Increase in size of the pulmonary autograft after the Ross operation in children: growth or dilation?

OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess growth properties of the pulmonary autograft after the Ross operation in children. METHODS: Eight infants with critical aortic stenosis who underwent the Ross operation early in life (median age, 6.4 months) were followed up regarding the possible growth of the autograft. The pulmonary autograft was measured repeatedly by echocardiography during the follow-up, ranging from 6 months to 7 years (median, 5.2 years). Twelve normal children who served as control subjects were similarly followed from 3.9 to 5.8 years (median, 4.9 years). RESULTS: Somatic growth during the follow-up period was significant and was reflected in a doubling of the body surface area, which increased from 0.33 +/- 0.14 m(2) to 0.74 +/- 0.21 m(2). The proximal part of the autograft increased from 13.6 +/- 3.6 mm to 23.3 +/- 3.7 mm (mean +/- SD) and the distal part from 10.5 +/- 2.5 mm to 15.9 +/- 2.8 mm. Growth pattern of the autograft was analyzed by relating measured diameters to predicted normal diameters (ie, Z values). During the first year after the operation, the mean Z value of the proximal autograft increased from 0.2 to 2.2, indicating a more rapid increase than the predicted increase and was also significantly higher than that of the control group (P =.01). After the first year, Z-value changes in patients and control subjects were very similar. CONCLUSIONS: We thus conclude that the pulmonary autograft in the aortic position after the Ross operation does increase in size and that the pattern of this increase is suggestive of passive dilation in the early postoperative period, followed by normal active growth.

Inflammatory reactions following homograft insertion in children with congenital heart disease.

A study was carried out to assess significant short-term postoperative complications in children undergoing valved homograft surgery for congenital heart defects. Clinical and laboratory parameters of 50 patients undergoing this type of surgery were compared with those of 50 randomly selected but age-matched controls in whom open-heart surgery was performed without a homograft. Extracorporeal circulation, aortic clamping and intensive care times and the duration of febrile response were significantly longer in the study patients than in the controls (each p < 0.0001). In laboratory data the only significant difference between the two groups was in the C-reactive protein response, which was high in the study group (p < 0.0004) and did not correlate with extracorporeal circulation time or with positive blood cultures. The prolonged febrile and acute-phase reactant response following valved homograft surgery is an inflammatory reaction to the foreign antigen.

Aortic valve replacement with a pulmonary autograft in infants with critical aortic stenosis.

Seven patients with critical aortic stenosis underwent aortic valve replacement with a pulmonary autograft (the Ross operation) between the ages of 5 weeks and 9 months. The operation was considered mandatory for survival because of continued severe heart failure or valve avulsion. Six of the patients had undergone unsuccessful previous palliations, such as commissurotomy, balloon dilation, and transventricular valvotomy, performed singly (n = 1) or in combination (n = 5). The other patient with a severely hypoplastic aortic valve ring underwent the Ross procedure as a primary operation. Two operative deaths occurred. In both cases severe endocardial fibroelastosis was detected at autopsy. One late death 1 year after the operation resulted from progressive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and pulmonary hypertension. The rest of the patients are doing well, without medications. Apart from trivial regurgitation in two patients, the pulmonary autograft is performing well.

Balloon dilation of stenotic aortic valve in children. An intraoperative study.

Ten children in the age range of 3 to 17 years with moderate to severe aortic valve stenosis (gradients of 55 to 109 mm Hg) underwent cardiac operations. At the time of the operation, during bypass, balloon dilation of the stenotic valve was performed and the results were visually assessed by the surgeon. Of the 10 consecutive cases, only three showed dilation results that were comparable to what seems optimal from a surgical point of view. The adverse effects in the remaining seven patients and the corrective measures taken were as follows: (1) too extensive a rupture requiring stabilizing sutures in one patient; (2) too short a rupture, requiring additional commissurotomy in three patients; (3) rupture into the valve leaflet, requiring valve suture and corrective comissurotomy in another three patients. This last, rather serious complication occurred in patients having functionally bicuspid valves with slightly thickened free valve edges, whereas valves with severely thickened edges ruptured in the commissure line but often to an insufficient degree. Because of the high incidence of suboptimal separation of the stenotic aortic valves with balloon dilation, we recommend that further evaluation of long-term results and identification of unsuitable cases should precede widespread use of the technique.

Conservative surgery for mitral valve prolapse with regurgitation: clinical follow-up and noninvasive assessment.

To evaluate the result of mitral valve repair in pure regurgitation due to mitral valve prolapse with or without chordal rupture, 11 patients were followed noninvasively for 2.0 to 3.5 years and clinically for at least 5 years in a prospective study. The patients were operated upon before ominous signs of left ventricular dysfunction appeared, all patients being in functional class III, with an ejection fraction of at least 0.50 and mean velocity of circumferential fibre shortening above 1.0. There was no operative mortality. No thrombo-embolic episodes occurred during follow-up. Ten of the 11 patients were alive 5 years postoperatively. One patient died 9 months after the initial repair shortly after reoperation for mitral and tricuspid regurgitation. The other patients all showed definite clinical improvement. Confirming the experience of others, the two patients with ruptured chordae to the anterior mitral leaflet and the only patient with a thick anterior mitral leaflet all had moderate mitral regurgitation postoperatively. Complete repair of mitral valve prolapse is feasible and gives a good functional result of long duration. The results of this study support early mitral repair when complete restoration of ventricular size and function is still possible.

Use of muscle flaps in the treatment of infected sternotomy.

Deep wound infection after open-heart surgery remains a major problem. In this paper potential indications and techniques for use of muscle flaps in the treatment of chronic sternal infections are discussed and the authors' early experience with such treatment is presented. A well vascularized muscle flap fills out the defect, may help to control infection, and accelerates healing. After adequate excision of infected tissue, bone and cartilage, the resulting defect is covered with a muscle flap immediately or after a period of open treatment. Coverage with a flap of pectoralis major muscle was used in five patients 3 weeks to 6 months after cardiac surgery. Primary healing occurred in two patients, secondary healing in one and healing with residual fistula in one patient. In the fifth case there was uneventful recovery with primary healing until death occurred from cerebral haemorrhage after 3 weeks. Use of muscle flaps seems to be a valuable complement in the management of severe sternotomy infections.

Total anatomic correction of interrupted aortic arch complex. Experience in 4 infants.

In two cases of interrupted aortic arch (IAA) of type A, one associated with a ventricular septal defect (VSD) and one with an aortopulmonary window, and two of type B, both associated with a VSD, total anatomic repair was performed at respective ages of 6 months and 24, 8 and 3 days. All four operations were performed through a median sternotomy, using profound hypothermia and circulatory arrest. The repair included resection of the patent ductus arteriosus, direct end-to-side anastomosis of the descending to the ascending aorta and closure of the VSD or, in one case, of the aortopulmonary window. The two oldest infants (with type A IAA) survived. Reexamination two years postoperatively demonstrated good width of the aortic anastomosis with no gradient. In the child who had had an aortopulmonary window there was a proximal tight stenosis of the right pulmonary artery, which was corrected at reoperation. Total anatomic correction of IAA through an anterior approach is technically feasible and the aortic anastomosis seems to grow satisfactorily. The management of very sick neonates with IAA remains a great challenge.

Lower-extremity ischemia in aortic dissection. Report of three cases.

Reports are presented of three hypertensive men with aortic dissection and signs of peripheral (leg) ischemia. The dissection was of type III b in two cases and type I in one case. Hypotensive medication was given in all cases, but in two of them peripheral vascular surgery became necessary to re-establish the circulation, while in the third case the hypotensive treatment sufficed for improvement of the leg circulation. Collaboration between thoracic and vascular surgeons can be of value in cases of aortic dissection with peripheral ischemia.

Strut fractures in De Bakey aortic valves.

In two of six patients with a De Bakey aortic valve prosthesis implanted in 1973, strut fractures occurred after 7.5 and 9 years, respectively. In one case the cage and ball embolized and the outcome was fatal. The second case was recognized before embolization had occurred, and the valve could be successfully replaced. Valve replacement is recommended in cases with a De Bakey aortic prosthesis of the described type.

Differentiated treatment of intrathoracic oesophageal perforations.

A series of 44 consecutive patients with oesophageal perforation treated during the ten-year period 1969-1978 has been reviewed. Thirty perforations were caused by oesophagoscopy using a rigid instrument, often combined with dilation and/or biopsy, 4 were caused by a fibreoptic instrument and 10 were spontaneous ruptures. A benign stricture was the most commonly associated lesion in the oesophagus. Six patients with an iatrogenic perforation were treated conservatively without mortality. These patients were characterized by mild symptoms, early recognition, minor leakage from the oesophagus and no communication to the pleural cavity. Fourteen patients were treated with closed thoracic drainage. The overall mortality among these patients was 70%, but for those with a spontaneous rupture it was 100%. Twenty-four patients were treated surgically with a mortality of 20%. Individualized treatment is recommended.

Thermographic demonstration of uneven myocardial cooling in patients with coronary lesions.

Low temperature is an important factor in protecting the myocardium during an operation on the heart. This can be difficult to accomplish if the cold cardioplegic solution is hindered by occlusions or stenosis of the coronary arteries. We used thermography to study myocardial temperature during infusion of cold cardioplegic solution. Slow cooling was recorded distal to coronary stenosis or occlusions, thereby indicating insufficient protection of the myocarium in these areas.

Our experience with the Carpentier-Edwards bioprosthesis.

Sixty Carpentier-Edwards porcine valve bioprostheses stabilized with glutaraldehyde were implanted in 55 patients with acquired and congenital heart disease. The follow-up period ranged between 1 and 12 months. There were 3 hospital deaths (5%) and 2 late deaths (4%) in 24 mitral, 24 aortic, 5 mitral-aortic, 1 tricuspid and 1 pulmonary valve replacements. All patients were anticoagulated from the second postoperative day onwards for a period of 3 months after which those with sinus rhythm had their anticoagulants withdrawn. Paravalvular leakage led to re-operation in 3 cases (4%). No valve failure due to cusp rupture was encountered and no thromboembolic complications have occurred. Thirty-three patients were studied postoperatively by non-invasive methods and the results are presented.