Nationwide Trends and Outcomes for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in End-Stage Kidney Disease and Stable Coronary Artery Disease.

Patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) on dialysis have an increased burden of coronary artery disease (CAD). This study assessed the trend and outcomes for coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) in patients with ESKD and stable CAD. We conducted a longitudinal study using the United States Renal Data System of patients with ESKD and stable CAD who underwent CABG from the years 2009 to 2017. The outcomes included in-hospital, long-term mortality, and repeat revascularization. The follow-up was until death, end of Medicare AB coverage, or December 31, 2018. A total of 11,952 patients were identified. The mean age was 62.8 years, 68% were male, and 67% were white. The common co-morbidities included hypertension (97%), diabetes mellitus (75%), and congestive heart failure (53%). A significant decrease in CABG procedures from 2.9 to 1.3 procedures per 1,000 patients with ESKD (p <0.001) was noted during the years studied. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 5.9%, and there was a significant decrease over the study period (p = 0.01). Although the 30-day mortality rate was 6.9% and remained steady (p = 0.14), the 1-year mortality rate was 22.8% and decreased significantly (p <0.001). At 5 years, the overall survival rate was 35%, and patients with internal mammary artery grafts showed better survival than those without (36% vs 25%). In conclusion, there has been a decrease in CABG procedures performed in patients with ESKD with stable CAD with decreasing in-hospital and 1-year mortality. Those with an internal mammary artery graft do better, but the overall long-term survival remains dismal in this population. There remains need for caution and individualization of revascularization decisions in this high-risk population.

Treatment of Cardiac Surgical Wounds with Silver Dressings.

INTRODUCTION: Mediastinitis is a deadly surgical site infection (SSI) after cardiac surgery. Although rare, mortality is as high as 47%. Best practices for infection prevention to eliminate this deadly complication must be identified. Surgical dressings impregnated with silver have been shown to reduce SSIs in other surgical specialties. The aim of this study was to determine if the routine use of silver surgical dressings is beneficial to prevent mediastinitis after cardiac surgery. METHODS: A single-center retrospective study was performed on patients who underwent sternotomy from 2016 to 2018 at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Prior to June 2017, all cardiac surgical patients were treated with gauze surgical dressings and designated as Group A. The routine use of silver-impregnated surgical dressings was implemented in June 2017; patients after this change in practice were designated as Group B. Patient characteristics and rates of deep and superficial sternal wound infections (SWI) were compared. RESULTS: There were 464 patients in Group A and 505 in Group B. There were seven SWIs in Group A (7/464, 1.5%) and five in Group B (5/505, 1%; p = 0.57). Of these, there was one deep SWI per group (p = 0.61) and six superficial SWIs in Group A compared to four in Group B (p = 0.74). Severe COPD was higher in Group A (p = 0.04) and peak glucose was higher in Group B (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: The analysis conferred no benefit with silver-impregnated surgical dressings to prevent mediastinitis. Choice of gauze surgical dressings may be preferable to reduce cost.

Trimethylamine-N-oxide acutely increases cardiac muscle contractility.

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a uremic metabolite that is elevated in the setting of CKD, has been implicated as a nontraditional risk factor for cardiovascular disease. While association studies have linked elevated plasma levels of TMAO to adverse cardiovascular outcomes, its direct effect on cardiac and smooth muscle function remains to be fully elucidated. We hypothesized that pathological concentrations of TMAO would acutely increase cardiac and smooth muscle contractility. These effects may ultimately contribute to cardiac dysfunction during CKD. High levels of TMAO significantly increased paced, ex vivo human cardiac muscle biopsy contractility (P < 0.05). Similarly, TMAO augmented contractility in isolated mouse hearts (P < 0.05). Reverse perfusion of TMAO through the coronary arteries via a Langendorff apparatus also enhanced cardiac contractility (P < 0.05). In contrast, the precursor molecule, trimethylamine (TMA), did not alter contractility (P > 0.05). Multiphoton microscopy, used to capture changes in intracellular calcium in paced, adult mouse hearts ex vivo, showed that TMAO significantly increased intracellular calcium fluorescence (P < 0.05). Interestingly, acute administration of TMAO did not have a statistically significant influence on isolated aortic ring contractility (P > 0.05). We conclude that TMAO directly increases the force of cardiac contractility, which corresponds with TMAO-induced increases in intracellular calcium but does not acutely affect vascular smooth muscle or endothelial function of the aorta. It remains to be determined if this acute inotropic action on cardiac muscle is ultimately beneficial or harmful in the setting of CKD.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We demonstrate for the first time that elevated concentrations of TMAO acutely augment myocardial contractile force ex vivo in both murine and human cardiac tissue. To gain mechanistic insight into the processes that led to this potentiation in cardiac contraction, we used two-photon microscopy to evaluate intracellular calcium in ex vivo whole hearts loaded with the calcium indicator dye Fluo-4. Acute treatment with TMAO resulted in increased Fluo-4 fluorescence, indicating that augmented cytosolic calcium plays a role in the effects of TMAO on force production. Lastly, TMAO did not show an effect on aortic smooth muscle contraction or relaxation properties. Our results demonstrate novel, acute, and direct actions of TMAO on cardiac function and help lay the groundwork for future translational studies investigating the complex multiorgan interplay involved in cardiovascular pathogenesis during CKD.

Early Extubation Without Increased Adverse Events in High-Risk Cardiac Surgical Patients.

BACKGROUND: Previous reports of early extubation after cardiac surgical procedures vary in the definition of "early" and may limit findings to patients with less preoperative risk. This study sought to determine whether an eight-tier multidisciplinary early extubation protocol with the goal of extubating within 6 hours postoperatively would be successful without increasing adverse events in patients with increased preoperative risk. METHODS: Postoperative adult cardiac surgical patients in a tertiary care intensive care unit (n = 459) were analyzed 6 months before and 6 months after implementation of the protocol. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) risk scores were used as surrogate markers of risk. Patients with STS scores (n = 333) were stratified into four equal groups from lowest to highest score. A composite of acute renal failure, reintubation, stroke, and mortality was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included intensive care unit and hospital lengths of stay, reoperation, and sternal wound infection. RESULTS: In all patients, ventilation times were significantly decreased from a median of 7.4 hours to 5.7 hours after protocol implementation. When stratified by STS scores, higher-risk patients (groups 3 and 4) had the largest reduction in ventilation times from a median of 9.2 hours to 5.7 hours (p < 0.0001) without a significant increase in adverse events. The highest-risk patients (STS score >40%; n = 14) all had extubation times shorter than 6 hours after the protocol with no significant increase found in adverse events (p = 0.138). CONCLUSIONS: A prudent and diligent multifaceted early extubation protocol may be successful in high-risk cardiac surgical patients without an increase in adverse outcomes. A larger study is needed in the future to confirm the finding.

Gait Speed Is Not Associated with Vasogenic Shock or Cardiogenic Shock following Cardiac Surgery, but Is Associated with Increased Hospital Length of Stay.

OBJECTIVE: Frailty has been associated with adverse outcomes following cardiac surgery. Gait speed has been validated as a marker of frailty. Slow gait speed has been found to be associated with mortality after cardiac surgery. However, it is unknown why slow gait speed predisposes to cardiac surgical mortality. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis. PARTICIPANTS: Patients undergoing cardiac surgery who had a 5-meter walk test performed preoperatively (n=333 of 1735 total surgical patients) from January 2013 to March 2017. SETTING: A tertiary care academic hospital. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Gait speeds were stratified by tertiles: <0.83 m/s, 0.83-1 m/s, and >1 m/s. There was no difference in the incidence of cardiogenic or vasogenic shock when comparing the gait speed groups. Total hospital length of stay was significantly different among the gait speed groups (p=0.0050). Also, patients in the slowest gait speed tertile had a significant association with need for a postoperative permanent pacemaker (p=0.0298). CONCLUSION: There was no significant association between gait speed and the incidence of cardiogenic or vasogenic shock after cardiac surgery. Gait speed was associated with increased hospital length of stay and need for a permanent pacemaker after cardiac surgery.

Implementation of an Early Extubation Protocol in Cardiac Surgical Patients Decreased Ventilator Time But Not Intensive Care Unit or Hospital Length of Stay.

OBJECTIVE: The optimal timing of extubation following cardiac surgery is currently unknown. Protocols implemented in order to achieve a rapid extubation may achieve this goal, but not prove beneficial in terms of outcomes. DESIGN: A prospective clinical trial. SETTING: Tertiary care cardiac surgical intensive care unit. PARTICIPANTS: Adult cardiac surgical patients. INTERVENTIONS: Implementation of an 8-tier multidisciplinary rapid weaning protocol. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Ventilator times 6 months prior to and 6 months after implementation of the protocol were measured. Outcomes associated with ventilator times were measured by dividing the patients into tertiles (<6 hours, 6-12 hours, >12 hours). Primary outcomes were intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital length of stay. Secondary outcomes included mortality at 30 days and other major morbidities. In all, 459 patients were included in the study. With implementation of the protocol, median ventilation times decreased from 7.4 hours (interquartile range, IQR = 3rd quartile - 1st quartil e= 6.72 hours) to 5.73 hours (IQR = 5.51 hours) (p < 0.0001). However, median ICU length of stay in patients who achieved extubation within 6 hours increased to 49.45 hours (IQR = 44.4) from 40.3 (IQR = 25.6) (p = 0.0017). Median hospital length of stay was not significantly changed due to the protocol in any ventilation tertile (p = 0.650). CONCLUSIONS: Decreasing intubation times to <6 hours in postsurgical cardiac patients is obtainable with implementation of a multidisciplinary rapid weaning protocol. However, patients extubated within 6 hours had increased ICU length of stay and no difference in hospital length of stay with this intervention.

Resection of supernumerary intrathoracic rib using robotic-assisted video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

A supernumerary intrathoracic rib is a very rare congenital thoracic abnormality that is typically a benign incidental finding. However, in rare cases, they may cause pain, pneumothorax, and injury to surrounding viscus. We report a case of a supernumerary intrathoracic rib causing increasing chest pain diagnosed by computed tomography using three-dimensional reconstructions. The patient underwent robotic-assisted video-assisted thoracoscopic resection of the intrathoracic rib located in her left thorax. The rib was resected without complication, and the patient was discharged from the telemetry unit on post-operative day two. Upon discharge, there was complete resolution of her preoperative symptoms.

Intralobar pulmonary sequestration in adults: three case reports.

Pulmonary sequestration is a relatively rare entity comprising a small portion of all congenital pulmonary malformations. Varying clinical techniques have been utilized to manage this disease process including abstaining from surgical intervention, endovascular procedures and operative approaches. We reviewed three case reports with varying presentations, each of which had a favorable outcome with definitive surgical treatment. In conclusion, we recommend that resection should continue to be the standard of care in both adolescent and adult patients with this disease process.

Preoperative Statin use is not Associated with a Reduced Risk of Atrial Fibrillation After Cardiac Surgery.

Introduction: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is prevalent after cardiac surgery and associated with significant morbidity and costs. Statins are commonly used in this population and may be a preventative strategy for PAOF. We wished to examine the effect of preoperative statin use on the risk of POAF after cardiac surgery. Methods: A retrospective, observational study was conducted using data from 489 adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery at a single institution. Univariate analyses and unconditional logistic regression were used to determine the impact of preoperative statin use on the probability of developing POAF, while controlling for the baseline risk of POAF and the use of amiodarone prophylaxis (AMP). A baseline risk index was calculated for each patient using a previously validated model. Patients with chronic atrial fibrillation or missing data were excluded. Results: Mean patient age was 63 (SD=13) years, 73% were male, 68% underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting, 16% underwent isolated valve surgery, with 13% underwent combined CABG and valve surgeries, and 3% underwent other forms of cardiac surgery. POAF occurred in 27% of patients receiving statins and 24% of those not receiving statins (p=0.3792). After controlling for baseline risk of POAF and the use of AMP, we found that preoperative statins were not associated with reductions in POAF (OR=1.19, 95%CI=0.782-1.822, p=0.4118). Conclusions: Multiple factors impact the development of POAF after cardiac surgery including patient demographics, comorbidities, surgical type, and concomitant medications. In this study, after adjustment for these factors the preoperative use of statins did not significantly influence the development of POAF.

Transmyocardial laser revascularization: from randomized trials to clinical practice. A review of techniques, evidence-based outcomes, and future directions.

Cardiac surgeons are increasingly faced with a more complex patient who has developed a pattern of diffuse coronary artery disease that cannot be completely revascularized by CAGB alone. Considering the increased operative and long-term cardiac risks predicted by incomplete revascularization, and the documented operative and long-term benefits associated with sole therapy and adjunctive TMR in randomized patients with diffuse coronary artery disease, increased use of sole therapy and adjunctive TMR therapy is warranted.

A modified bronchial anastomosis technique for lung transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Low rates of major complications have been reported for the intussuscepting bronchial anastomotic technique but stenosis, malacia, and granulation tissue at the anastomosis may cause clinically important morbidity. We hypothesized that a modification of the telescoping technique that improves bronchial wall apposition might be associated with improved bronchial healing and clinical outcomes. METHODS: The telescoping horizontal mattress "U-stitch" suture technique was modified to incorporate figure-of-eight sutures placed in the cartilaginous wall between each of three intussuscepting U stitches. Serial videotape records of 152 individual anastomoses (99 modified, 53 telescoped) in 118 consecutive operative survivors were retrospectively reviewed by examiners blinded with respect to technique used. Stenosis, airway instability, mucosa quality, and devascularized luminal tissue were graded at 4 to 14 days (initial), 4 to 12 weeks (early), and 6 to 12 months (late) after transplantation. RESULTS: The incidence of anastomotic stenosis was significantly lower using the modified technique at the initial (p = 0.025) and late (p = 0.015) observations. In the initial phase airway instability (p = 0.015) and devascularization grades (p = 0.001) were also significant lower in the modified group. There were no significant differences in mucosal condition between techniques. The modified telescoping technique was associated with significant survival advantage (mean 17.7%; p = 0.029) by multivariate analysis. The incidence of major airway complications (dehiscences and stenoses required stents) tended to be lower (3% versus 6%) in the modified group. CONCLUSIONS: The modified telescoping bronchial anastomosis technique is associated with improved early and late bronchial healing and higher 5-year survival without increased major airway complications.