Patching an aortic tear using the side-arm and surrounding skirt of a physician-modified ascending aortic graft.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF STUDY: Aortic complications during cannulation must be managed urgently and often require hypothermic circulatory arrest. We report a unique management strategy to repair an aortic tear without dissection by modifying a Dacron ascending aortic graft with side-arm. CASE PRESENTATION: A 32-year-old female patient undergoing reoperative cardiac surgery suffered an unexpected aortic tear during cannulation for cardiopulmonary bypass. The tear was repaired by utilizing a physician-modified ascending aortic graft with side-arm, in which the surrounding skirt of the side-arm was cut from the circumferential graft to patch the defect. The patient was rewarmed with the side-arm serving as arterial inflow for the bypass circuit, and the remainder of the operation proceeded without complication. CONCLUSION: This type of aortic repair for aortic tears without dissection can offer the patient the benefit of avoiding multiple aortotomies in a weakened aorta, reducing circulatory arrest time, and re-establishing a central cannulation strategy for cardiopulmonary bypass.

Expanding the donor lung pool: how many donations after circulatory death organs are we missing?

BACKGROUND: The number of patients with end-stage pulmonary disease awaiting lung transplantation is at an all-time high, while the supply of available organs remains stagnant. Utilizing donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors may help to address the supply-demand mismatch. The objective of this study is to determine the potential donor pool expansion with increased procurement of DCD organs from patients who die at hospitals. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The charts of all patients who died at a single, rural, quaternary-care institution between August 2014 and June 2015 were reviewed for lung transplant candidacy. Inclusion criteria were age <65 y, absence of cancer and lung pathology, and cause of death other than respiratory or sepsis. RESULTS: A total of 857 patients died within a 1-year period and were stratified by age: pediatric <15 y (n = 32, 4%), young 15-64 y (n = 328, 38%), and old >65 y (n = 497, 58%). Those without cancer totaled 778 (90.8%) and 512 (59%) did not have lung pathology. This leaves 85 patients qualifying for DCD lung donation (pediatric n = 10, young n = 75, and old n = 0). Potential donors were significantly more likely to have clear chest X-rays (24.3% versus 10.0%, P < 0.0001) and higher mean PaO2/FiO2 (342.1 versus 197.9, P < 0.0001) compared with ineligible patients. CONCLUSIONS: A significant number of DCD lungs are available every year from patients who die within hospitals. We estimate the use of suitable DCD lungs could potentially result in a significant increase in the number of lungs available for transplantation.

Pre-implant left ventricular apex position predicts risk of HeartMate II pump thrombosis.

BACKGROUND: Thrombosis within a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a devastating complication that often necessitates device exchange. Few studies have evaluated the relationship between patient anatomy and pump thrombosis. We hypothesize that lateral displacement of the left ventricular (LV) apex increases risk for pump thrombosis. METHODS: All patients who underwent primary implantation of a HeartMate II (HM2) device (Thoratec, Pleasanton, CA) at a single center (2009-2015) were evaluated. Operative mortalities and patients without imaging were excluded. The angle of the LV apex relative to the midline was measured on preoperative computed tomography scans by two independent surgeons. Pump thrombosis was defined as lactic dehydrogenase >700 with clinical symptoms of hemolysis or LVAD malfunction. Univariate and Cox Proportional Hazards analysis was performed to evaluate the impact of LV apex angle on long-term freedom from pump exchange for thrombosis. RESULTS: Of 122 patients who met inclusion criteria for this study, 16 (13.1%) underwent exchange for presumed pump thrombosis. Of these patients, six (37.5%) required more than one exchange. Patients undergoing exchange for thrombosis had greater LV angle (43.8 ± 9.7 vs 49.5 ± 11.2, p = 0.037) with LV apex angle being a significant predictor of LVAD exchange for thrombosis (hazard ratio = 1.047, P = 0.046). Additionally, when surgeon measurements were compared there was good inter-observer reliability (Pearson Correlation = 0.89). CONCLUSION: A laterally displaced left ventricular apex correlates with a higher risk of pump thrombosis in patients undergoing HM2 implantation. LV apex angle is an easily obtained, reproducible measurement that should be considered when selecting a ventricular assist device.

Preoperative Statin Use Not Associated With Improved Outcomes After Ascending Aortic Repair.

Statins have potent pleiotropic effects that have been correlated with improved perioperative cardiovascular surgery outcomes. We hypothesize that statins may improve morbidity and mortality after ascending aortic surgery. Within a statewide database consisting of 19 centers a total of 1804 patients had ascending aortic repair with or without aortic valve replacement (2004-2016). Patients were stratified by preoperative statin therapy for analysis. To account for baseline differences, patients were propensity matched in a 1:1 fashion by baseline characteristics. Patient characteristics and outcomes were analyzed by paired analysis. Of 1804 patients undergoing ascending aortic repair, 35% took statins preoperatively. After matching, 386 patients in each group were well matched with no statistically significant baseline or operative differences. There was no statistically significant difference in outcomes between patients taking statins preoperatively and those not taking statins, including operative mortality (3.6% vs 3.1%, P = 0.68) and major morbidity (18.4% vs 17.1%, P = 0.62). Postoperative atrial fibrillation (27.2% vs 28.5%, P = 0.71) and acute kidney injury (3.1% vs 4.2%, P = 0.41) also showed no statistically significant difference. Statins have no apparent clinical impact on perioperative outcomes after ascending aortic aneurysm repair. Considering recent evidence suggesting statins may increase perioperative risk of acute kidney injury, there is insufficient evidence to recommend starting preoperative statin before ascending aortic repair.