Aortic arch surgery for DeBakey type 1 aortic dissection in patients aged 60 years or younger.

BACKGROUND: Extended aortic repair is considered a key issue for the long-term durability of surgery for DeBakey type 1 aortic dissection. The risk of aortic degeneration may be higher in young patients due to their long life expectancy. The early outcome and durability of aortic surgery in these patients were investigated in the present study. METHODS: The subjects of the present analysis were patients under 60 years old who underwent surgical repair for acute DeBakey type 1 aortic dissection at 18 cardiac surgery centres across Europe between 2005 and 2021. Patients underwent ascending aortic repair or total aortic arch repair using the conventional technique or the frozen elephant trunk technique. The primary outcome was 5-year cumulative incidence of reoperation on the distal aorta. RESULTS: Overall, 915 patients underwent surgical ascending aortic repair and 284 patients underwent surgical total aortic arch repair. The frozen elephant trunk procedure was performed in 128 patients. Among 245 propensity score-matched pairs, total aortic arch repair did not decrease the rate of distal aortic reoperation compared to ascending aortic repair (5-year cumulative incidence, 6.7% versus 6.7%, subdistributional hazard ratio 1.127, 95% c.i. 0.523 to 2.427). Total aortic arch repair increased the incidence of postoperative stroke/global brain ischaemia (25.7% versus 18.4%, P = 0.050) and dialysis (19.6% versus 12.7%, P = 0.003). Five-year mortality was comparable after ascending aortic repair and total aortic arch repair (22.8% versus 27.3%, P = 0.172). CONCLUSIONS: In patients under 60 years old with DeBakey type 1 aortic dissection, total aortic arch replacement compared with ascending aortic repair did not reduce the incidence of distal aortic operations at 5 years. When feasible, ascending aortic repair for DeBakey type 1 aortic dissection is associated with satisfactory early and mid-term outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04831073.

Economic aspects of long-term left ventricular assist device treatment for chronic heart failure.

AIMS: Technological advances and the current shortage of donor organs have contributed to an increase in the number of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantations in patients with end-stage heart failure. Demographic change and medical progress might raise the number of these patients, resulting in a further increase in the number of LVAD implantations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term costs of LVAD therapy and identify diagnoses resulting in expensive stays. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data, all patients after implantation of a second- or third-generation LVAD by 31 March 2022 were included. In addition to demographic and survival data, revenues and case mix points were determined for each patient. Of the 163 patients included, 75.5% were male. The mean age at LVAD implantation was 52 ± 14 years. The mean survival was 1458 ± 127 days. During follow-up, the total inpatient treatment time per patient was 70 ± 87 days. The average duration of outpatient treatment was 55.1%, based on the total duration of support. The average revenue per patient for the implant stay was $193 192.35 ± $111 801.29, for inpatient readmissions $52 068.96 ± $116 630.00, and for outpatient care $53 195.94 ± $62 363.53. CONCLUSIONS: LVAD implantation in patients with end-stage heart failure leads to improved survival but a significant increase in treatment costs. Further multi-centre studies are necessary in order to be able to assess the effects of long-term LVAD treatment on the healthcare system.

Femoral arterial cannulation for surgical repair of stanford type A aortic dissection.

BACKGROUND: The benefits and harms associated with femoral artery cannulation over other sites of arterial cannulation for surgical repair of acute Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD) are not conclusively established. METHODS: We evaluated the outcomes after surgery for TAAD using femoral artery cannulation, supra-aortic arterial cannulation (i.e., innominate/subclavian/axillary artery cannulation), and direct aortic cannulation. RESULTS: 3751 (96.1%) patients were eligible for this analysis. In-hospital mortality using supra-aortic arterial cannulation was comparable to femoral artery cannulation (17.8% vs. 18.4%; adjusted OR 0.846, 95% CI 0.799-1.202). This finding was confirmed in 1028 propensity score-matched pairs of patients with supra-aortic arterial cannulation or femoral artery cannulation (17.5% vs. 17.0%, p = 0.770). In-hospital mortality after direct aortic cannulation was lower compared to femoral artery cannulation (14.0% vs. 18.4%, adjusted OR 0.703, 95% CI 0.529-0.934). Among 583 propensity score-matched pairs of patients, direct aortic cannulation was associated with lower rates of in-hospital mortality (13.4% vs. 19.6%, p = 0.004) compared to femoral artery cannulation. Switching of the primary site of arterial cannulation was associated with increased rate of in-hospital mortality (36.5% vs. 17.0%; adjusted OR 2.730, 95% CI 1.564-4.765). Ten-year mortality was similar in the study cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the outcomes of surgery for TAAD using femoral arterial cannulation were comparable to those using supra-aortic arterial cannulation. However, femoral arterial cannulation was associated with higher in-hospital mortality than direct aortic cannulation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov registration code: NCT04831073.

Nature of Neurological Complications and Outcome After Surgery for Type A Aortic Dissection.

Surgery for type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is frequently complicated by neurologic complications. The prognostic impact of neurologic complications of different nature has been investigated in this study. The subjects of this analysis were 3,902 patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD from the multicenter European Registry of Type A Aortic Dissection (ERTAAD). During the index hospitalization, 722 patients (18.5%) experienced stroke/global brain ischemia. Ischemic stroke was detected in 539 patients (13.8%), hemorrhagic stroke in 76 patients (1.9%) and global brain ischemia in 177 patients (4.5%), with a few patients having had findings of more than 1 of these conditions. In-hospital mortality was increased significantly in patients with postoperative ischemic stroke (25.6%, adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.422, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.825 to 3.216), hemorrhagic stroke (48.7%, adjusted OR 4.641, 95% CI 2.524 to 8.533), and global brain ischemia (74.0%, adjusted OR 22.275, 95% CI 14.537 to 35.524) compared with patients without neurologic complications (13.5%). Similarly, patients who experienced ischemic stroke (46.3%, adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.719, 95% CI 1.434 to 2.059), hemorrhagic stroke (62.8%, adjusted HR 3.236, 95% CI 2.314 to 4.525), and global brain ischemia (83.9%, adjusted HR 12.777, 95% CI 10.325 to 15.810) had significantly higher 5-year mortality than patients without postoperative neurologic complications (27.5%). The negative prognostic effect of neurologic complications on survival vanished about 1 year after surgery. In conclusion, postoperative ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, and global cerebral ischemia increased early and midterm mortality after surgery for acute TAAD. The magnitude of risk of mortality increased with the severity of the neurologic complications, with postoperative hemorrhagic stroke and global brain ischemia being highly lethal complications.

Classification of the Urgency of the Procedure and Outcome of Acute Type A Aortic Dissection.

Surgery for type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is associated with a high risk of early mortality. The prognostic impact of a new classification of the urgency of the procedure was evaluated in this multicenter cohort study. Data on consecutive patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD were retrospectively collected in the multicenter, retrospective European Registry of TAAD (ERTAAD). The rates of in-hospital mortality of 3,902 consecutive patients increased along with the ERTAAD procedure urgency grades: urgent procedure 10.0%, emergency procedure grade 1 13.3%, emergency procedure grade 2 22.1%, salvage procedure grade 1 45.6%, and salvage procedure grade 2 57.1% (p <0.0001). Preoperative arterial lactate correlated with the urgency grades. Inclusion of the ERTAAD procedure urgency classification significantly improved the area under the receiver operating characteristics curves of the regression model and the integrated discrimination indexes and the net reclassification indexes. The risk of postoperative stroke/global brain ischemia, mesenteric ischemia, lower limb ischemia, dialysis, and acute heart failure increased along with the urgency grades. In conclusion, the urgency of surgical repair of acute TAAD, which seems to have a significant impact on the risk of in-hospital mortality, may be useful to improve the stratification of the operative risk of these critically ill patients. This study showed that salvage surgery for TAAD is justified because half of the patients may survive to discharge.

Preoperative arterial lactate and outcome after surgery for type A aortic dissection: The ERTAAD multicenter study.

Background: Acute type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is associated with significant mortality and morbidity. In this study we evaluated the prognostic significance of preoperative arterial lactate concentration on the outcome after surgery for TAAD. Methods: The ERTAAD registry included consecutive patients who underwent surgery for acute type A aortic dissection (TAAD) at 18 European centers of cardiac surgery. Results: Data on arterial lactate concentration immediately before surgery were available in 2798 (71.7 %) patients. Preoperative concentration of arterial lactate was an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality (mean, 3.5 ± 3.2 vs 2.1 ± 1.8 mmol/L, adjusted OR 1.181, 95%CI 1.129-1.235). The best cutoff value preoperative arterial lactate concentration was 1.8 mmol/L (in-hospital mortality, 12.0 %, vs. 26.6 %, p < 0.0001). The rates of in-hospital mortality increased along increasing quintiles of arterial lactate and it was 12.1 % in the lowest quintile and 33.6 % in the highest quintile (p < 0.0001). The difference between multivariable models with and without preoperative arterial lactate was statistically significant (p = 0.0002). The NRI was 0.296 (95%CI 0.200-0.391) (p < 0.0001) with -17 % of events correctly reclassified (p = 0.0002) and 46 % of non-events correctly reclassified (p < 0.0001). The IDI was 0.025 (95%CI 0.016-0.034) (p < 0.0001). Six studies from a systematic review plus the present one provided data for a pooled analysis which showed that the mean difference of preoperative arterial lactate between 30-day/in-hospital deaths and survivors was 1.85 mmol/L (95%CI 1.22-2.47, p < 0.0001, I2 64 %). Conclusions: Hyperlactatemia significantly increased the risk of mortality after surgery for acute TAAD and should be considered in the clinical assessment of these critically ill patients.

Surgical Considerations for Treatment of Fungal Homograft Endocarditis in Re-re-re-re-do.

Fungal endocarditis is associated with high surgical mortality rates. Advanced expertise is required for surgical treatment of this serious condition. In the present report, we describe the homograft replacement in a beating heart during re-re-re-re-do in a 29-year-old female patient with fungal endocarditis. The previous operations included Fallot correction at the age of 1 year, Contegra graft implantation in the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) due to severe pulmonary insufficiency, homograft implantation in pulmonary position due to Contegra endocarditis, and on-pump pericardial defect closure after homograft injury during sternal rewiring following wound infection.

External validation of the REMEMBER score.

Background: The use of venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is associated with high in-hospital mortality rates. The pRedicting mortality in patients undergoing venoarterial Extracorporeal MEMBrane oxygenation after coronary artEry bypass gRafting (REMEMBER) score has been created to predict in-hospital mortality in this subgroup of patients. The aim of this study is to externally validate the REMEMBER score. Methods: All CABG patients who received VA-ECMO during or after the operation at our center between 01/2012 and 12/2021 were included in the analysis. Discrimination was assessed using concordance statistics, visualized by ROC curve analysis. Calibration-in-the-large and Calibration slope were tested separately. Results: A total of 107 patients (male: n = 78, 72.9%) were included in this study. The in-hospital mortality rate in our cohort was 45.8% compared with 55% in the original study. The REMEMBER score median predicted mortality rate was 52% (76.9-36%). However, the REMEMBER score showed low discriminative ability [AUC: 0.623 (p = 0.0244; 95% CI = 0.524-0.715)] and inaccurate calibration (intercept = 0.25074; p = 0.0195; slope = 0.39504; p = 0.0303), indicating poor performance. Conclusions: The REMEMBER score did not predict in-hospital mortality and was therefore not applicable in our cohort of patients. Additional external validation studies in a multicenter setting are therefore advisable.

Direct Aortic Versus Supra-Aortic Arterial Cannulation During Surgery for Acute Type A Aortic Dissection.

AIMS: In this study we evaluated the impact of direct aortic cannulation versus innominate/subclavian/axillary artery cannulation on the outcome after surgery for type A aortic dissection. METHODS: The outcomes of patients included in a multicenter European registry (ERTAAD) who underwent surgery for acute type A aortic dissection with direct aortic cannulation versus those with innominate/subclavian/axillary artery cannulation, i.e. supra-aortic arterial cannulation, were compared using propensity score matched analysis. RESULTS: Out of 3902 consecutive patients included in the registry, 2478 (63.5%) patients were eligible for this analysis. Direct aortic cannulation was performed in 627 (25.3%) patients, while supra-aortic arterial cannulation in 1851 (74.7%) patients. Propensity score matching yielded 614 pairs of patients. Among them, patients who underwent surgery for TAAD with direct aortic cannulation had significantly decreased in-hospital mortality (12.7% vs. 18.1%, p = 0.009) compared to those who had supra-aortic arterial cannulation. Furthermore, direct aortic cannulation was associated with decreased postoperative rates of paraparesis/paraplegia (2.0 vs. 6.0%, p < 0.0001), mesenteric ischemia (1.8 vs. 5.1%, p = 0.002), sepsis (7.0 vs. 14.2%, p < 0.0001), heart failure (11.2 vs. 15.2%, p = 0.043), and major lower limb amputation (0 vs. 1.0%, p = 0.031). Direct aortic cannulation showed a trend toward decreased risk of postoperative dialysis (10.1 vs. 13.7%, p = 0.051). CONCLUSIONS: This multicenter cohort study showed that direct aortic cannulation compared to supra-aortic arterial cannulation is associated with a significant reduction of the risk of in-hospital mortality after surgery for acute type A aortic dissection. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04831073.

Current Outcome after Surgery for Type A Aortic Dissection.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of different surgical strategies for acute Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD). SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: The optimal extent of aortic resection during surgery for acute TAAD is controversial. METHODS: This is a multicenter, retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD at 18 European hospitals. RESULTS: Out of 3902 consecutive patients, 689 (17.7%) died during the index hospitalization. Among 2855 patients who survived 3 months after surgery, 10-year observed survival was 65.3%, while country-adjusted, age-adjusted, and sex-adjusted expected survival was 81.3%, yielding a relative survival of 80.4%. Among 558 propensity score-matched pairs, total aortic arch replacement increased the risk of in-hospital (21.0% vs. 14.9%, P =0.008) and 10-year mortality (47.1% vs. 40.1%, P =0.001), without decreasing the incidence of distal aortic reoperation (10-year: 8.9% vs. 7.4%, P =0.690) compared with ascending aortic replacement. Among 933 propensity score-matched pairs, in-hospital mortality (18.5% vs. 18.0%, P =0.765), late mortality (at 10-year: 44.6% vs. 41.9%, P =0.824), and cumulative incidence of proximal aortic reoperation (at 10-year: 4.4% vs. 5.9%, P =0.190) after aortic root replacement was comparable to supracoronary aortic replacement. CONCLUSIONS: Replacement of the aortic root and aortic arch did not decrease the risk of aortic reoperation in patients with TAAD and should be performed only in the presence of local aortic injury or aneurysm. The relative survival of TAAD patients is poor and suggests that the causes underlying aortic dissection may also impact late mortality despite surgical repair of the dissected aorta.

Interinstitutional analysis of the outcome after surgery for type A aortic dissection.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of individual institutions on the outcome after surgery for Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD). METHODS: This is an observational, multicenter, retrospective cohort study including 3902 patients who underwent surgery for TAAD at 18 university and non-university hospitals. RESULTS: Logistic regression showed that four hospitals had increased risk of in-hospital mortality, while two hospitals were associated with decreased risk of in-hospital mortality. Risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality rates were lower in four hospitals and higher in other four hospitals compared to the overall in-hospital mortality rate (17.7%). Participating hospitals were classified as overperforming or underperforming if their risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality rate was lower or higher than the in-hospital mortality rate of the overall series, respectively. Propensity score matching yielded 1729 pairs of patients operated at over- or underperforming hospitals. Overperforming hospitals had a significantly lower in-hospital mortality (12.8% vs. 22.2%, p < 0.0001) along with decreased rate of stroke and/or global brain ischemia (16.5% vs. 19.9%, p = 0.009) compared to underperforming hospitals. Aggregate data meta-regression of the results of participating hospitals showed that hospital volume was inversely associated with in-hospital mortality (p = 0.043). Hospitals with an annual volume of less than 15 cases had an increased risk of in-hospital mortality (adjusted OR, 1.345, 95% CI 1.126-1.607). CONCLUSION: The present findings indicate that there are significant differences between hospitals in terms of early outcome after surgery for TAAD. Low hospital volume may be a determinant of poor outcome of TAAD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04831073.

To hit a home run as a heterotopic heart recipient-living with two hearts for over three decades: a case report.

Heterotopic heart transplantation (HHT) is an alternative to the orthotopic technique in selected patients with terminal heart failure. We report the case of the longest survival after HHT, with an uneventful follow-up for over three decades after transplantation. At the age of 25 years, endomyocardial fibrosis following myocarditis rendered the patient's native heart unable to maintain the body's needs. An allograft provided a second chance at life. The HHT technique was favoured due to severe pulmonary hypertension. The patient had an uneventful follow-up since then. The scarcity of donors and the revolutionary advances in the mechanical circulatory device field restricted the utilization of the HHT technique, but it has the potential to provide an excellent prognosis with a good quality of life.

Baseline risk factors of in-hospital mortality after surgery for acute type A aortic dissection: an ERTAAD study.

Background: Surgery for type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is associated with high risk of mortality. Current risk scoring methods have a limited predictive accuracy. Methods: Subjects were patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD at 18 European centers of cardiac surgery from the European Registry of Type A Aortic Dissection (ERTAAD). Results: Out of 3,902 patients included in the ERTAAD, 2,477 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In the validation dataset (2,229 patients), the rate of in-hospital mortality was 18.4%. The rate of composite outcome (in-hospital death, stroke/global ischemia, dialysis, and/or acute heart failure) was 41.2%, and 10-year mortality rate was 47.0%. Logistic regression identified the following patient-related variables associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality [area under the curve (AUC), 0.755, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.729-0.780; Brier score 0.128]: age; estimated glomerular filtration rate; arterial lactate; iatrogenic dissection; left ventricular ejection fraction ≤50%; invasive mechanical ventilation; cardiopulmonary resuscitation immediately before surgery; and cerebral, mesenteric, and peripheral malperfusion. The estimated risk score was associated with an increased risk of composite outcome (AUC, 0.689, 95% CI, 0.667-0.711) and of late mortality [hazard ratio (HR), 1.035, 95% CI, 1.031-1.038; Harrell's C 0.702; Somer's D 0.403]. In the validation dataset (248 patients), the in-hospital mortality rate was 16.1%, the composite outcome rate was 41.5%, and the 10-year mortality rate was 49.1%. The estimated risk score was predictive of in-hospital mortality (AUC, 0.703, 95% CI, 0.613-0.793; Brier score 0.121; slope 0.905) and of composite outcome (AUC, 0.682, 95% CI, 0.614-0.749). The estimated risk score was predictive of late mortality (HR, 1.035, 95% CI, 1.031-1.038; Harrell's C 0.702; Somer's D 0.403), also when hospital deaths were excluded from the analysis (HR, 1.024, 95% CI, 1.018-1.031; Harrell's C 0.630; Somer's D 0.261). Conclusions: The present analysis identified several baseline clinical risk factors, along with preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate and arterial lactate, which are predictive of in-hospital mortality and major postoperative adverse events after surgical repair of acute TAAD. These risk factors may be valuable components for risk adjustment in the evaluation of surgical and anesthesiological strategies aiming to improve the results of surgery for TAAD. Clinical Trial Registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT04831073.

In-Hospital Mortality and Risk Prediction in Minimally Invasive Sutureless versus Conventional Aortic Valve Replacement.

Objective. Available evidence suggests that a minimally invasive approach with the use of sutureless bioprostheses has a favorable impact on the outcome of patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR). Methods. From 2010 to 2019, 2732 patients underwent conventional AVR through median sternotomy with a stented bioprosthesis (n = 2048) or minimally invasive AVR with a sutureless bioprosthesis (n = 684). Results. Using the propensity score, 206 patients in each group were matched, and the matched groups were well balanced regarding preoperative risk factors. Both unmatched and matched patients of the sutureless + minimally invasive group showed significantly shorter cross-clamp times and longer ICU stay. In-hospital mortality was the only outcome measure that was confirmed in both analyses, and was higher in the stented + conventional group (2.54% and 2.43% in unmatched and matched patients, respectively) compared with the sutureless + minimally invasive group (0.88% and 0.97% in unmatched and matched patients, respectively) (p = 0.0047 and p < 0.0001, respectively). No differences in postoperative pacemaker implantation were recorded in matched patients of both groups (n = 2 [1%] in the stented + conventional group vs. n = 4 [2%] in the sutureless + minimally invasive group; p = 0.41). The discrimination power of EuroSCORE II was not confirmed in the sutureless + minimally invasive group, yielding an area under the ROC curve of 0.568. Conclusions. Minimally invasive sutureless AVR has a favorable impact on the immediate outcome and is associated with significantly lower in-hospital mortality rates compared with conventional AVR, resulting in the absence of the discrimination power of EuroSCORE II for predicting AVR outcomes.

Outcome after Surgery for Iatrogenic Acute Type A Aortic Dissection.

(1) Background: Acute Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD) may complicate the outcome of cardiovascular procedures. Data on the outcome after surgery for iatrogenic acute TAAD is scarce. (2) Methods: The European Registry of Type A Aortic Dissection (ERTAAD) is a multicenter, retrospective study including patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD at 18 hospitals from eight European countries. The primary outcomes were in-hospital mortality and 5-year mortality. Twenty-seven secondary outcomes were evaluated. (3) Results: Out of 3902 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD, 103 (2.6%) had iatrogenic TAAD. Cardiac surgery (37.8%) and percutaneous coronary intervention (36.9%) were the most frequent causes leading to iatrogenic TAAD, followed by diagnostic coronary angiography (13.6%), transcatheter aortic valve replacement (10.7%) and peripheral endovascular procedure (1.0%). In hospital mortality was 20.5% after cardiac surgery, 31.6% after percutaneous coronary intervention, 42.9% after diagnostic coronary angiography, 45.5% after transcatheter aortic valve replacement and nihil after peripheral endovascular procedure (p = 0.092), with similar 5-year mortality between different subgroups of iatrogenic TAAD (p = 0.710). Among 102 propensity score matched pairs, in-hospital mortality was significantly higher among patients with iatrogenic TAAD (30.4% vs. 15.7%, p = 0.013) compared to those with spontaneous TAAD. This finding was likely related to higher risk of postoperative heart failure (35.3% vs. 10.8%, p < 0.0001) among iatrogenic TAAD patients. Five-year mortality was comparable between patients with iatrogenic and spontaneous TAAD (46.2% vs. 39.4%, p = 0.163). (4) Conclusions: Iatrogenic origin of acute TAAD is quite uncommon but carries a significantly increased risk of in-hospital mortality compared to spontaneous TAAD.

Permanent pacing in a very long-term follow-up after orthotopic heart transplantation: A matter of when or why?

BACKGROUND: Orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) is associated with a high incidence of conduction disturbances (CD) leading to permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation. However, the improved posttransplant survival raises the question about the pacemaker dependence (PD) in a prolonged follow-up. HYPOTHESIS: The prevalence of PPM in OHT is high but not all patients are PD in a very long-term follow-up. Device implantation has no prognostic relevance. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of patient medical records focusing on device interrogation data at the most recent follow-up. RESULTS: The study population consisted of 183 patients with a mean follow-up of 15.0 ± 6.8 years. One-fourth of the patients had undergone PPM implantation (n = 49, 26.8%). Among these, two-thirds were PD at last follow-up (n = 32, 65.3%). PPM was more often in biatrial OHT and cardiac allograft vasculopathy (OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.26-7.29, p = .013 and OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.03-3.87, p = .041, respectively). Early sinus node dysfunction (SND) was the most persistent CD. PPM was associated with a poorer outcome in OHT (HR 1.9, 95% CI 1.06-3.46, p = .031) and a higher rate of fatal septicemia (HR 5.1, 95% CI 1.41-18.14, p = .013). CONCLUSIONS: One-fourth of the OHT recipients develop CD requiring PPM implantation, although one-third among these are not PD in follow-up. Early SND is associated with a higher rate of PD. PPM is associated with an inferior prognosis.

Single-Center Experience With the Thoraflex™ Hybrid Prosthesis: Indications, Implantation Technique and Results.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the early and mid-term results after the frozen elephant trunk (FET) procedure for the treatment of complex arch and proximal descending aortic disease in a single-center institution. Methods: From April 2015 to July 2021, 72 patients (25 women, 60.4 ± 10.3 years) underwent Thoraflex™ Hybrid implantation at our institution. The indications were thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) (n = 16, 22.2%), post-dissection aneurysm (n = 21, 29.2%), and acute aortic dissection (AAD) (n = 35, 48.6%). Antegrade cerebral perfusion under moderate hypothermia (28°C) was employed in all cases. Eighteen patients (25%) have already been operated due to heart or aortic disease. Results: Overall in-hospital mortality was 12.5% (9 patients). Rates of permanent neurological dysfunction and spinal cord injury were 9.7 and 5.5%, respectively. The in-hospital mortality rate among patients operated on AAD, TAA, and post-dissection aneurysm were 8.6, 6.2, and 23.8%, respectively. At a mean follow-up of 26 ± 20 months, mortality was 9.7%. Furthermore, 23 patients (31.9%) required a subsequent procedure in distal aorta: endovascular stentgraft extension in 19 patients (26.4%) and open aortic surgery in 4 patients (5.5%). The mid-term survival of patients with type A aortic dissection was 97%. Conclusions: Our experience with the Thoraflex Hybrid prosthesis demonstrates its surgical applicability for different types of aortic pathologies with promising outcomes during early and midterm follow-up. Our technique and perioperative management lead to comparable or even superior neurological outcomes and mortality in urgent cases considering other high-volume centers.

Targeting Procalcitonin Protects Vascular Barrier Integrity.

Rationale: Capillary leakage frequently occurs during sepsis and after major surgery and is associated with microvascular dysfunction and adverse outcome. Procalcitonin is a well-established biomarker in inflammation without known impact on vascular integrity. Objectives: We determined how procalcitonin induces endothelial hyperpermeability and how targeting procalcitonin protects vascular barrier integrity. Methods: In a prospective observational clinical study, procalcitonin levels were assessed in 50 patients who underwent cardiac surgery and correlated to postoperative fluid and vasopressor requirements along with sublingual microvascular functionality. Effects of the procalcitonin signaling pathway on endothelial barrier and adherens junctional integrity were characterized in vitro and verified in mice. Inhibition of procalcitonin activation by dipeptidyl-peptidase 4 (DPP4) was evaluated in murine polymicrobial sepsis and clinically verified in cardiac surgery patients chronically taking the DPP4 inhibitor sitagliptin. Measurements and Main Results: Elevated postoperative procalcitonin levels identified patients with 2-fold increased fluid requirements (P < 0.01), 1.8-fold higher vasopressor demand (P < 0.05), and compromised microcirculation (reduction to 63.5 ± 2.8% of perfused vessels, P < 0.05). Procalcitonin induced 1.4-fold endothelial and 2.3-fold pulmonary capillary permeability (both Ps < 0.001) by destabilizing VE-cadherin. Procalcitonin effects were dependent on activation by DPP4, and targeting the procalcitonin receptor or DPP4 during sepsis-induced hyperprocalcitonemia reduced capillary leakage by 54 ± 10.1% and 60.4 ± 6.9% (both Ps < 0.01), respectively. Sitagliptin before cardiac surgery was associated with augmented microcirculation (74.1 ± 1.7% vs. 68.6 ± 1.9% perfused vessels in non-sitagliptin-medicated patients, P < 0.05) and with 2.3-fold decreased fluid (P < 0.05) and 1.8-fold reduced vasopressor demand postoperatively (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Targeting procalcitonin's action on the endothelium is a feasible means to preserve vascular integrity during systemic inflammation associated with hyperprocalcitonemia.

Transversal Arch Clamping for Complete Resection of Aneurysms of the Distal Ascending Aorta without Open Anastomosis.

BACKGROUND: The extent of aortic replacement for aneurysms of the distal ascending aorta remains controversial and opinions vary between standard cross-clamp resection and open hemiarch anastomosis in circulatory arrest and selective cerebral perfusion. As the deleterious effects of extended circulatory arrest are well-known, borderline indication for distal ascending aorta aneurysm repair must be outweighed against the potential risk of complications related to the open anastomosis. In the present study, we describe our own approach consisting of "transversal arch clamping" for exhaustive resection of aneurysms of the distal ascending aorta without open anastomosis and we present the postoperative outcomes. METHODS: Between May 2017 and December 2019, 35 patients with aneurysm of the ascending aorta (20 male, 15 female) underwent replacement with repair of the lesser curvature without circulatory arrest. Pre-operative, intraoperative, and postoperative clinical outcomes were retrospectively withdrawn from our institutional database and analyzed. RESULTS: Maximal diameter of distal ascending aorta was 47.5 mm. Patient median age was 66 years (IQR 14) (range 42-86). Preoperative logistic median EuroSCORE II was 17% (IQR 11.3). Median duration of cardiopulmonary bypass and cardiac arrest were 137 (IQR 64) and 93 (IQR 59) min, respectively. In-hospital and 30-day mortality were 0%. There were no cases with acute low output syndrome, surgical re-exploration for bleeding, kidney injury requiring dialysis, or wound infection. Disabling stroke was observed in one patient (2.9%). There was one case of major ventricular arrhythmia (2.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Our institutional experience suggests that this novel technique is safe and feasible. It facilitates complete resection of the aortic ascending aneurysm avoiding circulatory arrest, antegrade cerebral perfusion, additional peripheral cannulation, and all related complications.