Corrigendum: Robotic Cardiac Surgery in Europe: Status 2020.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2021.827515.].

Robotic Cardiac Surgery in Europe: Status 2020.

BACKGROUND: European surgeons were the first worldwide to use robotic techniques in cardiac surgery and major steps in procedure development were taken in Europe. After a hype in the early 2000s case numbers decreased but due to technological improvements renewed interest can be noted. We assessed the current activities and outcomes in robotically assisted cardiac surgery on the European continent. METHODS: Data were collected in an international anonymized registry of 26 European centers with a robotic cardiac surgery program. RESULTS: During a 4-year period (2016-2019), 2,563 procedures were carried out [30.0% female, 58.5 (15.4) years old, EuroSCORE II 1.56 (1.74)], including robotically assisted coronary bypass grafting (n = 1266, 49.4%), robotic mitral or tricuspid valve surgery (n = 945, 36.9%), isolated atrial septal defect closure (n = 225, 8.8%), left atrial myxoma resection (n = 54, 2.1%), and other procedures (n = 73, 2.8%). The number of procedures doubled during the study period (from n = 435 in 2016 to n = 923 in 2019). The mean cardiopulmonary bypass time in pump assisted cases was 148.6 (63.5) min and the myocardial ischemic time was 88.7 (46.1) min. Conversion to larger thoracic incisions was required in 56 cases (2.2%). Perioperative rates of revision for bleeding, stroke, and mortality were 56 (2.2%), 6 (0.2 %), and 27 (1.1%), respectively. Median postoperative hospital length of stay was 6.6 (6.6) days. CONCLUSION: Robotic cardiac surgery case numbers in Europe are growing fast, including a large spectrum of procedures. Conversion rates are low and clinical outcomes are favorable, indicating safe conduct of these high-tech minimally invasive procedures.

Percutaneous valve-in-valve procedure and simultaneous paravalvular leak closure.

Concern for early degeneration limits the use of bioprosthetic heart valves. A 77-year-old man who underwent surgical aortic valve replacement at age 70 for severe aortic stenosis (AoS) presented with premature bioprosthesis degeneration and AoS recurrence. Transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated severe AoS and aortic regurgitation, a 30% ejection fraction, and pulmonary hypertension. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed that the aortic regurgitation was due to a 5-mm paravalvular leak (PVL). A high EuroScoreII excluded surgical treatment. Simultaneous transcatheter aortic valve replacement and PVL closure with an Occlutech PLD Square 5 Twist PVL closure device were performed with good results and improved clinical status.

"Open" repair of ruptured thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (experience of 51 cases).

INTRODUCTION: Surgical treatment of toracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAA) represents a difficult problem for the vascular surgeon and may become a formidable challenge in an emergency procedure. In patient with hemodynamic instability, protective measures as cerebral spinal fluid drainage and bio-pump against spinal cord, visceral and renal ischemia, may be ineffective or impracticable. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We report our experience of 51 emergency-operated patients with TAAA out of 660 treated between 1994 and 2014; 48 patients (94%) were hemodynamically unstable, 3 (6%) were hemodynamically stable. The TAAA patients were evaluated, according to Crawford classification, as: 18 type I, 13 type II, 15 type III, 5 type IV. RESULTS: Overall mortality was 23 cases out of 51 (43.1%); 8 deaths occurred during the surgical procedure and 14 in the postoperative period. Early deaths, subdivided by Crawford TAAA classification, were: type I 9/18 (50%), type II 9/13 (69.2%), type III 7/15 (46.6%), type IV 3/5 (60%). Paraplegia-paraparesis developed in 6 cases out of 43 (16.2%), excluding 8 deaths during the operative procedure. Acute renal failure was observed in 8 out of 43 patients (18.6%). Dialysis was found to be a risk factor for hospital mortality (p = 0.03). Pulmonary insufficiency was diagnosed in 15 patients out of 43 (34.8%), and 5 patients (15.5%) needed tracheostomy, out of whom 3 died (p = 0.04%). Postoperative bleeding was present in 8 cases out of 43 (18.6%). Inferior laryngeal nerve palsy was present in 6 cases out of 43 (13.5%). The follow-up period comprised 1-3-5-10 years postoperative follow-up. The actuarial survival rate of patients discharged from hospital was respectively 75%, 63%, 48%, 35%. CONCLUSIONS: In the literature there are very few studies published on emergency treatment for TAAA. Having usually low numbers of patients in the groups wider experiences are still needed to give more light on the pathophysiology and surgical treatment of this type of TAAA, which are still being treated according to the individual surgeon's experience.