Intramyocardial angiogenic cell precursor injection for cardiomyopathy.

Stem cell therapy for heart failure is a rapidly progressing field. The objective of this study was to assess the safety, and short-term results of thoracoscopic direct injection of angiogenic cell precursors into patients with endstage cardiomyopathy. Cells were obtained from the patient's own blood, avoiding immunological concerns. The number of cells prior to injection was 29.1 +/- 18.9 x10(6). Forty-one patients with cardiomyopathy (mean age, 58.5 +/- 14.3 years) underwent stem cell injection; 21 had dilated cardiomyopathy and 20 had ischemic cardiomyopathy. Overall ejection fraction improved significantly by 4.8% +/- 7.5% at 149 +/- 98 days postoperatively. It increased from 25.9% +/- 8.6% to 28.7% +/- 9.8% in dilated cardiomyopathy, and from 26.6% +/- 5.8% to 33.6% +/- 7.8% in ischemic cardiomyopathy. New York Heart Association functional class was significantly better at 2 months in both groups. It was concluded that thoracoscopic intramyocardial angiogenic cell precursor injection is feasible and safe in patients with cardiomyopathy. The early results are good, and phase II trials are in progress.

Efficacy of intramyocardial injection of angiogenic cell precursors for ischemic cardiomyopathy: a case match study.

INTRODUCTION: : The objective of this study is to determine the efficacy of intramyocardial angiogenic cell precursors (ACPs) injection in ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM). METHODS: : Twenty-five ICM patients (cell group) underwent intramyocardial ACPs injection. Seventeen ICM patients (control group) treated by medical means were matched with cell group. There was no statistically significant difference between cell and control groups in relation to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and comorbidities. In the cell group, mean age was 58.4 ± 13.7 years. Mean LVEF was 26.1% ± 7.4%. New York Heart Association (NYHA) class was 2.9 ± 0.6. The ACPs were derived and expanded from autologous blood. The number of cells before injection was 27.4 ± 18.8 million cells. The cells were injected into the nonviable myocardium and hypokinetic segments in the cell group. RESULTS: : There was no new ventricular arrhythmia. NYHA was improved by 0.9 ± 1.0 (P < 0.001) at 229.9 ± 98.8 days. Six-minute walk test and quality of life assessed by short form-36 improved in the cell group. LVEF was improved in 72% of patients (18 of 25). LVEF improved by 6.4 ± 9.9 points % (P = 0.003) at 290.4 ± 210.3 days. The percentage of infarction area decreased 21.9 ± 17.4 points % at 159 ± 54 days postoperatively. There was no significant improvement of NYHA and LVEF in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: : For this efficacy study, the NYHA class, quality of life, and six-minute walk test were improved after cell transplantation. The LVEF was also significantly improved in the cell treated group.

Can surgeons do complete revascularization in diabetic patients using the off-pump technique?

BACKGROUND: : The arguments are discussed as to whether or not to proceed with multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention, with or without a drug-eluting stent, in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), including (1) surgeons unable to complete revascularization because of smaller native arteries; and (2) diabetic patients being sicker and having higher operative mortality rates than nondiabetic patients (non-DM), particularly with the conventional coronary artery bypass surgery (on-pump) technique. To support or dispute the claims, a retrospective review of 480 consecutive patients at a single institution (195 DM and 285 non-DM) was carried out. Observations were made to see whether diabetes is a predictor of poor outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: : The preoperative comorbidity, intraoperative measurement of the size of the artery at the site of anastomosis with different gauged probes, and the number of grafts per patient were recorded. Intraoperative and postoperative variables between two groups were compared. The observed number of grafts (O) after surgery was compared with the number of grafts predicted (P) before surgery. The O/P ratio or "completion index" of ≥1 signifies complete revascularization. Logistic regression analysis was used to test the possibility that diabetes is a predictor of poor outcomes. RESULTS: : Diabetic patients were older, with more comorbidity (congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular diseases, dialysis-dependent). The number of grafts per patient was 4.2 ± 1.3 (DM) and 4.2 ± 1.3 (non-DM). The size of 742 DM and 949 non-DM arteries were gauged. There was no statistical difference in size between DM and non-DM (in millimeters) at each artery. All ratios ranged from 0.9 to 1.2, indicating similarity between DM and non-DM. The only significant risk factor for operative death was low left ventricular ejection fraction (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: : Patients with DM were sicker but tolerated off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting as well as non-DM patients. The number of grafts per patient and O/P ratio signify the ability to perform complete revascularization. We are able to bypass the small target vessels, as anticipated. Diabetes is not a predictor of the outcomes.

Technique of using the St. Jude aortic connector with the radial artery.

We present a technique for the use of St. Jude Aortic Connector System with the radial artery. This technique will allow surgeons, who prefer the radial artery to the vein, to use this approach whenever feasible.

Off-pump coronary bypass surgery and all arterial conduits: learning experience at Bangkok Heart Institute.

Off-pump coronary artery bypass technique or bypass graft surgery without the use of a heart-lung machine has been introduced in the last six years, and now comprises approximately 25 per cent of all coronary artery bypass surgery being done in the world. One of the goals of beating heart surgery is to eliminate the complications associated with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass. The use of all arterial conduits for coronary artery bypass graft has become more acceptable after experiences gained and reports of better long-term results. From January 2001 to December 21 2002 the authors performed 251 off-pump procedures. One hundred and nine of these cases were done utilizing all arterial conduits. The data was stratified using the US National Society of Thoracic Surgeons Cardiac Surgery Database pre-operative risk module and divided into 3 groups as suggested: Low risk group with a predicted mortality of 0-1 per cent (2 patients); Medium risk group with a predicted mortality of 2-9 per cent (87 patients), and High risk group with a predicted mortality of 10+ per cent (10 patients). The predicted mortality of the entire group was 4.5 per cent. There were 90 males and 19 females with a mean age of 60.2 +/- 10.7 years, with 15.6 per cent of them older than 70 years. Pre-operative co-morbidities included 1/4 of the patients who had ejection fraction (EF) of equal to or less than 0.4, 4.5 per cent had unstable angina, 1.6 per cent had urgent/emergent status, 26.6 per cent underwent re-operative procedure, 1 per cent had pre-operative serum creatinine more than 2 mg per cent, 4.8 per cent had a history of stroke, 20.2 per cent had a history of congestive heart failure, 45.2 per cent had a history of previous myocardial infarction, 10.7 per cent had a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 46.9 per cent had a history of diabetes, 62 per cent had hypertension, and 20 patients (18.3%) required intra aortic balloon pump. Intra-operative parameters revealed 3.7 +/- 1.3 grafts/patient. The left internal mammary artery (LIMA) was used to the left anterior descending (LAD) in 6.4 per cent, or sequential with the diagonals 93.6 per cent. The 30 days mortality was 3.6 per cent (4 cases). Further analysis revealed that pre-operatively, none of these 4 cases was in the low predicted (predicted mortality of 0-1%) risk group, 2 of them were in the medium (predicted mortality of 2-9%) and the other 2 were in the high predicted risk (predicted mortality of 10+%) group. The skin-to-skin time was 4.1 hours and there were two conversions to on-pump in this group. Post-operatively, the intubation time was 4.7 hours. There was no peri-operative myocardial infarction, one patient required dialysis, and no patient experienced stroke. There was no sternal wound or arm wound infection, 9.5 per cent experienced temporal sensation impairment at the site of the radial artery harvesting at one month. Re-operation for bleeding occurred in 3 cases, and thirteen patients (14.3%) developed new atrial fibrillation. The authors are no longer making a one-foot long incision and spread ten inches wide like in the old days'. With the less invasive approach lessened in the recent past, the authors have found the less invasive the incision the less the pain after surgery. Totally eliminating the leg incision has allowed the patient to get up and mobilize on the same afternoon, if the procedure was done in the morning. All of these approaches combined with the off-pump technique, as far as the authors are concerned, will provide those who need coronary arterial bypass graft the best operative procedure.

The use of gastroepiploic artery for coronary artery bypass surgery.

The use of arterial conduits in surgical treatment of coronary heart disease has been widely used. As we all know that saphenous vein graft occluded more than 50 per cent after 10 years. Most arterial conduits come from internal mammary artery, radial artery than been used for decades. Another arterial conduit, the right gastroepiploic artery (GEA), is now more popular among cardiac surgeons. This artery can be used along with other arterial conduit for "all arterial coronary bypass surgery" with better long-term patency. We reviewed the recent reports on GEA and to add on our experience on this subject.

Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery: evaluation of extubation time and predictors of failed early extubation.

Anesthesia during and after off-pump surgery is critical for the outcome of the procedure. Intubation time has been shown to correlate with ICU time and length of stay. This study is to evaluate the extubation time and predictors of prolonged extubation in this institution. One hundred and sixty consecutive patients during Jan 2001-June 2002, excluding pre-operative tracheostomy (n = 1) were retrospectively reviewed. Anesthetic agents include fentanyl, rocuronium Bromide, midazolam and sevoflurane. Phenylephrine and nitroglycerine were used to maintain adequate arterial pressures. Post-operative pain control was mainly with intravenous fentanyl and oral pain medications. The extubation time was divided into 4 groups; 0-2 h, n = 76, mean = 1.11 +/- 0.5 h; 2-4 h, n = 30, mean = 2.91 +/- 0.5 h; 4-24 h, n = 39, mean = 11.44 +/- 7.3 h; > 24 h, n = 5, mean = 33.3 +/- 21 h. The data were collected and analyzed following the guidelines of National STS cardiac surgery database. All pre-operative risk factors included: Age (> 70 yrs vs < or = 70 yrs), gender (male vs female), diabetes (yes vs no), hypertension (yes vs no), morbid obesity (yes vs no), renal insufficiency (yes vs no), chronic obstructive lung disease (yes vs no), history of cerebrovascular accident (yes vs no), smoking (yes vs no), dyslipidemia (yes vs no), history of myocardial infarction (MI) (yes vs no), history of congestive heart failure (CHF) (yes vs no), unstable angina (yes vs no), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (> 40% vs < or = 40%), left main (LM) lesion (LM > 50% vs LM < or = 50%), intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) used (yes vs no) and time between operating and closing (> 4.30 h vs < or = 4.30 h) were used to predict failed early extubation (2 h). More than 50 per cent of the patients were extubated in less than 2 h (1.11 +/- 0.5 h) and only 5 patients were extubated after 24 h. Univariate analysis revealed old age, diabetes, MI, CHF, LVEF < or = 0.4 and the use of IABP are the predictors (p < 0.05) of failed early extubation. Multivariate analysis of these variables revealed old age with adjusted odds ratio of 4.6 (95% CI = 1.5-13.7) p < 0.01, diabetes with adjusted odds ratio of 3.2 (95% CI = 1.3-7.5) p < 0.01 and IABP used with adjusted odds ratio of 4.3 (95% CI = 1.3-14.6) p = 0.02 are the predictors of fail early extubation. The findings suggested early extubation is possible in OPCAB surgery and attention should be made when operate in patients who have old age, diabetes, and IABP used.