ABSTRACT
Background: Mitral valve (MV) regurgitation (MR) is the second most frequent indication for valvular surgery in Europe. Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is a common finding after cardiac surgery and might persist for years. The RV-function after MV surgery has been controversially discussed. We therefore aimed to evaluate early RV-performance in patients undergoing MV surgery. Methods: Between 09/2020 and 06/2022, ninety-two patients presenting with MR undergoing MV surgery were consented and prospectively included for evaluation. Echocardiographic evaluation was performed one day before surgery, one week after surgery and three months later. Primary endpoints reported RV-function changes including tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), RV systolic prime (S') and fractional area change (FAC). Secondary endpoints included stability of MV repair, changes in left ventricular functions and early mortality. Results: Mean patients' age was 59.1±11.4 years. Fifty-five (59.7%) patients were male. Most of patients presented with severe (n=88; 95.7%) MR. Mean systolic pulmonary artery pressure was 35.6±15.7 mmHg. Moderate or severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was present in 60 (65.2%) patients. Patients underwent either isolated MV surgery (n=67; 72.8%) or combined with tricuspid valve surgery (n=25; 27.2%). Minimal invasive surgery was performed in 26.1% (n=24) of the patients. Postoperative short-term follow-up at 3 months reported RV-dysfunction in 44.5% (n=41) of the patients as indicated by reductions in TAPSE & RV S' from 21.2±4.7 to 14±3.3 mm (P<0.001) and from 14.7±4.3 to 9.7±2.8 cm/s (P<0.001) respectively. The FAC reduction from 42.9%±9.6% to 42.2%±9.9% was non-significant (P=0.593) and no need for redo mitral or tricuspid valve surgery was reported. Finally, the presence and severity of preoperative PAH played significant roles for the incidence of RV dysfunction, P=0.021 and P=0.047, respectively. Minimal invasive surgical procedure significantly reduced the incidence of postoperative RV-dysfunction (P=0.013). Conclusions: Study early results report a significant reduction of RV-function after MV surgery as measured by TAPSE, & RV S', even when the FAC remains unchanged. Even though, this finding has limited prognostic implications during an uneventful surgical course.
ABSTRACT
Background-Coronary endarterectomy (CEA) has been introduced to allow revascularization in end-stage coronary artery disease (CAD). After CEA, the injured remnants of the vessel's media could result in fast neo intimal tissue ingrowth, which require an anti-proliferation agent (antiplatelet therapy (APT). We aimed to review outcomes of patients undergoing CEA within bypass surgery who received either single-APT (SAPT) or dual-APT (DAPT). Methods-We retrospectively evaluated 353 consecutive patients undergoing CEA within isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in the period 01/2000-07/2019. After surgery, patients received either SAPT (n = 153), or DAPT (n = 200) for six months then lifelong SAPT. Endpoints included early, late survival, and freedom from major-adverse-cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), which were defined as incidence of stroke, myocardial infarction, need for coronary intervention (PCI or CABG) or death for any cause. Results-Patients' mean age was 67 ± 9.3 years; they were predominantly male 88.1%. Both DAPT- and SAPT-groups had the same extent of CAD (mean SYNTAX-Score-II: 34.1 ± 11.6 vs. 34.4 ± 17.2, p = 0.91). Postoperatively, no difference between DAPT- and SAPT-groups was reported in the incidence of low-cardiac-output syndrome (5% vs. 9.8%, p = 0.16), revision for bleeding (5% vs. 6.5% p = 0.64), 30-day mortality (4.5% vs. 5.2%, p = 0.8) or MACCE (7.5% vs. 11.8%, p = 0.19). Imaging follow-up reported significantly higher CEA and total grafts patency (90% vs. 81.5% and 95% vs. 81%, p = 0.017) in DAPT patients. Late outcomes within 97.4 ± 67.4 months show lower incidence of overall mortality (19 vs. 51%, p < 0.001) and MACCE (24.5 vs. 58.2%, p < 0.001) in the DAPT patients when compared with SAPT patients. Conclusions-Coronary endarterectomy allows revascularization in end-stage CAD when the myocardium is still viable. The use of dual APT after CEA for at least six months seems to improve mid-to-long-term patency rates and survival, and reduced the incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events.
ABSTRACT
Background-Coronary endarterectomy (CEA) is an option for treating severely diffused coronary artery diseases; however, many surgeons avoid performing it due to its complexity and reported controversial results. Therefore, we aimed to review the results of patients undergoing CEA within coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods-This is a retrospective observational study evaluating the results of patients undergoing CEA within CABG surgery between March 2003 and February 2018. Follow-up via active personal and/or telephone interviews was performed to evaluate long-term clinical outcomes. The study endpoints included early postoperative incidence of myocardial infarction or cardiac mortality, long-term survival, and freedom from major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). Results-A total of 326 patients were included in this study for evaluation. The patients' mean age was 67 years; 88% were male, and most presented with three-vessel disease, reporting a mean SYNTAX score of 33.1 ± 12. Approximately 5.5% (n = 18) of the patients had undergone previous CABG surgery. A total of 394 CEAs within a mean of 4.3 ± 1.1 grafts per patient were performed. The indication for CEA was either totally (n = 111, 28.2%) or sub-totally (n = 283, 71.8%) occluded coronary arteries. Early results included perioperative myocardial infarction in eight (2.4%), stroke in eight (2.4%), and in-hospital mortality in thirteen (4.0%) patients. Long-term clinical follow-up reported mortality in 27.6% and overall incidence of MACCE in 41.4% of the patients at the ten-year follow-up. Conclusions-Patients with severe and diffuse CAD are difficult candidates for surgical revascularization. CEA offers an option to allow complete revascularization, even in the case of chronic occlusion, when the myocardium is still viable. The closed traction CEA technique presented here is our preferred method; it achieves satisfactory short- and long-term results.
ABSTRACT
Coronary endarterectomy (CEA) within coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is controversially discussed; however, CEA is considered as a last option for severely diseased coronary arteries. We therefore aimed to evaluate outcomes of patients undergoing CABG with CEA. We present a retrospective single surgeon's experience. Between 05/1999 and 12/2017, 426 patients underwent CABG with CEA. Follow-up imaging was proposed to all surviving patients, and only patients accepting were considered for this study. This resulted in a cohort of 112 patients within a mean postoperative interval of 53 ± 49 months. Study endpoints are graft patency, overall survival, and incidence of major-adverse-events. Mean patients' age was 65.5 ± 9.4 years; 90.2% were male. A total of 139 CEAs were performed (24 patients had more than 1 CEA-graft). Most of patients (91.1%) presented with 3-vessel disease. Mean syntax score was 29.8 ± 8.5. Four ± 1.3 grafts were constructed per patient; CEA target coronaries were either totally (31.9%) or subtotally (68.1%) occluded. CEA was performed at LAD- or RCA-territory (42.4% each) or LCX-territory (15.1%). Early postoperative outcomes reported stroke in 2 patients, myocardial infarction in 4 patients with 2 patients dying. Imaging follow-up reported 119 (out of 139) patent vs 20 occluded CEA-grafts (17 venous and 3 arterial). Long-term survival was 77.7% and freedom from major-adverse-events was 63.3% within mean follow-up time of 83 ± 67 months. Although CEA is a complex and second-line procedure, it offers a surgical option to allow myocardial revascularization in patients with diffuse or severe coronary artery disease. Good short- and long-term results can be achieved.
