Analysis of a multicenter registry on evaluation of transit-time flow in coronary artery disease surgery.

Objective: The Evaluation of Transit-Time Flow in Coronary Artery Disease Surgery (EFCAD) registry aims to assess the influence of transit-time flow measurement (TTFM) in daily practice. Methods: EFCAD is a prospective, multicenter study involving 9 centers performing TTFM during isolated coronary artery bypass grafting. Primary end point was occurrence and risk factors of major adverse cardiac events, including perioperative myocardial infarction, urgent postoperative coronary angiogram and/or revascularization, and hospital mortality. Secondary end points were rate of graft revision during surgery and factors affecting graft flow. We respected the limit values set by the experts: mean graft flow >15 mL/minute and pulsatility index ≤5. Results: Between May 2017 and March 2021, 1616 patients were registered in the EFCAD database. After review, 1414 were included for analyses. Of those, 1176 were eligible for primary end point analysis. Graft revision, mainly due to inadequate TTFM values, occurred in 2% (29 patients). The primary end point occurred in 46 (3.9%) patients, and it was related with left anterior descending artery graft flow ≤15 mL/minute (odds ratio, 3.64; P < .001). Graft flow was related with number of grafts (3 vs 1-2, ß = -1.6; 4-6 vs 1-2, ß = -4.1; P < .001; ß > 0 indicates higher flow), and graft origin (aorta vs Y, ß = 9.2; in situ left internal thoracic artery vs Y, ß = 3.2; in situ right internal thoracic artery vs Y, ß = 2.3; P < .001). Conclusions: Data from EFCAD study suggest that TTFM is reliable to evaluate graft flow, and acceptance of inadequate flow on left anterior descending artery anastomosis influence postoperative outcomes. In our opinion, TTFM assessment should be routinely used in coronary artery bypass procedures, even if interpretation depends on learning curves.

Impact of transit-time flow measurement on early postoperative outcomes in total arterial coronary revascularization with internal thoracic arteries: a propensity score analysis on 910 patients.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of transit-time flow measurement (TTFM) on early postoperative outcomes in total arterial coronary revascularization. METHODS: A single-centre retrospective analysis was conducted on 910 patients undergoing isolated total arterial coronary artery bypass grafting with internal thoracic arteries (ITAs) at our institution, between January 2017 and February 2020. Complete arterial revascularization with bilateral ITAs with a Y-configuration, or single ITA, was planned for all patients. According to the surgeon preference, TTFM was assessed in 430 patients (TTFM group). They were compared with 480 patients without TTFM assessment (no TTFM group). Primary end point was the occurrence of in-hospital major cardiac adverse events (MACE). A propensity score analysis with an inverse probability weighting approach was performed to control for selection bias. RESULTS: TTFM was associated with longer cardiopulmonary bypass times (76.0 [62.0; 91.2] vs 79.0 [65.0; 94.0] min, P = 0.042). Six (1.4%) patients in the TTFM group versus no patient in the no TTFM group underwent intraoperative graft revision because of unsatisfying flow values (P = 0.011). MACE were significantly lower in the TTFM group (14, 3.3%) than in the no TTFM group (33, 6.9%, P = 0.014). At crude regression, TTFM was protective against MACE occurrence (odds ratios 0.46, 95% confidence interval 0.23-0.85, P = 0.016). Inverse probability weighting adjustment did not significantly displace P-values and odds ratios for MACE occurrence in the TTFM group 0.44, 95% confidence interval 0.28-0.69, P < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Even if associated with longer cardiopulmonary bypass times, intraoperative graft flow measurement with TTFM reduces MACE occurrence and it should be recommended for graft evaluation in arterial coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.

Iranian Society of Cardiac Surgeons COVID-19 task force version II, restarting elective surgeries.

Given the nature of heart disease and the importance of continuing heart surgery during the pandemic and its aftermath and in order to provide adequate safety for the surgical team and achieve the desired result for patients, as well as the optimal use of ICU beds, the medical team, blood, blood products, and personal protective equipment, it is essential to change the usual approach during the pandemic. There are still a lot of evidences and experiences needed to produce the perfect protocol. Some centers may have a special program for their centers during this period of epidemics that can be respected and performed. Generally, in pandemic conditions, the use of non-surgical approaches is preferred if similar outcomes can be obtained.

Long-term outcome of heart transplantation performed after ventricular assist device compared with standard heart transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Data on the long-term outcome of heart transplantation in patients with a ventricular assist device (VAD) are scarce. AIM: To evaluate long-term outcome after heart transplantation in patients with a VAD compared with no mechanical circulatory support. METHODS: Consecutive all-comers who underwent heart transplantation were included at a single high-volume centre from January 2005 until December 2012, with 5 years of follow-up. Clinical and biological characteristics, operative results, outcomes and survival were recorded. Regression analyses were performed to determine predictors of 1-year and 5-year mortality. RESULTS: Fifty-two patients with bridge to transplantation by VAD (VAD group) and 289 patients transplanted without a VAD (standard group) were enrolled. The mean age was 46±11 years in the VAD group compared with 51±13 years in the standard group (P=0.01); 17% of the VAD group and 25% of the standard group were women (P=0.21). Ischaemic time was longer in the VAD group (207±54 vs 169±60minutes; P<0.01). There was no difference in primary graft failure (33% vs 25%; P=0.22) or 1-year mortality (17% vs 28%; P=0.12). In the multivariable analysis, preoperative VAD was an independent protective factor for 1-year mortality (odds ratio 0.40, 95% confidence interval 0.17-0.97; P=0.04). Independent risk factors for 1-year mortality were recipient age>60 years, recipient creatinine, body surface area mismatch and ischaemic time. The VAD and standard groups had similar long-term survival, with 5-year mortality rates of 35% and 40%, respectively (P=0.72). CONCLUSIONS: Bridge to transplantation by VAD was associated with a reduction in 1-year mortality, leading critically ill patients to similar long-term survival compared with patients who underwent standard heart transplantation. This alternative strategy may benefit carefully selected patients.

Effect of recipient gender and donor-specific antibodies on antibody-mediated rejection after heart transplantation.

Gender-difference regarding antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) after heart transplantation has been described. However, no study accounted for the presence of preformed donor-specific antibodies (pfDSA), a known risk factor of AMR, more common among women than men. In a single-institution 6-year cohort (2010-2015), time to AMR was assessed, comparing men with women by survival analysis with a 1-year death-censored follow-up. All AMRs were biopsy proven. Confounding variables that were accounted for included mean intensity fluorescence (MFI) of pfDSA, recipient age, HLA-, size- and sex-mismatch. 463 patients were included. Overall incidence of AMR was 10.3% at 1 year. After adjusting for confounding variables, independent risk factors of AMR were female recipient gender (adjusted hazard-ratio [adj. HR] = 1.78 [1.06-2.99]), P = .03) and the presence of pfDSA (adj. HR = 3.20 [1.80-5.70], P < .001). This association remained significant when considering pfDSA by their MFI; female recipient gender had an adj. HR = 2.2 (P = .026) and MFI of pfDSA (per 1 MFI-increase) adj. HR = 1.0002 (P < .0001). In this cohort, women were at higher risk of AMR than men and this risk increase was additive to that of pfDSA. These findings may suggest a gender-related difference in the severity of pfDSA.

Preoperative Risk Levels and Vascular Access in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation-A Single-Institute Analysis.

Although transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has been indicated for patients with high surgical risk, indications for or against the procedure become more difficult as vascular access becomes more proximal and/or invasive in order to accommodate patients with even higher risks. We compared preoperative factors including the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) and Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predicted Risk of Mortality (STS) score with postoperative survival in 195 patients undergoing TAVI during 2.5 years (January 2010 to June 2012), when vascular access routes were developed from iliofemoral (IL/Fm access, n = 149), axillo-clavicular, apical, and direct aortic approaches (alternative access, n = 46). Logistic regression analyses showed that alternative access was associated with reduced 30-day survival (P = 0.024), while high surgical risk (>15% in both EuroSCORE and STS score) was associated with reduced 1-year survival (P = 0.046). Thus, patients treated via IL/Fm access had acceptable outcome regardless of preoperative risk levels while patients with low surgical risk (<15%) had favorable outcome irrespective of access route. Since the remaining patients with combined risk factors, high preoperative risk level (>15%) requiring alternative access, had a prohibitive risk in our experience, they might have been considered untreatable or not amenable even to TAVI and offered medical or alternative managements.

[Analysis of 2000 heart transplant, procedures at la Pitié Hospital]. / Réflexions sur 2 000 transplantations cardiaques, expérience de La Pitié.

Since the first procedure carried out at La Pitié Hospital, on 27 April 1968, we have performed 1918 heart transplants. We analyzed outcomes in four successive periods: initial experience from 1968 to 1981 (53 patients), using early immunosuppressive regimens; an expansion phase (839 patients) from 1982 to 1992, with the introduction of cyclosporine; a stabilisation phase (522 patients) from 1993 to 2003; and the most recent phase (504 patients) from 2004 to 2010. We focused particularly on the most recent period. National super-emergency "rules were created, and grafts from older," "borderline" donors were used. Hyperimmune recipients started to be grafted, and ECMO was frequently used during the preoperative and postoperative periods. Due to limited organ availability, we have gradually placed more and more patients on mechanical cardiac support as a bridge to transplantation. Their quality of life is improved.

Predictive risk factors for primary graft failure requiring temporary extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation support after cardiac transplantation in adults.

OBJECTIVE: Primary graft failure (PGF) is a major risk factor for death after heart transplantation. We investigated the predictive risk factors for severe PGF that require extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) circulatory support after cardiac transplantation. METHODS: Between January 2003 and December 2008, 402 adult patients underwent isolated cardiac transplantation at our institution. PGF was defined as the need for ECMO support in the immediate postoperative period. Thirty-three recipient and 37 donor variables were analyzed for the risk of PGF occurrence. RESULTS: PGF occurred in 91 (23%) patients. Predictive risk factors for PGF occurrence were, in the recipient, being aged >60 years (odds ratio (OR) 2.11, p=0.01) and preoperative mechanical circulatory support (MCS) (OR 2.65, p=0.01); in the donor, they were mean norepinephrine dose (OR 2.02, p<0.01), trauma as the cause of death (OR 2.45, p<0.01), left-ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) <55% (OR 2.72, p=0.02), and the ischemic time (OR 1.01, p<0.01). Weaning and discharge rates after ECMO support for PGF were, respectively, 60% (55/91 patients) and 46% (42/91 patients). The absence of PGF was correlated with improved long-term survival: 78% at 1 year and 71% at 5 years without PGF versus 39% at 1 year and 34% at 5 years with PGF (p<0.01). Surviving patients treated with ECMO for PGF have similar conditional 1-year survival rates as non-PGF patients: 93% at 3 years and 91% at 5 years without PGF versus 93% at 3 years and 84% at 5 years with PGF (p=0.46, NS). CONCLUSIONS: Occurrence of PGF is a multifactorial event that depends on both donor and recipient profiles. ECMO support is a reliable treatment for severe PGF; furthermore, surviving patients treated with ECMO have the same 1-year conditional survival rates as patients not having suffered a PGF.

First experimental use of magnets in cardiac valve repair.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: Valve repair is currently performed to treat mitral regurgitation, but aortic valve repair remains a surgical challenge. In contrast, aortic valve replacement leads to complications and constraints on the patients' quality of life and valve durability. The mechanisms that produce malcoaptation of the aortic leaflets, with resultant insufficiency, are mainly due to prolapse or retraction of the leaflets. Thus, a new strategy has been proposed to correct valvular insufficiency, using magnetic force. METHODS: Low-profile permanent magnets were implanted in seven sheep, under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), through a transverse aortotomy, and maintained in place for three months. No aortic insufficiency was created in these first experiments. Two-dimensional color Doppler echocardiography was used to assess the function and safeguarding of the aortic valve. Blood samples were withdrawn to assess hemolysis, and histopathologic examinations performed at necropsy. RESULTS: Direct implantation of the three permanent magnets was possible in all seven animals, but the surgical procedure resulted in major complications in three cases. Only five animals could be weaned from CPB, and only four survived the procedure at three months. One magnet was also shown to have migrated postoperatively. Echocardiography confirmed the stability of the aortic leaflet contours. The biocompatibility of the implanted magnets (i.e., absence of hemolytic reaction) was found to be satisfactory, without a need for postoperative anticoagulation. CONCLUSION: The use of magnetic force to correct valvular insufficiency has not previously been reported, and is an interesting field of investigation. Whilst these experiments are at an early stage of development, future changes in magnet design and surgical approach are indicated.

Left thoracotomy for aortic and mitral valve surgery in a case of mediastinal displacement due to pneumonectomy.

A 68-year-old male patient with low cardiac output was referred for a redo aortic valve replacement (AVR). Four years earlier, he had undergone a left pneumonectomy for a bronchial carcinoma. Due to the severe shift of the mediastinum into the left chest, as well as to adhesions of the right lung to the sternum, a median sternotomy was thought undesirable. AVR was performed through a left anterior thoracotomy through the fourth intercostal space. The following day, the worsening of a pre-existing mitral insufficiency due to leaflet tethering was diagnosed. Mitral valve annuloplasty was then achieved via a left posterior thoracotomy through the sixth intercostal space. Three weeks later, the patient had recovered a normal hemodynamic and spontaneous breathing. A left thoracotomy should be considered as an alternative approach for valve surgery in case of severe heart displacement.