The beneficial effect of anticoagulation in aortic bioprosthesis is associated with its size

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the clinical and echocardiographic outcomes in aortic valve replacement (AVR) patients with aortic bioprosthesis under oral anticoagulation (OA). Methods: Patients who underwent AVR with bioprosthesiswere prospectively enrolled. They were classified based on postoperative use of OA. Clinical and operative variables were collected. Echocardiographic and clinical follow-ups were performed two years after surgery. The primary outcome evaluated was change in transprosthetic gradient. Secondary outcomes analyzed were change in New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, major bleeding episodes, hospitalization, stroke, and transient ischemic attack. Results: We included 103 patients (61 without OA and 42 with OA). Clinical characteristics were similar among groups, except for younger age (76±6.3 vs. 72.4±8.1 years, P=0.016) and higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation (0% vs. 23.8%, P<0.001) in the OA group. Mean (21.4±10 mmHg vs. 16.8±7.7 mmHg, P=0.037) and maximum (33.4±13.7 mmHg vs. 28.4±10.2 mmHg, P=0.05) transprosthetic gradients were higher in patients without OA. Improvement in NYHA class was more frequent in patients with OA (73% vs. 45.3%, P=0.032). Major bleeding, stroke, and hospitalization were similar among groups. OA was the only independent predictor for improvement of NYHA class after multivariate logistic regression analysis (odds ratio [OR]: 5.9, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2-29.4; P=0.028). Stratification by prosthesis size showed that patients with ≤ 21 mm prosthesis benefited from OA. Conclusion: Early anticoagulation after AVR with bioprosthesis was associated with significant decrease of transprosthesis gradient and improvement in NYHA class. These associations were seen mainly in patients with ≤ 21 mm prosthesis.

Previous cardiac surgery: a predictor of mortality in aortic valve replacement?

Abstract Introduction: Previous cardiac surgery (PCS) is a risk factor for operative mortality in pa-tients undergoing reoperative aortic valve replacement (AVR) and may be influenced by the volume of patients in each center. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of AVR in patients with previous cardiac surgery in a low volume cardiac center (400 cases per year). Methods: Between January 2006 and December 2016, 854 patients underwent isolated AVR surgery at our institution. Of these, 70 had PCS. Propensity match (PM) was per-formed to balance basal covariates. Operative mortality and survival were the primary outcomes. Results: The PCS and first-time surgery (FTS) groups had significant differences in base-line characteristics (PCS group were older, higher incidence of hypertension, endocarditis, NYHA III/IV, lower LVEF, higher creatinine and higher EuroSCORE). In the unmatched population, patients with PCS had higher operative mortality (17.1% vs. 4.6%, P=0.001). In the PM groups, this difference was not significant (12.5% and 3.6%, P=0.08). The only independent predictors for operative mortality found in the PCS group were age and fe-male gender. Age and diabetes were identified as the only independent predictors of sur-vival. Conclusion: PCS was not a predictor for operative mortality nor long-term survival in pa-tients undergoing isolated aortic valve replacement.

Identificación del ganglio centinela en carcinoma epidermoide de vulva en estadíos precoces: inicio del protocolo del Servicio de Ginecología del Hospital Oncológico "Padre Machado" / Ganglion sentry identification in vulve epidermoid carcinome stadiums: protocol begining of the gynecology service of the Oncological Hospital Padre Machado

El carcinoma de vulva es una patología ginecológica infrecuente, cuyo factor pronóstico más importante es el estado ganglionar. Con la finalidad de ahorrar la morbilidad de la linfadenectomía inguinal a la mayoría de las pacientes en estadíos precoces, surge la técnica de detección de ganglio centinela como una alternativa para seleccionar a las pacientes que verdaderamente se benefician del vencimiento inguinal. Se presenta el primer caso de la serie a realizar en el Hospital Oncológico "Padre Machado". Se trata de una paciente de 60 años con lesión exofítica en labio mayor derecho, con histología compatible con carcinoma epidermoide y sin evidencia clínica o paraclínica de metástasis ganglionares o distancia a quien se le practica biopsia de ganglio centinela, hermivulvectomía posterior y disección ipsilateral. Se hace una revisión de la literatura