Impact of High-Risk Characteristics in Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Management of hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) presents many challenges. We describe our institutional outcomes for management of patients with HLHS over the past 12 years and highlight our strategy for those with highly restrictive/intact interatrial septum (R/I-IAS). METHODS: Eighty-eight neonates with HLHS underwent surgical treatment, divided equally into Era-I (n = 44, April 2006 to February 2013) and Era-II (n = 44, March 2013 to June 2018). Up to 2013, all patients with R/I-IAS were delivered at an adjacent adult hospital and then moved to our hospital for intensive care and management. From 2014, these patients were delivered at a co-located theatre in our hospital with immediate atrial septectomy. The hybrid approach was occasionally used with preference for the Norwood procedure for suitable candidates. RESULTS: One-year survival after Norwood procedure was 62.5% and 80% for Era-I and Era-II (P = not significant (ns)), respectively, and 41% of patients were categorized as high risk using conventional criteria. Survival at 1 year differed significantly between high-risk and standard-risk patients (P = 0.01). For high-risk patients, survival increased from 42% to 65% between eras (P = ns). In the R/I-IAS subgroup (n = 15), 11 underwent Norwood procedure after emergency atrial septectomy. Of these, seven born at the adjacent adult hospital had 40% survival to stage II versus 60% for the four born at the colocated theatre. Delivery in a colocated theatre reduced the birth-to-cardiopulmonary bypass median time from 445 (150-660) to 62 (52-71) minutes. CONCLUSION: Reported surgical outcomes are comparable to multicenter reports and international databases. Proactive management for risk factors such as R/I-IAS may contribute to improved overall outcomes.

Long-segment tracheal stenosis: slide tracheoplasty and a multidisciplinary approach improve outcomes and reduce costs.

OBJECTIVE: Long-segment tracheal stenosis is rare, life-threatening, difficult, and expensive to treat. Management remains controversial. A multidisciplinary tracheal team was formed in 2000 to deal with a large number of children with airway problems referred for management. We review the effect of that service, comparing the era before and after the establishment of the multidisciplinary tracheal team. METHODS: From January 1998 through January 2004, 34 patients with long-segment tracheal stenosis (21 patients with cardiovascular anomalies) underwent surgical intervention. Cardiopulmonary bypass was used in all operations. Before the multidisciplinary tracheal team, pericardial patch tracheoplasty with or without an autograft technique was the preferred method of repair. After the multidisciplinary tracheal team, an integrated care plan preferring slide tracheoplasty was initiated, correcting cardiac lesions simultaneously. RESULTS: Before the establishment of the multidisciplinary tracheal team, pericardial patch tracheoplasty was performed in 15 of 19 patients. Twelve patients had a suspended pericardial patch tracheoplasty, 2 (17%) of whom died late after the operation. Of 3 patients who had had a simple unsuspended patch, 2 (67%) died early after the operation. Four patients were operated on with the tracheal autograft technique, 2 (50%) dying early in the postoperative period. After multidisciplinary tracheal team formation, in the era between 2001 and 2004, 15 patients were operated on with slide tracheoplasty, and there were 2 (13%) early postoperative deaths. A significant reduction in cost and duration of stay has been shown both in the intensive care unit and the hospital. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that a formalized multidisciplinary team approach and a policy of primary slide tracheoplasty are beneficial in the management of children with long-segment tracheal stenosis.

The management of congenital tracheal stenosis.

This paper reviews current concepts and results in the management of congenital tracheal stenosis (CTS). Diagnostic options are considered and the requirements for successful management defined. Chief amongst these is a multi-disciplinary approach with individualised patient management. Severe long-segment CTS represents the biggest challenge to clinicians and the worst problems for affected families. Near-death episodes are frequent in affected infants and some cannot be ventilated and require ECMO. Associated cardiovascular anomalies are frequent. Patients require immediate resuscitation and transfer to a specialist unit. After careful assessment, accurate diagnosis and discussion, primary resection and end-to-end repair with a slide technique should always be the first option, with concomitant repair of associated cardiac anomalies. If this is impossible because of the severity of the lesion, some form of patch tracheoplasty will be indicated. Cardiopulmonary bypass is often required. Patches include pericardium, autograft trachea, carotid artery, cartilage, and allograft trachea. Mortality ranges from 0 to 30% in the literature, which largely comprises single-centre long-term experience. Recurrence is common and can be managed by stenting and tracheal homograft implantation. Long-term quality of life of survivors is little reported but seems good. Physiological data are lacking. To improve results, we suggest a treatment algorithm to rationalise care.

Patient handover from surgery to intensive care: using Formula 1 pit-stop and aviation models to improve safety and quality.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to improve the quality and safety of handover of patients from surgery to intensive care using the analogy of a Formula 1 pit stop and expertise from aviation. METHODS: A prospective intervention study measured the change in performance before and after the implementation of a new handover protocol that was developed through detailed discussions with a Formula 1 racing team and aviation training captains. Fifty (23 before and 27 after) postsurgery patient handovers were observed. Technical errors and information omissions were measured using checklists, and teamwork was scored using a Likert scale. Duration of the handover was also measured. RESULTS: The mean number of technical errors was reduced from 5.42 (95% CI +/-1.24) to 3.15 (95% CI +/-0.71), the mean number of information handover omissions was reduced from 2.09 (95% CI +/-1.14) to 1.07 (95% CI +/-0.55), and duration of handover was reduced from 10.8 min (95% CI +/-1.6) to 9.4 min (95% CI +/-1.29). Nine out of twenty-three (39%) precondition patients had more than one error in both technical and information handover prior to the new protocol, compared with three out of twnety-seven (11.5%) with the new handover. Regression analysis showed that the number of technical errors were significantly reduced with the new handover (t = -3.63, P < 0.001), and an interaction suggested that teamwork (t = 3.04, P = 0.004) had a different effect with the new handover protocol. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of the new handover protocol lead to improvements in all aspects of the handover. Expertise from other industries can be extrapolated to improve patient safety, and in particular, areas of medicine involving the handover of patients or information.

Assessment of the adequacy of bronchial stenting by flow-volume loops.

Airway compression is a common problem in children with certain forms of congenital heart disease. Although various surgical approaches are available to overcome this form of airway obstruction, internal stenting is necessary in a minority of patients. It can be difficult to assess the success of stenting at the time of the procedure, and the interval to successful extubation is usually used as an outcome measure. Measurement of relevant parameters of respiratory physiology with flow-volume and volume-pressure loops permits immediate quantitative assessment of the adequacy of stenting. A 3-month-old infant who underwent bronchial stenting and physiological assessment at the time of the procedure is described.