An analysis of long-term survival after pneumonectomy for lung cancer: A retrospective study of 20 years.

INTRODUCTION: The incidence of pneumonectomy for lung cancer in the UK is continuing to decline in the era of minimally invasive thoracic surgery totalling approximately 3.5% of lung cancer resections annually. Literature is lacking for long-term survival of pneumonectomies. This study updates our previous results. Between 1998 and 2008, 206 patients underwent pneumonectomy compared to 98 patients between 2009 and 2018. METHODS: From January 1998 until December 2018, 304 patients underwent pneumonectomy. This was a retrospective study; data was analysed for age, gender, laterality, histology and time period. RESULTS: Operative mortality was 4.3% overall which was lower than the national average of 5.8%. In the last five years, there were no in-hospital, operative or 30-day mortality. During this period, 90-day mortality was 9.2%. Left-sided pneumonectomies had significantly better overall survival (3.00 vs. 2.03 years; p = 0.0015), squamous cell carcinoma (3.23 vs. 1.54 years; p = 0.00012) as well as those aged less than 70 (2.79 vs. 2.13 years; p = 0.011). There was no significant difference in survival between gender (p = 0.48). Intervention from 1998 to 2008 had significantly greater survival compared to the latter 10 years (2.68 vs. 2.46 years; p = 0.031). The Cox model shows that laterality, age, histology and time period remain significant with multivariate testing. No patient survived after 16 years. DISCUSSION: Our updated retrospective study has built on our previous results by reinforcing the success of pneumonectomies. The incidence of pneumonectomies is likely to decrease with the deployment of nation-wide lung cancer screening in the UK due to earlier detection.

Acute endocarditis in a pregnant patient requiring post-partum emergency mitral valve repair: a case report.

A 37-year-old pregnant patient presented with symptoms of shortness of breath, cough and malaise at 36 weeks' gestation. Antibiotics were started because of suspected bilateral pneumonia. A lower segment caesarean section was undertaken and significant desaturation lead to intubation of the patient. A CTPA confirmed bilateral pneumonia but also elements of heart failure with a 32 mm dilated pulmonary artery. Severe mitral regurgitation was confirmed with trans-thoracic and trans-oesophageal echocardiogram on Day 5 and emergency mitral valve repair was undertaken for possible infective endocarditis (IE) as per the modified Duke criteria, which was confirmed intra-operatively. The patient completed 4 weeks of antibiotics and suffered mild memory impairment post-operatively. She was discharged from complex rehabilitation after 6 weeks of hospital stay at her baseline state. This case presents IE in a pregnant patient with no significant risk factors with successful recovery because of prompt diagnosis and management.

Redo aortic valve replacement versus valve-in-valve trans-catheter aortic valve implantation: a UK propensity-matched analysis.

This study sought to compare the morbidity and mortality of redo aortic valve replacement (redo-AVR) versus valve-in-valve trans-catheter aortic valve implantation (valve-in-valve TAVI) for patients with a failing bioprosthetic valve. A multicenter UK retrospective study of redo-AVR or valve-in-valve TAVI for patients referred for redo aortic valve intervention due to a degenerated aortic bioprosthesis. Propensity score matching was performed for confounding factors. From July 2005 to April 2021, 911 patients underwent redo-AVR and 411 patients underwent valve-in-valve TAVI. There were 125 pairs for analysis after propensity score matching. The mean age was 75.2±8.5 years. In-hospital mortality was 7.2% (n=9) for redo-AVR versus 0 for valve-in-valve TAVI, p=0.002. Surgical patients suffered more post-operative complications, including intra-aortic balloon pump support (p=0.02), early re-operation (p<0.001), arrhythmias (p<0.001), respiratory and neurological complications (p=0.02 and p=0.03) and multi-organ failure (p=0.01). The valve-in-valve TAVI group had a shorter intensive care unit and hospital stay (p<0.001 for both). However, moderate aortic regurgitation at discharge and higher post-procedural gradients were more common after valve-in-valve TAVI (p<0.001 for both). Survival probabilities in patients who were successfully discharged from the hospital were similar after valve-in-valve TAVI and redo-AVR over the 6-year follow-up (log-rank p=0.26). In elderly patients with a degenerated aortic bioprosthesis, valve-in-valve TAVI provides better early outcomes as opposed to redo-AVR, although there was no difference in mid-term survival in patients successfully discharged from the hospital.

The impact of antiarrhythmics on human pulmonary arteries: Ex vivo characterization.

Background and Aim: The safety and efficacy of the antiarrhythmic agents, amiodarone, and digoxin, in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH), is not described well in the literature, although their use is common practice. Our study aims to investigate the effect of these drugs on pulmonary arteries (PA) which may have implications for their use in patients with PH. Methods: Human PAs were obtained from consenting patients undergoing lobectomies. Arterials rings (n=40 from ten patients) were dissected form the tissue and mounted onto a multiwire myograph. The rings were preconstricted using prostaglandin F2α before the addition of additive dilutions of amiodarone and digoxin. Finally, the reagents were washed out and the arterial rings' viability was confirmed using acetylcholine and potassium chloride. Results: Amiodarone had a slightly vasodilatory effect on the arterial rings, whereas digoxin had a relatively neutral effect. Amiodarone caused the greatest vasodilatory response at 100 µM with an active tension of -0.494 gram force with an EC50 of 9.42 µM. Digoxin produced no significant vasodilatory or vasoconstrictive response. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the ex vivo effects of amiodarone and digoxin on human pulmonary arterial tension. The results of the study showed that neither amiodarone nor digoxin had any vasoconstrictive effects. Amiodarone also exhibited vasodilatory properties and, therefore, may be used preferentially as it could help reduce the impact of PH. However, more studies need to be conducted before we can confirm the safety of these drugs. Relevance for Patients: The ambivalence surrounding treatment of postoperative arrhythmias in patients with PH results is a significant disparity between individual cases. Our study takes the first step in elucidating, in which drugs may be a safer treatment for patients with the aim to resolve the doubts clinicians may have about using these treatments. The principal goal of our work is to ensure that we are providing patients with the most effective and, more importantly, safest treatment.

Is the use of dual antiplatelet therapy following urgent and emergency coronary artery bypass surgery associated with increased risk of cardiac tamponade?

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Cardiac tamponade is a recognized post-cardiac surgery complication, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. The 2016 American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association Guidelines recommended the use of Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (DAPT) in the management of patients undergoing urgent or emergency coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The effect of DAPT on cardiac tamponade rates was investigated in comparison to aspirin monotherapy (AMT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospectively collected data from a tertiary cardiac surgery center was analyzed to identify the patients who underwent urgent and emergency CABG between January 2015 and January 2018. The patients were categorized as aspirin monotherapy (AMT) and Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (DAPT) groups. The primary outcome was total cardiac tamponade rate and secondary outcomes were length of hospitalization and 30-days and 1-year mortality. RESULTS: A total of 246 eligible patients were included across both arms and compared for confounding variables. Cardiac tamponade was observed in 9 (7.3%) and 8 (6.5%) of AMT and DAPT groups, respectively (P=0.802). The average hospital stay in days was similar in both groups (AMT=8.4 vs. DAPT=8.1, P=0.82), whereas tamponade patients experienced a significantly longer hospitalization when compared to non-tamponade patients (9.8 vs. 8.1 days, P=0.047). The 30-days and 1-year mortality were similar in both groups and were 0.8% and 1.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Overall, this study demonstrated that DAPT in urgent or emergency CABG patients is not associated with an increased risk of cardiac tamponade, length of hospital stay or mortality. RELEVANCE FOR PATIENTS: This study demonstrated that the use of DAPT in patients undergoing CABG as an urgent or emergency procedure following myocardial infarction is not associated with an increased risk of bleeding and has many associated benefits.

Validation of Cardiac Surgery Score (CASUS) in Postoperative Cardiac Patients.

Introduction. Cardiac Surgery Score (CASUS) was introduced in 2005 as the first postoperative scoring system specific for patients who had cardiac surgery. Prior to this, European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) has been used preoperatively, while Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre Score (ICNARC) and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores, which are widely used in general intensive care unit population, have been used to score cardiac patients postoperatively. The development of CASUS by Hekmat and colleagues for use in postoperative cardiac patients aims to change this. We wanted to validate CASUS against the well-established preoperative Logistic EuroSCORE, and postoperative APACHE II and ICNARC scores. Method. Institutional approval for this study was granted by the Audit and Clinical Governance Committee. We analyzed prospectively collected data of patients who had cardiac surgery in Castle Hill Hospital between January 2016 and September 2018. All patients who underwent surgery in the unit would have had Logistic EuroSCORE, APACHE, and ICNARC scores calculated as standard. CASUS was then calculated for these patients based on their day 1 postoperative variables. The scoring systems were compared and data presented as area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Result. Our study shows that CASUS is the best predictor of mortality followed by ICNARC, Logistic EuroSCORE, and APACHE II. ICNARC score remains the most accurate predictor of renal and pulmonary complication followed by CASUS. Conclusion. CASUS is a useful scoring system in post-cardiac surgery patients. The accuracy of CASUS and ICNARC scores in predicting mortality, pulmonary, and renal complications are comparable.

Differential effects of atrial and brain natriuretic peptides on human pulmonary artery: An in vitro study.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, especially heart failure, continues to rise worldwide. In heart failure, increasing levels of circulating atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) are associated with a worsening of heart failure and a poor prognosis. AIM: To test whether a high concentration of BNP would inhibit relaxation to ANP. METHODS: Pulmonary arteries were dissected from disease-free areas of lung resection, as well as pulmonary artery rings of internal diameter 2.5-3.5 mm and 2 mm long, were prepared. Pulmonary artery rings were mounted in a multiwire myograph, and a basal tension of 1.61gf was applied. After equilibration for 60 min, rings were pre-constricted with 11.21 µmol/L PGF2α (EC80), and concentration response curves were constructed to vasodilators by cumulative addition to the myograph chambers. RESULTS: Although both ANP and BNP were found to vasodilate the pulmonary vessels, ANP is more potent than BNP. pEC50 of ANP and BNP were 8.96 ± 0.21 and 7.54 ± 0.18, respectively, and the maximum efficacy (Emax) for ANP and BNP was -2.03 gf and -0.24 gf, respectively. After addition of BNP, the Emax of ANP reduced from -0.96gf to -0.675gf (P = 0.28). CONCLUSION: BNP could be acting as a partial agonist in small human pulmonary arteries, and inhibits relaxation to ANP. Elevated levels of circulating BNP could be responsible for the worsening of decompensated heart failure. This finding could also explain the disappointing results seen in clinical trials of ANP and BNP analogues for the treatment of heart failure.

Giant right coronary artery aneurysm presenting as an STEMI.

Giant coronary artery aneurysms are an infrequent finding. They are typically discovered incidentally, rarely presenting with any symptoms. We present the case of a 72-year-old gentleman who presented with an ST elevated myocardial infarction. On investigation, the gentleman was found to have a giant right coronary artery aneurysm which was partially filled with a fresh thrombus. The thrombus occluded the RCA, triggering the myocardial infarction which leads to this gentleman's presentation to a tertiary cardiac centre. The gentleman underwent a successful resection of the aneurysm and coronary artery bypass graft over the RCA lesion with a saphenous vein conduit. This gentleman has since been discharged from hospital after an uncomplicated postoperative course.

The differential effects of systemic vasoconstrictors on human pulmonary artery tension.

OBJECTIVES: Acute pulmonary hypertension following cardiac surgery can have a significant effect on postoperative morbidity and mortality. However, limited data are available on the efficacy and potency of clinically used systemic vasopressors on the pulmonary vasculature. The aim of this study was to use human pulmonary artery to characterize the pharmacological effects of clinically used vasopressors on the human pulmonary vasculature. METHODS: Fifty-seven pulmonary artery rings of internal diameter 2-4 mm and 2 mm long, mounted in a multiwire myograph system, were used to measure changes in isometric tension. We constructed concentration response curves by cumulative addition to the myograph chambers of KCl, noradrenaline (NA), adrenaline (AD), vasopressin, endothelin-1 (ET-1) and prostaglandin F2a (PGF2a). RESULTS: AD, NA, ET-1, PGF2a and KCl caused dose-dependent vasoconstriction in the pulmonary artery samples (EC50 246 nM [95% confidence interval, CI, 153-394 nM], 150 nM [95% CI 51-447 nM], 1.46 nM [95% CI 0.69-3.1 nM], 6.35 µM [95% CI 3.58-11.2 µM] and 17.24 mM [95% CI 12.43-24.07 mM], respectively), whereas vasopressin had no significant effect. The order of efficacy was KCl = PGF2a > AD > NA > ET-1 and the order of potency was ET-1 T-AD = NA > PGF2a > KCl. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the efficacy and potency of clinically used vasopressors and endogenous vasopressors on human pulmonary vascular tone. PGF2a and KCl equally caused maximal amounts of constriction, whereas ET-1 had less effect and vasopressin had no effect. These effects may need to be taken into account in the clinical setting because they might result in the development of pulmonary hypertension.

Characterization of optimal resting tension in human pulmonary arteries.

AIM: To determine the optimum resting tension (ORT) for in vitro human pulmonary artery (PA) ring preparations. METHODS: Pulmonary arteries were dissected from disease free sections of the resected lung in the operating theatre and tissue samples were directly sent to the laboratory in Krebs-Henseleit solution (Krebs). The pulmonary arteries were then cut into 2 mm long rings. PA rings were mounted in 25 mL organ baths or 8 mL myograph chambers containing Krebs compound (37 °C, bubbled with 21% O2: 5% CO2) to measure changes in isometric tension. The resting tension was set at 1-gram force (gf) with vessels being left static to equilibrate for duration of one hour. Baseline contractile reactions to 40 mmol/L KCl were obtained from a resting tension of 1 gf. Contractile reactions to 40 mmol/L KCl were then obtained from stepwise increases in resting tension (1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 gf). RESULTS: Twenty PA rings of internal diameter between 2-4 mm were prepared from 4 patients. In human PA rings incrementing the tension during rest stance by 0.6 gf, up to 1.6 gf significantly augmented the 40 mmol/L KCl stimulated tension. Further enhancement of active tension by 0.4 gf, up to 2.0 gf mitigate the 40 mmol/L KCl stimulated reaction. Both Myograph and the organ bath demonstrated identical conclusions, supporting that the radial optimal resting tension for human PA ring was 1.61 g. CONCLUSION: The radial optimal resting tension in our experiment is 1.61 gf (15.78 mN) for human PA rings.