Surgical aortic valve replacement etiologies, hemodynamics, and outcomes in 1346 patients from the Malaysian heart centre.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the characteristics and outcomes of surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) both isolated and in combination with other cardiac surgery in Malaysia from 2015 to 2021. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 1346 patients analyzed on the basis of medical records, echocardiograms and surgical reports. The overall sample was both considered as a whole and divided into aortic stenosis (AS)/aortic regurgitation (AR)-predominant and similar-severity subgroups. RESULTS: The most common diagnosis was severe AS (34.6%), with the 3 most common etiologies being bicuspid valve degeneration (45.3%), trileaflet valve degeneration (36.3%) and rheumatic valve disease (12.2%). The second most common diagnosis was severe AR (25.5%), with the most common etiologies being root dilatation (21.0%), infective endocarditis (IE) (16.6%) and fused prolapse (12.2%). Rheumatic valve disease was the most common mixed disease. A total of 54.5% had AS-predominant pathology (3 most common etiologies: bicuspid valve degeneration valve, degenerative trileaflet valve and rheumatic valve disease), 36.9% had AR-predominant pathology (top etiologies: root dilatation, rheumatic valve disease and IE), and 8.6% had similar severity of AS and AR. Overall, 62.9% of patients had trileaflet valve morphology, 33.3% bicuspid, 0.6% unicuspid and 0.3% quadricuspid. For AS, the majority were high-gradient severe AS (49.9%), followed by normal-flow low-gradient (LG) severe AS (10.0%), paradoxical low-flow (LF)-LG severe AS (6.4%) and classical LF-LG severe AS (6.1%). The overall in-hospital and total 1-year mortality rates were 6.4% and 14.8%, respectively. Pure severe AS had the highest mortality. For AS-predominant pathology, the etiology with the highest mortality was trileaflet valve degeneration; for AR-predominant pathology, it was dissection. The overall survival probability at 5 years was 79.5% in all patients, 75.7% in the AS-predominant subgroup, 83.3% in the AR-predominant subgroup, and 87.3% in the similar-severity subgroup. CONCLUSIONS: The 3 most common causes of AS- predominant patients undergoing SAVR is bicuspid valve degeneration, degenerative trileaflet valve and rheumatic and for AR-predominant is root dilatation, rheumatic and IE. Rheumatic valve disease is an important etiology in our SAVR patients especially in mixed aortic valve disease. Study registration IJNREC/562/2022.

Risk Factors for Sternal Wound Infection after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in Patients with and without Diabetes.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a well-known risk factor for sternal wound infections (SWIs). However, SWIs are also known to occur in patients without DM. This study aimed to examine the difference in risk factors for SWIs after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) between non-diabetic and diabetic patients.We conducted a retrospective observational study including 6,697 patients who underwent CABG at our hospital from 2015-2018. The patients were assigned to the non-diabetic (group N, n = 2,930) or diabetic (group D, n = 3,767) group. A total of 24 potential risk factors were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analyses. Differences between superficial and deep SWIs were also examined.A total of 209 (3.1%) CABG patients, comprising 47 (22.5%) and 162 (77.5%) in groups N and D, respectively, required surgical treatment for SWIs. Univariate analyses indicated that a body mass index (BMI) > 25 kg/m2 was uniquely associated with superficial SWIs in group N. Moreover, married status may have lowered the risk of deep SWIs in group D. Renal failure, intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) use, and reopening in group N, as well as female sex, emergency admission, and reopening in group D, were independent predictors of SWI in the multivariate analysis.In this study, reopening was a common risk factor associated with SWIs in patients who underwent CABG with and without DM. Female sex and emergency admission were independent predictors of deep SWIs in patients with DM, whereas renal failure and IABP use were independent predictors of deep SWIs in patients without DM.