Long-term Outcome after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Compared with Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery in the Elderly.

BACKGROUND: Elderly patients with unstable coronary artery disease (CAD) have better outcomes with coronary revascularization than conservative treatment. With the improvement in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) techniques using drug eluting-stents, this became an attractive option in elderly. Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting (MICS-CABG) is a safe and effective alternative to conventional CABG. We aimed to explore the long-term outcomes after PCI vs MICS-CABG in ≥75 year-old patients with severe CAD. METHODS: A total of 1454 elderly patients (≥75 year-old patients) underwent coronary artery revascularization between January 2005 and December 2009. Patients were selected in the study if they have one of the Class-I indications for CABG. Groups were divided according to the type of procedure, PCI or MICS-CABG, and 5 year follow-up. RESULTS: Among 175 elderly patients, 109 underwent PCI and 66 had MICS-CABG. There was no significant difference observed in both groups with long-term all-cause mortality (31 PCI vs 21% MICS-CABG, p=0.151) and the overall 5 year survival was similar on Kaplan-Meier curve (Log rank p=0.318). The average length of stay in hospital was significantly shorter in the PCI than in the MICS-CABG group (4.3 vs 7.8 days, p<0.001). Only 4.7% of the PCI group were discharged to rehabilitation facility compared with 43.9% of the MICS-CABG group (p<0.001). The rate of repeat revascularization was significantly higher in the PCI group than in the MICS-CABG group (15 vs 3%, p=0.014). CONCLUSION: Among elderly patients, long-term all-cause mortality is similar after PCI and MICS-CABG. However, there is a significantly higher rate of repeat revascularization after PCI.

Long-term mortality in minimally invasive compared with sternotomy coronary artery bypass surgery in the geriatric population (75 years and older patients).

OBJECTIVES: Ischaemic heart disease is the leading cause of death in the elderly population. Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery via sternotomy remains the standard of care for patients with multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD). Minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS)-CABG via left thoracotomy has been used as an alternative to sternotomy. The aim of our study was to assess the overall survival after MICS-CABG and sternotomy-CABG in elderly patients with CAD. METHODS: This observational study included patients who underwent coronary bypass from 2005 to 2008. Patients 75 years and older (n = 159) were included in the final analysis. Each arm was further divided into the MICS-CABG group or sternotomy-CABG group. Primary outcome and overall survival were obtained from our records and the social security death index. RESULTS: Among patients 75 years and older (159 patients), MICS-CABG had a significantly lower 5-year all-cause mortality than sternotomy-CABG (19.7 vs 47.7%, P < 0.001). Similarly, Kaplan-Meier curves showed significantly higher overall survival in the MICS-CABG group compared with sternotomy-CABG (log-rank P = 0.014). After adjusting for confounders, MICS-CABG demonstrated a lower mortality than sternotomy-CABG (HR 0.51, 95% confidence interval 0.26-0.97, P = 0.04). For patients less than 75 years old, MICS and sternotomy groups had similar survival according to both uni- and multivariate analyses. CONCLUSIONS: The adjusted models demonstrated that MICS-CABG has a significantly better long-term survival than sternotomy-CABG despite slightly differing baseline characteristics. Further studies are needed to compare the short- and long-term outcomes of the two approaches among the elderly population.

Rare case of coronary to pulmonary vein fistula with coronary steal phenomenon.

Coronary artery fistulas are abnormal connections between coronary artery territories and cardiac chambers or major vessels, most of them are congenital. Patients with coronary artery fistula can be asymptomatic or present with different symptoms like angina. Cardiac computed tomography (CT) is one of the best modalities for diagnosis. We present an elderly patient that presented with angina symptoms, non invasive stress test was positive for ischemic heart disease, coronary angiogram could not reveal any obstructive lesions, but an abnormal branch of the left descending coronary artery (LAD), cardiac CT showed fistula that connect left anterior descending coronary artery to left superior pulmonary vein. Our case is extremely rare as most of the reported cases were fistulas between LAD and pulmonary artery, but in our case the fistula between LAD and left superior pulmonary vein. In addition, our patients' symptoms resolved with anti-ischemic medical treatment without any surgical intervention.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy in acute pulmonary edema: A case report.

We are reporting a case of 71-year old lady with a dual chamber demand pacemaker, who developed acute pulmonary edema due to an acute left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and worsening in mitral valve regurgitation after atrioventricular nodal ablation for uncontrolled atrial fibrillation. This was attributed to right ventricular apical pacing leading to LV dyssynchronization. Patient dramatically improved within 12-24 h after upgrading her single chamber pacemaker to biventricular pacing. Our case demonstrates that biventricular pacing can be an effective modality of treatment of acute congestive heart failure. In particular, it can be used when it is secondary to LV dysfunction and severe mitral regurgitation attributed to significant dyssynchrony created by right ventricular pacing in patients with atrioventricular nodal ablation for chronic atrial fibrillation.

Unique presentation of Twiddler's syndrome.

We present a rare case of Twiddler's syndrome diagnosed in an asymptomatic patient on a routine follow up. This case reiterates the need for frequent monitoring of the implanted device. In addition, it was detected 4 years after implantation of an automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator. This late representation is extremely uncommon.