUND: Bicuspid aortic valve is the most common cardiovascular congenital malformation affecting 2% of the general population. The incidence of life-threatening complications, the high heritability, and familial clustering rates support the interest in identifying risk or protective genetic factors. The main objective of the present study was to identify population-based genetic variation associated with bicuspid aortic valve and concomitant ascending aortic dilation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional exome-wide association study was conducted in 565 Spanish cases and 484 controls. Single-marker and gene-based association analyses enriched for low frequency and rare genetic variants were performed on this discovery stage cohort and for the subsets of cases with and without ascending aortic dilation. Discovery-stage association signals and additional markers indirectly associated with bicuspid aortic valve, were genotyped in a replication cohort that comprised 895 Caucasian cases and 1483 controls. RESULTS: Although none of the association signals were consistent across series, the involvement of HMCN2 in calcium metabolism and valve degeneration caused by calcium deposit, and a nominal but not genome-wide significant association, supported it as an interesting gene for follow-up studies on the genetic susceptibility to bicuspid aortic valve. CONCLUSIONS: The absence of a genome-wide significant association signal shows this valvular malformation may be more genetically complex than previously believed. Exhaustive phenotypic characterization, even larger datasets, and collaborative efforts are needed to detect the combination of rare variants conferring risk which, along with specific environmental factors, could be causing the development of this disease.

Joint preoperative transthoracic and intraoperative transoesophageal echocardiographic assessment of functional mitral regurgitation severity provides better association with long-term mortality.

OBJECTIVES: Functional mitral regurgitation (MR) is observed with ischaemic heart disease or aortic valve disease. Assessing the value of mitral valve repair or replacement (MVR/P) is complicated by frequent discordance between preoperative transthoracic echocardiographic (pTTE) and intraoperative transoesophageal echocardiographic (iTOE) assessment of MR severity. We examined the association of pTTE and iTOE with postoperative mortality in patients with or without MR, at the time of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and/or aortic valve replacement without MVR/P. METHODS: Medical records of 6629 patients undergoing CABG and/or aortic valve replacement surgery with or without functional MR and who did not undergo MVR/P were reviewed. MR severity assessed by pTTE and iTOE were examined for association with postoperative mortality using proportional hazards regression while accounting for patient and operative characteristics. RESULTS: In 72% of 709 patients with clinically significant (moderate or greater) functional MR detected by pTTE, iTOE performed after induction of anaesthesia demonstrated a reduction in MR severity, while 2% of patients had increased severity of MR by iTOE. iTOE assessment of MR was better associated with long-term postoperative mortality than pTTE in patients with moderate MR [hazard ratio (HR) 1.31 (1.11-1.55) vs 1.02 (0.89-1.17), P-value for comparison of HR 0.025] but was not different for more than moderate MR [1.43 (0.96-2.14) vs 1.27 (0.80-2.02)]. CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing CABG and/or aortic valve replacement without MVR/P, these findings support intraoperative reassessment of MR severity by iTOE as an adjunct to pTTE in the prediction of mortality. Alone, these findings do not yet provide evidence for an operative strategy.

Should the dilated ascending aorta be repaired at the time of bicuspid aortic valve replacement?

OBJECTIVES: Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital valvular abnormality and frequently presents with accelerated calcific aortic valve disease, requiring aortic valve replacement (AVR) and thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection. Supporting evidence for Association Guidelines of aortic dimensions for aortic resection is sparse. We sought to determine whether concurrent repair of dilated or aneurysmal aortic disease during AVR in patients with BAV substantially improves morbidity and mortality outcomes. METHODS: Mortality and reoperation outcomes of 1301 adults with BAV and dilated aorta undergoing AVR-only surgery were compared to patients undergoing AVR with aortic resection (AVR-AR) using Cox proportional hazards modelling and patient matching. RESULTS: Clinically important differences in patient characteristics, aortic valve function and aortic dimensions were identified between cohorts. Event rates were low, with rates of reoperation and death within 1 year of only 1.8% and 5.4%, respectively, and no aortic dissection observed during follow-up. There were no significant differences in reoperation or mortality outcomes between the AVR-only and AVR-AR cohorts. Age, aortic dimension or a combination thereof was not associated with better or worse outcomes after each AVR-AR compared with AVR. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude AVR-only and AVR-AR surgery have low morbidity and mortality and have utility over a wide range of age and aortic sizes. Our results do not provide support for the 45-mm aortic dimension recommended in the current guidelines for aortic resection while performing AVR or any other specific dimension.

Noteworthy Literature Published in 2016 for the Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologist.

Clinical research and outcome studies dominated the publication spectrum for the cardiothoracic anesthesiologist in 2016. Echocardiography is an important tool in the armamentarium of the cardiothoracic anesthesiologist. Technology is advancing at a fast pace: A new method to quantify the regurgitant volume in mitral regurgitation has been described in an experimental model and been validated in humans. Interesting studies on key elements of our daily practice have been published: Does tranexamic acid decrease the transfusion requirements after cardiac surgery? Are patients with a postoperative cognitive deficit at risk for dementia 7.5 years after surgery? What is the best strategy for post-cardiac surgery atrial fibrillation? What is the mechanism of preconditioning with remifentanil? Large multicenter looked at the treatment strategies for moderate and severe ischemic mitral regurgitation and benefits of transcatheter aortic valve replacement versus the surgical approach. These studies may give us ideas on how to tailor treatment to optimize the patients' outcome and to minimize the associated risks.

Noteworthy Articles in 2015 for the Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologist.

Large multicenter, randomized controlled trials published in reputable journals had a large impact on the world of cardiothoracic anesthesia in 2015. We as cardiac anesthesiologists pride ourselves as being experts in applied physiology, physics, ultrasonography, and pharmacology/pharmacotherapy. The selected studies added to our knowledge in the fields of echocardiography, pharmacology, molecular biology, and genetics. Outcome studies shine a light on important topics that are relevant to all cardiac anesthesiologists: does surgical atrial fibrillation ablation during mitral valve surgery reduce the recurrence of atrial fibrillation at 1 year after surgery? Does remote ischemic preconditioning live up to its promise to reduce postoperative major cardiac and cerebral events? Although we still do not have the answer to all the questions, the year 2015 has been a great step toward the goal of understanding molecular mechanisms of ischemic myocardial injury and toward providing evidence-based medicine for improving patient outcome.

Genetic and clinical risk prediction model for postoperative atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (PoAF) is common after coronary artery bypass grafting. We previously showed that atrial fibrillation susceptibility single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the chromosome 4q25 locus are associated with PoAF. Here, we tested the hypothesis that a combined clinical and genetic model incorporating atrial fibrillation risk SNPs would be superior to a clinical-only model. METHODS AND RESULTS: We developed and externally validated clinical and clinical/genetic risk models for PoAF. The discovery and validation cohorts included 556 and 1164 patients, respectively. Clinical variables previously associated with PoAF and 13 SNPs at loci associated with atrial fibrillation in genome-wide association studies were considered. PoAF occurred in 30% and 29% of patients in the discovery and validation cohorts, respectively. In the discovery cohort, a logistic regression model with clinical factors had good discrimination, with an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of 0.76. The addition of 10 SNPs to the clinical model did not improve discrimination (area under receiver operator characteristic curve, 0.78; P=0.14 for difference between the 2 models). In the validation cohort, the clinical model had good discrimination (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve, 0.69) and addition of genetic variables resulted in a marginal improvement in discrimination (area under receiver operator characteristic curve, 0.72; P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: We developed and validated a model for the prediction of PoAF containing common clinical variables. Addition of atrial fibrillation susceptibility SNPs did not improve model performance. Tools to accurately predict PoAF are needed to risk stratify patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting and identify candidates for prophylactic therapies.

Noteworthy articles in 2013 for cardiothoracic anesthesiologists.

In 2013, the field of cardiothoracic anesthesiology has continued to grow at the same astounding rate as in previous years. It has become increasingly difficult for practicing anesthesiologists to stay current on impactful publications related to our exciting subspecialty. The scientific output has expanded to such a great extent that following the literature in specialty journals barely scrapes the surface of available knowledge. With the recent emphasis on teamwork spanning multiple medical specialties in the care for complex patients, the door has opened for our research to be presented in nontraditional, nonanesthesiology venues. In this review, we have selected a small sample of noteworthy contributions to the field of cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesiology published in 2013 with potential impact on our clinical practice.