Cerebral Perfusion and Neuromonitoring during Complex Aortic Arch Surgery: A Narrative Review

: Complex ascending and aortic arch surgery requires the implementation of different cerebral protection strategies to avoid or limit the probability of intraoperative brain damage during circulatory arrest. The etiology of the damage is multifactorial, involving cerebral embolism, hypoperfusion, hypoxia and inflammatory response. These protective strategies include the use of deep or moderate hypothermia to reduce the cerebral oxygen consumption, allowing the toleration of a variable period of absence of cerebral blood flow, and the use of different cerebral perfusion techniques, both anterograde and retrograde, on top of hypothermia, to avoid any period of intraoperative brain ischemia. In this narrative review, the pathophysiology of cerebral damage during aortic surgery is described. The different options for brain protection, including hypothermia, anterograde or retrograde cerebral perfusion, are also analyzed, with a critical review of the advantages and limitations under a technical point of view. Finally, the current systems of intraoperative brain monitoring are also discussed

ANMCO/AIAC/SICI-GISE/SIC/SICCH Consensus Document : percutaneous occlusion of the left atrial appendage in non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients: Indications, patient selection, staff skills, organisation, and training

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and its prevalence is increasing due to the progressive aging of the population. About 20% of strokes are attributable to AF and AF patients are at five-fold increased risk of stroke. The mainstay of treatment of AF is the prevention of thromboembolic complications with oral anticoagulation therapy. Drug treatment for many years has been based on the use of vitamin K antagonists, but recently newer and safer molecules have been introduced (dabigatran etexilate, rivaroxaban, apixaban, and edoxaban). Despite these advances, many patients still do not receive adequate anticoagulation therapy because of contraindications (relative and absolute) to this treatment. Over the last decade, percutaneous closure of left atrial appendage, main site of thrombus formation during AF, proved effective in reducing thromboembolic complications, thus offering a valid medical treatment especially in patients at increased bleeding risk. The aim of this consensus document is to review the main aspects of left atrial appendage occlusion (selection and multidisciplinary assessment of patients, currently available methods and devices, requirements for centres and operators, associated therapies and follow-up modalities) having as a ground the significant evolution of techniques and the available relevant clinical data

A large genome-wide association study of age-related macular degeneration highlights contributions of rare and common variants.

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.3448Advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, with limited therapeutic options. Here we report on a study of >12 million variants, including 163,714 directly genotyped, mostly rare, protein-altering variants. Analyzing 16,144 patients and 17,832 controls, we identify 52 independently associated common and rare variants (P < 5 × 10(-8)) distributed across 34 loci. Although wet and dry AMD subtypes exhibit predominantly shared genetics, we identify the first genetic association signal specific to wet AMD, near MMP9 (difference P value = 4.1 × 10(-10)). Very rare coding variants (frequency <0.1%) in CFH, CFI and TIMP3 suggest causal roles for these genes, as does a splice variant in SLC16A8. Our results support the hypothesis that rare coding variants can pinpoint causal genes within known genetic loci and illustrate that applying the approach systematically to detect new loci requires extremely large sample sizes.We thank all participants of all the studies included for enabling this research by their participation in these studies. Computer resources for this project have been provided by the high-performance computing centers of the University of Michigan and the University of Regensburg. Group-specific acknowledgments can be found in the Supplementary Note. The Center for Inherited Diseases Research (CIDR) Program contract number is HHSN268201200008I. This and the main consortium work were predominantly funded by 1X01HG006934-01 to G.R.A. and R01 EY022310 to J.L.H

Impella 5.0/5.5 Implantation via Innominate Artery: Further Expanding the Opportunities for Temporary Mechanical Circulatory Support

When axillary/subclavian arteries are not suitable because of size or anatomy, alternative access for the Impella pump 5.0/5.5 via the innominate artery allows circulatory support and eventually de-escalation from VA-ECMO to isolated left-side support. Moreover, less invasive surgery without the need to open the pericardium reduces the risk of RV dysfunction and bleeding. Finally, upper body strategies allow early rehabilitation during support, which is associated with improved survival in cardiogenic shock

Bedside cardiac pocus in emergency setting: a practice review

Background: in the last years, ultrasound technology has entered in clinical practice as a tank and today, it has also allowed to no-cardiologists to extend and to deep their medical examination without the needing to call the consultant and having a good profile of diagnostic accuracy. The ultrasound bedside does not replace the consultant but it allows not to perform inappropriate consultations with more savings for hospitals. Objective: The aim was to review recently published literature to inform the clinician about the most up to date management of use bedside echography in emergency setting. In this short review we focused on two types of syndromes, no traumatichypotension and dyspnea, common to the three holistic disciplines of medicine, showing the main and basic questions and answers that ultrasound can give us for rapid identification of the problem. Methods: We conducted a systematic review using Pubmed/Medline, Ovid/Willey and Cochrane Library, combining key terms such as "cardiac ultrasound, "cardiac diseases","emergency medicine","pocus", "dyspnea"," hypotension". We selected the most relevant clinical trials and review articles (excluding case reports) published in the last 19 years and in our opinion 59 publications appeared the best choice according to the PRISMA statement. In additional papers identified from individual article reference lists were also included. Conclusion: Recent studies have shown promise in establishing best practices for evaluation of heart, lung abdomen and deep vessels At the moment bedside US is widely used in an integrated ultrasound vision just like the holistic view have internal medicine, intensive care and emergency medicine and many medical schools in Europe and the USA are inserting ultrasonography into the core curriculum but we still have to find a standard method for the training program for minimum competence acquisition

Documento di consenso ANMCO/AIAC/SICI-GISE/SIC/SICCH: Chiusura percutanea dell'auricola sinistra in pazienti con fibrillazione atriale non valvolare: Indicazioni, selezione del paziente, competenze e organizzazione e formazione degli operatori

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and its prevalence is increasing due to the progressive aging of the population. About 20% of strokes are attributable to AF and AF patients are at 5-fold increased risk of stroke. The mainstay of treatment of AF is the prevention of thromboembolic complications with oral anticoagulation therapy. Drug treatment for many years has been based on the use of Vitamin K antagonists, but recently newer and safer molecules have been introduced (dabigatran etexilate, rivaroxaban, apixaban and edoxaban). Despite these advances, many patients still do not receive adequate anticoagulation therapy because of contraindications (relative and absolute) to this treatment. Over the last decade, percutaneous closure of left atrial appendage, main site of thrombus formation during AF, proved effective in reducing thromboembolic complications, thus offering a valid medical treatment especially in patients at increased bleeding risk. The aim of this consensus document is to review the main aspects of left atrial appendage occlusion (selection and multidisciplinary assessment of patients, currently available methods and devices, requirements for centers and operators, associated therapies and follow-up modalities) having as a ground the significant evolution of techniques and the available relevant clinical data