Surgical Outcome of Postinfarction Left Ventricular Free Wall Rupture.

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular free wall rupture (LVFWR) is a rare and fatal complication after acute myocardial infarction. Early recognition and aggressive treatment are recommended. METHODS: Between August 1999 and February 2023, 11 patients aged between 64 and 79 years developed LVFWR after acute myocardial infarction (mean interval, 3.5 days). Three patients had active bleeding (blowout-type LVFWR), and the other 8 patients experienced the oozing or sealed state. Eight patients were treated using a sutureless technique with Teflon felt and glue, 2 patients were treated using the primary suture closure technique, and 1 was treated using both the primary suture and the sutureless technique with Teflon felt and glue. RESULTS: One patient died in the operating room as a result of bleeding. Cardiovascular stability and hemostasis were achieved in the other 10 patients. There were 3 early deaths (all 3 cases as a result of area bleeding; 1 was treated with primary suture, 2 with sutureless glue). Three patients received percutaneous coronary intervention before discharge. All 8 remaining patients survived and were discharged. Three patients were lost to follow-up. The follow-up period ranged from 2 to 97 months, with 4 patients exhibiting New York Heart Association class I symptoms and 1 exhibiting New York Heart Association class II symptoms. CONCLUSION: Optimal surgical treatment for postinfarction LVFWR remains controversial. The sutureless technique may be a promising strategy for treating postinfarction LVFWR.

Transfusion Risk and Clinical Knowledge (TRACK) Score and Cardiac Surgery in Patients Refusing Transfusion.

OBJECTIVE: The Transfusion Risk and Clinical Knowledge (TRACK) score is a simple tool to predict the chance of undergoing blood transfusion in cardiac surgery. The authors evaluated the relationship between the TRACK score and clinical outcomes of cardiac surgery in patients who refused blood transfusion. DESIGN: An observational study. SETTING: A single hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-six adult Jehovah's Witnesses refusing blood transfusion who underwent cardiac surgeries. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were divided into 2 groups according to their TRACK score: low-risk group (n = 57, TRACK score of less than 13) and high-risk group (n = 19, TRACK score of 13 or more). Perioperative and long-term clinical outcomes were compared between the 2 groups. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The operative mortality was 0% in the low-risk group, and 21.1% (n = 4) in the high-risk group (p = 0.003). The incidence of major postoperative complications was higher in the high-risk group (57.9%) than in the low-risk group (17.5%) (p = 0.002). The high-risk group had more postoperative bleeding-related complications (21.1%) than did the low-risk group (1.8%) (p = 0.013). There were no significant differences of predictive performance in mortality and morbidity between the TRACK score and EuroSCORE II. CONCLUSION: In cardiac surgery patients refusing transfusions, the TRACK score predicted postoperative morbidity and mortality of cardiac surgery.

Activated clotting time test alone is inadequate to optimize therapeutic heparin dosage adjustment during post-cardiopulmonary resuscitational extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (e-CPR).

BACKGROUND: We conducted an observational study to evaluate the relationship between activated clotting time (ACT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) tests, anticipating the possibility that the ACT will become a substitute test for the aPTT in post-CPR extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (e-CPR). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Three hundred and fifteen paired ACT and aPTT samples were derived from 60 in-hospital e-CPR patients and were divided into three groups according to the observed ACT value: low level (ACT < 170 s, Group A), intended target level (ACT 170-210 s Group B) and high level (ACT > 210 s, Group C). The relationship of aPTT in each group was analyzed. RESULTS: The mean ACT and aPTT values were 189.39 ± 48.27 s (IQR, 163-202) and 71.85 ± 45.32 s (IQR, 44.5-81.8), respectively. Although the observed mean ACT value of 189.39 s was similar to the intended mean target value of 190 s (p = 0.823), the observed mean aPTT value (71.85 s) was significantly lower than the predicted mean target value (77.5 s, p = 0.027). Despite the mean ACT values being significantly different in each group (p < 0.0001), the mean aPTT values were not statistically different between Groups A and B (p = 0.317). Of the Group B samples (n = 139), only 31 samples (22.3%) met the optimal therapeutic aPTT range. Pearson's correlation coefficient for Group B showed only a weak correlation between ACT and aPTT (r = 0.177; p = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that the ACT test alone does not seem to be enough to optimize therapeutic heparin dosage adjustment during e-CPR.

Cabrol-Type Aortocoronary Anastomosis Technique in Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery.

BACKGROUND: In conventional coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), multiple anastomoses in the ascending aorta are needed for multiple coronary targeting. We have introduced a single-site proximal anastomosis technique for multiple coronary targeting. A single anastomosis between the ascending aorta and graft was performed using a side-to-side maneuver (Cabrol type). Additionally, the graft was connected to another graft by end-to-end anastomosis for the coronary artery on the opposite side. We evaluated the long-term clinical outcome and graft patency of this Cabrol-type aortocoronary anastomosis technique. METHODS: From 2002 to 2012, a total of 483 patients (mean age, 64.6 years) underwent CABG using our Cabrol-type aortocoronary anastomosis technique. The average number of target coronary arteries per person was 3.4 ± 0.6. The mean follow-up duration was 74.2 ± 31.3 months; 98.7% of hospital survivors completed the follow-up. Postoperative coronary computed tomography angiography was performed in 377 patients (81.8%). RESULTS: Operative mortality was 4.6%. The actuarial overall survival rates at 1, 5, and 10 years were 97.8 ± 0.7%, 89.3 ± 1.5%, and 69.0 ± 3.9%, respectively. The actuarial major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event-free survival rates at 1, 5, and 10 years were 95.7 ± 0.9%, 80.1 ± 2.0%, and 60.8 ± 3.7%, respectively. One- and 5-year patency rates of the Cabrol-type aortocoronary graft were 81.1 ± 2.2% and 61.3 ± 3.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our Cabrol-type aortocoronary anastomosis technique did not have superior clinical outcomes and graft patency compared with conventional CABG. However, this technique might be an alternative option in select patients with atherosclerotic disease of the ascending aorta, or other embarrassing situations.

Clinical significance of cerebrovascular complications in patients with acute infective endocarditis: a retrospective analysis of a 12-year single-center experience.

BACKGROUND: Cerebrovascular complications (CVCs) frequently occur in patients with acute infective endocarditis (IE). The aim of this study is to describe the clinical findings of CVCs and to evaluate the impact of CVCs on long-term mortality in patients with IE. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 144 patients who fulfilled the modified Duke's criteria for definite left-sided IE. CVCs were classified into minor (silent cerebral embolism, TIA and stroke with an initial modified Rankin scale ≤ 2) or major (an initial modified Rankin scale ≥ 3) CVCs. Cox proportional hazards model was used for mortality analysis. Hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were obtained. RESULTS: The mean age of the 144 patients (96 males and 48 females) was 49.1 years (range 6-85 years). A CVC was found in 37 (25.7%) patients. Of these, 25 were treated with surgical therapy. The patients who underwent early surgery within 2 weeks after stroke had a statistical trend toward a higher risk of postoperative brain hemorrhage (50% versus 4.8%, P = 0.057 by Fisher exact test). The minor CVC group had a similar risk of death as the no-CVC group (P = 0.803; HR 0.856; CI 0.253-2.894), whereas the major CVC group had a higher mortality (P = 0.013; HR 2.865; CI 1.254-6.548) than the no-CVC group. In the multivariate analysis, major CVC (P = 0.002; HR 3.893; CI 1.649-9.194) was a significant predictor of mortality in IE patients, together with advanced age (P = 0.005; HR 3.138; CI 1.421-6.930) and prosthetic valve IE (P = 0.008; HR 2.819; CI 1.315-6.044). CONCLUSIONS: IE can give rise to various forms of CVC, most frequently, acute ischemic brain lesions. In our study, major CVC was associated with high risk of mortality although total CVC was not significantly related to the risk of death in patients with IE.

Single and multiple valve surgery in native valve infective endocarditis.

BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment of infective endocarditis (IE) remains a challenge, especially in cases of multiple valve surgery. We evaluated the clinical outcomes of native valve IE and compared the outcomes of single valve surgery with those of multiple valve surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 1997 to 2011, 90 patients underwent surgery for native valve IE; 67 patients with single valve surgery (single valve group) and 23 patients with multiple valve surgery (multiple valve group). The mean follow-up duration was 73.1±47.4 months. RESULTS: The surgical mortality in the total cohort was 4.4%. The overall survival (p=0.913) and valve-related event-free survival (p=0.204) did not differ between the two groups. The independent predictor of postoperative complications was New York Heart Association class (p=0.001). Multiple valve surgery was not a significant predictor of surgical mortality (p=0.225) or late mortality (p=0.936). Uncontrolled infection, urgent or emergency surgery, and postoperative complications were identified as independent predictors of valve-related morbidity, excluding multiple valve surgery (p=0.072). CONCLUSION: In native valve IE, multiple valve surgery as a factor was not an independent predictor of mortality and morbidity. The number of surgically corrected valves in native IE seems to be unrelated to perioperative and long-term outcomes.

Emergency one-stage hybrid surgery for ruptured aneurysm of the distal aortic arch.

Rupture of an aortic arch aneurysm is a life-threatening condition that requires emergency operation. For rupture of a distal arch aneurysm, we performed--with the patient under total circulatory arrest--an emergency total arch replacement with an elephant-trunk procedure, followed by one-stage antegrade stent-grafting. Prompt institution of cardiopulmonary bypass and total circulatory arrest has the advantage of lessening the risk of overt aortic rupture in this emergency situation.

Eleven years of experience with the neurologic complications in Korean patients with acute aortic dissection: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: This study attempts to explore the clinical features, possible mechanisms and prognosis of the neurologic complications in patients with acute aortic dissection (AD). METHODS: Medical records of 278 consecutive patients with AD (165 with type A and 113 with type B dissection) over 11.5 years were retrospectively analyzed for clinical history, CT findings, neurologic complications and outcome. Neurologic complications were classified into early-onset or delayed-onset complications. Independent t-test or Chi-square test (or Fisher exact test) was used for comparing the different groups. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the independent association between variables. RESULTS: The mean age of the included patients (145 male and 133 female) was 59.4 years (range 19-91 years). 41 patients (14.7%) had a neurologic complication, which included 21 with early-onset complication and 23 with delayed-onset complication, including 3 with both. Advanced age and classic type of dissection were independently associated with the neurologic complication in patients with type A dissection. The most frequent manifestation was ischemic stroke (26 patients, 9.4%), followed by hypoxic encephalopathy (9, 3.2%), ischemic neuropathy (5, 1.8%), spinal cord ischemia (5, 1.8%), seizure (2, 0.7%), hoarseness (1, 0.4%) and septic encephalopathy (1, 0.4%). Overall in-hospital mortality was 10.1%, whereas the complicated group had a mortality rate of 43.9%. Renal impairment, pulse deficit, neurologic complication and nonsurgical treatment were independent variables for determining in-hospital mortality in patients with type A dissection. CONCLUSIONS: The dominance of neurologic symptom in the early stage of AD may make its early diagnosis difficult. Besides chest pain and widened mediastinum in chest x-ray, variable neurologic symptoms including left hemiparesis with asymmetric pulse and hypotension may suggest underlying AD.

A simplified inversion technique for the frozen elephant trunk procedure using a four-branched graft.

During the frozen elephant trunk (FET) procedure using a four-branched graft, making a distal anastomosis between the noninverted proximal graft and the distal stented aorta is quite challenging and takes time. Here, we introduce a simplified inversion technique for the FET procedure that uses a four-branched graft. This technique makes the distal anastomosis easy and secure, which would contribute to decreasing the circulatory arrest and ischemic time.

Long-term mortality and morbidity after button Bentall operation.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long-term outcomes of the button Bentall procedure for the correction of aortic root disease. METHODS: A total of 195 patients who underwent the button Bentall procedure between 1997 and 2010 were studied. The main pathology was annuloaortic ectasia. A mechanical valve was used in 163 patients (83.6%). The median duration of follow-up was 64 months (14133.0 patient-years). RESULTS: There were five operative deaths (2.6%). Late overall mortality was 7.9%. The actuarial overall survival rate was 95.8 ± 1.5% at 5 years, 89.6 ± 3.4% at 10 years, and 75.9 ± 7.3% at 15 years. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified preoperative poor mobility, cardiopulmonary bypass time, deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) use, embolism, and bleeding event as significant independent risk factors for the late overall mortality. At 5, 10, and 15 years, actuarial composite valve graft-related event-free survival was 85.8 ± 2.8%, 75.5 ± 4.4%, and 69.3 ± 7.3%, respectively. Hypertension and concomitant coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) were independent predictors of composite valve graft-related events. Age, concomitant CABG, and DHCA use were associated with bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: Valve-related morbidities, such as embolism and bleeding, determine the long-term overall mortality in aortic root replacement with button Bentall operation, similar to that in routine valve surgery.

A case of papillary fibroelastoma in the left ventricle.

Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma (CPF) is a rare and benign primary cardiac neoplasm of unknown prevalence. The incidence of CPF in the left ventricle is lower than that in other parts of the heart. A 65-year-old female was referred to our cardiology department for evaluation of a cardiac mass of the left ventricle. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a 1.8 × 1.7 cm highly mobile round mass attached by a stalk to the apical inferior wall of the left ventricle with an echolucent area. The mass was successfully removed without any postoperative complications and was identified as a CPF.

Circumferential left atrium resection for treating a giant left atrium.

BACKGROUND: An enlarged left atrium (LA) is a major risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence after a maze operation. METHODS: Between 2000 and 2009, 35 patients underwent circumferential left atrium resection (CLAR), during mitral valve surgery. All patients had continuous AF. RESULTS: Hospital mortalities occurred in two patients (5.7%). Postoperative bleeding occurred in two patients (5.7%). The average follow-up was 64 months. The mean New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class had significantly decreased to 1.16 ± 0.37 from 2.77 ± 0.65 (p < 0.01). The mean LA dimension and the cardiothoracic ratio had significantly decreased to 52.8 ± 7.9 mm, and 0.55 ± 0.06 from 72.6 ± 11.0 mm, and 0.66 ± 0.11, respectively (p < 0.01). The mean early postoperative LA volume had decreased to 178 ± 68 mL (102-343 mL) from 332 ± 133 mL (124-655 mL) (p < 0.001). These LA volume reductions had been maintained until the last echocardiogram, which was done at an average of 29 months. In patients who underwent the maze procedure, the rate of sinus rhythm restoration was 82.1%, 81.5%, and 74% at three to six months, one year, and the last visit, respectively. CONCLUSION: CLAR significantly reduced the LA volume. CLAR had an additional beneficial effect with the maze procedure of a relative rate of sinus rhythm restoration. To clarify the role of CLAR in marked symptom improvements after mitral valve surgery in patients with a giant LA, well-designed comparative studies are required.

Elephant trunk fabric bleeding during second-stage thoraco-abdominal aneurysm repair.

Bleeding from the elephant trunk fabric is a rare and under-recognized complication during second-stage thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. In this article, we report one case of bleeding from the elephant trunk fabric and discuss the possible causes, management and prevention of this complication.

Eleven years' experience with Korean cardiac myxoma patients: focus on embolic complications.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac myxomas are rare but are the most common cardiac tumors. This study is based on our clinical experience with cardiac myxomas over a period of 11 years at Sejong General Hospital. We focused on the embolic complications of patients with cardiac myxoma. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 59 consecutive patients with cardiac myxoma who were treated between January 2000 and March 2011. The myxomas were divided into two types: type 1, with an irregular or villous surface and a soft consistency, and type 2, with a smooth surface and a compact consistency. The 59 investigated patients were classified into the embolic group and the non-embolic group. RESULTS: Cardiac obstructive symptoms, embolic events and constitutional symptoms were observed in 37 (62.7%), 13 (22.0%) and 10 (16.9%) patients, respectively. When the embolic and non-embolic groups were compared, there were no significant differences in vascular risk factors, the ejection fraction, the left atrial diameter or the tumor size. However, type 1 myxomas were significantly more frequent in the embolic group (p = 0.009 by Fisher's exact test). A binary logistic regression analysis showed that type 1 pathology alone was independently associated with myxoma-related embolism (p = 0.008; odds ratio 10.056; 95% confidence interval 1.828-55.337). There were no operative deaths in any of the 59 patients studied. Among the 13 patients with embolism, 11 (84.6%) had brain infarcts. The main patterns of the lesions were multiple lesions (8 out of 11 patients, 72.7%) and lesions in the middle cerebral artery territories (7 out of 11 patients, 63.6%). The other 2 patients were found to have occlusion of the left central retinal artery and left external iliac artery. Additionally, incidental cerebral aneurysms were found in the latter case. There was no recurrence of myxoma or myxoma-related symptoms in the 53 patients receiving outpatient management during the follow-up period (range 2 months to 11 years). CONCLUSIONS: The embolic potential of myxoma was associated with an irregular surface pathology but not with vascular risk factors. Echocardiography should be performed in patients with embolic events, especially when cerebral infarcts with multiple territorial lesions are detected. Surgical resection is a relatively safe and curative procedure for cardiac myxoma.

Peripheral vascular reconstruction using deep vein graft for critically ill patients.

The great saphenous veins are gaining wide popularity as acceptable native vascular grafts, but in terms of flow capacity, their small caliber may be unsuitable for immediate replacement of arterial flow. Ten peripheral vascular or central venous reconstructions were performed using superficial femoral vein free grafts for re-establishment of immediate high-flow patency. Seven of the patients were men with a mean age of 61.5 ± 17.9 years (range, 21-81 years). The majority of the patients were of preoperative or intraoperative critically ill statuses in that they had extensive infection (n = 5), bleeding (n = 4), renal failure (n = 3) or hepatic failure (n = 1). The mean preoperative physiology score of the vascular POSSUM was 24.1 ± 8.8 (range, 15-37), and the mean operative severity score was 18.4 ± 4.9 (range, 10-26). All patients survived and recovered from systemic infection or critical hemodynamic instability. During the mean 28.9 months of follow-up, complications such as aneurysmal dilation, recurrent infection, graft stenosis/occlusion, lower limb edema and other clinical problems that required attention were not observed. In conclusion, we determined that deep veins can be applied as ideal graft conduits for reconstructing the major peripheral vessels under complicated conditions in select patients.

The detection of pulmonary embolisms after a coronary artery bypass graft surgery by the use of 64-slice multidetector CT.

The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE) after a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) using 64-slice multidetector CT (MDCT), and to determine the correlations between the occurrence of a PE and the clinical or surgical parameters. Three hundred and twenty-six consecutive patients, who underwent coronary CT angiography using 64-slice MDCT to assess the graft patency after CABG, were enrolled in this study. Additional axial CT images, which were reconstructed by adopting a large field of view and thinner image slices, were reviewed for the presence of PE. The relationship between the occurrence of a PE and the type of surgery (off-pump CABG versus conventional CABG), number of target vessels, use of a saphenous vein graft, and length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) were evaluated. PE was detected on the CT images of 33 patients (10.1%), which involved the lobar or more proximal arteries in seven patients and the segmental or subsegmental arteries in 26. PE occurred more frequently after off-pump CABG (16.5%, 14/85) than after conventional CABG (7.9%, 19/241) (P = 0.024). Patients with PE were older (67 years vs. 62.7 years) and had longer stays in the ICU (5.6 days vs. 3.8 days) than those without (P = 0.013 and P = 0.007, respectively). No significant difference was observed in the number of target vessels and use of a saphenous vein graft between patients with and without an embolism. In a multi-variable analysis, the age of the patient, surgical methods, and ICU stay were independent predictors for the occurrence of PE (P = 0.013, P = 0.017, and P = 0.005, respectively). MDCT helps detect PE in patients after CABG. It is encountered more frequently after off-pump CABG than after conventional CABG and in older patients with longer ICU stays.

Preoperative Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Severe Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation - 2 case reports -.

Indication for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been extended as the experience of ECMO in various clinical settings accumulates and the outcome after ECMO installation improves. We report two cases of successful mitral valve surgery for severe ischemic mitral regurgitation in patients on ECMO support for cardiogenic shock which developed upon coronary angiography.

Aortic root and ascending aortic aneurysm in an adult with a repaired tetralogy of fallot.

Surgical repair of the tetralogy of Fallot is one of the most successful operations in the treatment of congenital heart diseases. We report the case of a 65-year-old man who had an aortic valve replacement at the time of complete repair of the tetralogy of Fallot at the age of forty-three. He subsequently had progressive aortic root and ascending aorta dilation to 9 cm. The aortic root and ascending aorta replacement was done using a composite valve-graft and was performed along with other procedures. Thus, meticulous follow-up of aortic root and ascending aorta after corrective surgery for tetralogy of Fallot is recommended following initial curative surgery.

Integration of gene-expression profiles and pathway analysis in ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms.

BACKGROUND: Despite the increasing incidence of ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms, their pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms remain unknown. The aim of this study was to identify the biological pathways of genes that are expressed differentially in ascending aortic aneurysms. METHODS: Aneurysm wall tissues were obtained from thoracic aortic aneurysms during their repair and normal thoracic aortas from organ transplant patients. The differential expression of genes was analyzed by NimbleGen microarrays. The biological pathways and processes were identified using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome pathway analysis and gene ontology analysis. RESULTS: Among 45,034 genes, 95 were differentially expressed (>two-fold change compared with control). A total of 76 genes were up-regulated and 19 genes were down-regulated in patients with ascending thoracic aneurysm. Analysis of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways revealed 26 biologically functional pathways in the following categories: focal adhesion, cell junctions, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor signaling pathway, extracellular matrix-receptor interaction, T-cell-receptor signaling pathway, B-cell-receptor signaling pathway, and regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. Differentially expressed genes were associated with 123 different gene ontology biological processes: transport, signal transduction, inflammatory response, chemotaxis, and immune response. CONCLUSION: We identified that differentially expressed genes are associated with the pathways that are mainly involved in interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix, and with immune function. The reported data provide useful information on the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of ascending aortic aneurysms.