Preoperative platelet inhibition with ASA does not influence postoperative blood loss following coronary artery bypass grafting

INTRODUCTION: Platelet inhibition is thought to increase perioperative blood loss in patients with planned coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). This retrospective study reviews the results of over 10 000 patients with CABG, comparing continued platelet inhibition with preoperative disruption of this therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1995 to 2007, 12 023 patients underwent isolated CABG and were included in this study. The data were evaluated with regard to preoperative aspirin therapy, EuroScore relevant risk factors, and the operative results. Parameters of the operative outcome were in-hospital mortality, perioperative infarctions, reexploration rate, strokes, pericardial tamponade, blood transfusions, and perioperative drainage loss. RESULTS: The patients were divided into two groups: group A (continuous aspirin therapy till surgery [n = 2519]), and group B (patients with preoperative interruption of their aspirin therapy for at least five days [n = 9504]). There was no difference between the groups with regard to age, EuroScore (4.3 +/- 2.8 vs. 4.2 +/- 2.9), emergency cases (8.8 % vs. 8.7 %), left main stenoses (17.9 % vs. 17.6 %), duration of surgery (198 +/- 53 vs. 198 +/- 52 min.) and sex distribution. The postoperative drainage loss did not differ between groups A and B (834 +/- 781 ml vs. 902 +/- 811 ml), nor did the number of postoperatively administered red cell packages (0.88 +/- 2.7 vs. 1.01 +/- 2.9). When analyzing the three subgroups "on-pump primary CABG", "OPCAB procedures", and "redo CABG", again no difference was found in the main outcome parameters. Only the redo CABG of group B had a higher reexploration rate compared to group A (5 % vs. 3.3 %, P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Preoperative aspirin therapy does not seem to influence the operative outcome of isolated CABG. Therefore, the often given recommendation to stop this therapy prior to elective CABG procedures should be abandoned

Mid term outcome and quality of life after aortic valve replacement in elderly people: mechanical versus stentless biological valves

Objective: To assess the benefit for patients older than 65 years of aortic valve replacement with stentless biological heart valves in comparison with mechanical valves. Design: Multiple regression analysis of a retrospective follow up study. Setting: Single cardiothoracic centre. Patients: Between 1996 and 2001, 392 patients with a mean age of 74 years underwent aortic valve replacement with stentless Freestyle bioprostheses or mechanical St Jude Medical prostheses. Main outcome measure: Operative mortality and morbidity, postoperative morbid events, mid term survival, and New York Heart Association (NYHA) class improvement, and quality of life. Results: No significant differences were found between patients receiving stentless biological valves and patients receiving mechanical prostheses. However, analysis of subgroups showed that patients older than 75 years with mechanical valves had an increased risk of major bleeding events (p  =  0.007). Patients requiring anticoagulation by means of coumarin had a twofold increased risk of an impaired emotional reaction (p  =  0.052). However, for patients who received a mechanical valve for severe combined aortic valve disease a survival advantage (p = 0.045) and a decreased risk of prolonged ventilation (p  =  0.001) was observed. On the other hand, patients receiving a stentless bioprosthesis had an increased risk of a prolonged stay in intensive care (p  =  0.04) and stroke (p  =  0.01) if they had severely reduced cardiac function (NYHA class IV). Conclusions: Elderly people receiving stentless bioprostheses benefit emotionally because of the avoidance of coumarin. However, in patients with severe hypertrophied ventricles and extraordinary calcifications, stentless bioprostheses should be chosen with caution

Ten-year experience with stentless aortic valves : full-root versus subcoronary implantation

BACKGROUND: We compared the midterm outcome after aortic valve replacement with the Freestyle stentless bioprosthesis for the full-root or subcoronary implantation technique, while adjusting for patient and disease characteristics by a propensity score. METHODS: Between 1996 and 2005, 1,014 patients underwent aortic valve replacement with the stentless Medtronic Freestyle bioprosthesis, 168 using full-root technique. Based on a saturated propensity score, 148 matched pairs were created. Mean age of the 296 patients was 73 +/- 3 years. Mean follow-up time was 32 +/- 30 months (maximum, 116 months). RESULTS: Operative mortality was 4.7% and 2.7% (p = 0.36) in the full-root and subcoronary groups, respectively. Freedom from reoperation, prosthetic valve endocarditis, major bleeding, and thromboembolism after 9 years was 98% +/- 1% and 90% +/- 7% (p = 0.38), 95% +/- 3% and 92% +/- 7% (p = 0.76), 72% +/- 21% and 98% +/- 2% (p = 0.12), and 75% +/- 8% and 84% +/- 7% (p = 0.28), for full-root and subcoronary groups, respectively. Survival rates after 9 years were 34% +/- 24% and 33% +/- 11% (p = 0.46), for the full-root and subcoronary groups, respectively. Patients in the full-root group received larger valve sizes (p = 0.03), and the mean transprosthetic gradients at discharge were significantly lower for each valve size. Nevertheless, during follow-up, peak gradients decreased to a greater extent in patients presenting high peak gradients (<36 mm Hg) at discharge. CONCLUSIONS: As risk-adjusted comparison of both implantation techniques did not reveal any differences regarding operative and midterm outcomes, full-root replacement can be liberally performed in patients with small aortic roots, annuloaortic ectasia, or requiring replacement of ascending aorta

Erfahrungen mit Diabetikern in der Koronarchirurgie - Patienten mit einem besonderen Risikoprofil

Lauruschkat AH, Albert AA, Arnrich B, et al. Erfahrungen mit Diabetikern in der Koronarchirurgie - Patienten mit einem besonderen Risikoprofil. Clinical Research in Cardiology. 2006;95(1 Supplement):7-13.Background The objective of this paper was to analyze demographic and clinical characteristics of diabetic patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting on the basis of a significant number of cases. Methods The data of 8,195 patients who have undergone coronary bypass operations between 1996 and 2003 were analyzed. Non-diabetic patients (no DM), oral treated diabetics (DM oral) and insulin-treated diabetics (DM insulin) were compared in terms of their pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative characteristics. The statistical analyses were performed with the support of SPSS 11.5 under application of chi-square and student-t tests. Results In cardiosurgery, diabetics differ in various ways from non-diabetic patients. They show a significantly higher prevalence of the known cardiovascular risk factors such as raised body mass index, age and hypertension. Furthermore they present a higher prevalence of vascular comorbidity such as peripheral vascular disease and carotid disease. At the postoperative stage, cerebral dysfunction occurred more often among the diabetic patients (no DM 5.2% vs. DM oral 7.3% vs. DM insulin 10.5%; p<0.05), they suffered from apoplexies more frequently (no DM 1.9% vs. DM oral 2.1% vs. DM insulin 3.2%; p<0.05), and they required re-intubation more frequently (no DM 2.6% vs. DM oral 3.1% vs. DM insulin 5.6%; p<0.05). Peri-operative mortality was highest in the group of insulin-treated diabetics (no DM 1.1% vs. DM oral 1.6% vs. DM insulin 1.8%; p<0.05). Conclusion In coronary surgery, diabetic patients represent an especially challenging patient group with an independent risk profile, who require specific consideration as far as the selection of the operative approach, on, one hand, and the post-operative follow-up, on the other hand, are concerned.Einleitung Anhand eines aussagekräftigen Patientenkollektivs sollten die demographischen, klinischen, operativen und postoperativen Daten diabetischer Koronarpatienten mit nichtdiabetischen Patienten verglichen werden. Methoden und Ergebnisse Es wurden die Daten von 8 195 Patienten untersucht, die sich im Zeitraumvon 1996 bis 2002 koronaren Bypassoperationen unterzogen. Nichtdiabetische Patienten (kein DM), mit oralen Antidiabetika therapierte Diabetiker (DM oral) und mit Insulin therapierte Diabetiker (DM Insulin) wurden hinsichtlich ihrer präoperativen Charakteristika und Risikofaktoren und hinsichtlich der Ergebnisse des postoperativen Verlaufs miteinander verglichen. Es zeigte sich, dass diabetische Koronarpatienten signifikant häufiger zahlreiche kardiovaskuläre Risikofaktoren und eine höhere vaskuläre Komorbidität aufwiesen als nichtdiabetische Patienten. Postoperativ litten Diabetiker häufiger unter Verwirrtheitszuständen (kein DM 5,2% vs. DM oral 7,3% vs. DM Insulin 10,5%; p<0,05), erlitten häufiger Schlaganfälle (kein DM 1,9% vs. DM oral 2,1% vs. DM Insulin 3,2%; p<0,05) und mussten häufiger reintubiert werden (kein DM 2,6% vs. DM oral 3,1% vs. DM Insulin 5,6%; p<0,05). Die 30-Tage-Mortalität war unter den Diabetikern signifikant erhöht (kein DM 1,1% vs. DM oral 1,6% vs. DM Insulin 1,8%; p<0,05). Schlussfolgerung Die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Studie zeigen, dass diabetische Koronarpatienten in der Herzchirurgie ein eigenständiges Risikoprofil aufweisen, das in der Wahl der operativen Strategien und im postoperativen Verlauf eine besondere Herausforderung darstellt

Effect of surgeon on transprosthetic gradients after aortic valve replacement with Freestyle^®stentless bioprosthesis and its consequences: A follow-up study in 587 patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The implantation of stentless valves is technically demanding and the outcome may depend on the performance of surgeons. We studied systematically the role of surgeons and other possible determinants for mid-term survival, postoperative gradients and Quality of Life (QoL) after aortic valve replacement (AVR) with Freestyle^®stentless bioprostheses.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Between 1996 and 2003, 587 patients (mean 75 years) underwent AVR with stentless Medtronic Freestyle^®bioprostheses. Follow-up was 99% complete. Determinants of morbidity, mortality, survival time and QoL were evaluated by multiple, time-related, regression analysis. Risk models were built for all sections of the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP): energy, pain, emotional reaction, sleep, social isolation and physical mobility</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Actuarial freedom from aortic valve re-operation, structural valve deterioration, non-structural valve dysfunction, prosthetic valve endocarditis and thromboembolic events at 6 years were 95.9 ± 2.1%, 100%, 98.7 ± 0.5%, 97.0 ± 1.5%, 79.6 ± 4.3%, respectively. The actuarial freedom from bleeding events at 6 years was 93.1 ± 1.9%. Estimated survival at 6 years was similar to the age-matched German population (61.4 ± 3.8 %). Predictors of survival time were: diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation, peripheral vascular disease, renal dysfunction, female gender > 80 years and patients < 165 cm with BMI < 24. Predictive models showed characteristic profiles and good discriminative powers (c-indexes > 0.7) for each of the 6 QoL sections. Early transvalvular gradients were identified as independent risk factors for impaired physical mobility (c-index 0.77, p < 0.002). A saturated propensity score identified besides patient related factors (e.g. preoperative gradients, ejection fraction, haematological factors) indexed geometric orifice area, subcoronary implantation technique and individual surgeons as predictors of high gradients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In addition to the valve size (in relation to body size), subcoronary technique (versus total root) and various patient-related factors the risk of elevated gradients after stentless valve implantation depends, considerably on the individual surgeon.</p> <p>Although there was no effect on survival time and most aspects of QoL, higher postoperative transvalvular gradients affect physical mobility after AVR.</p

Process review of a departmental change from conventional coronary artery bypass grafting to totally arterial coronary artery bypass and its effects on the incidence and severity of postoperative stroke

Background: We evaluated the process of changing from conventional coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) to totally arterial off-pump coronary artery bypass (TOPCAB) at a single heart center in Germany. Methods: We (1) used multivariate statistical methods to assess real-time monitoring of OPCAB effects, (2) conducted a case review to assess preventable deaths and identify areas of improvement, (3) conducted a team survey, and (4) evaluated benchmarking results. Results: All surgeons and assistants (n = 18) at this center were involved and were guided by the department head and one of the consultants, who was trained in this procedure in 2004 at the Leuven OPCAB school. The frequency of OPCAB operations increased abruptly in 2005 from 5% to 43% and then increased gradually to 67% (n = 546) by 2008 (total, 1781 OPCAB cases and 1563 on-pump cases). The in-hospital and 30-day mortality rates for OPCAB surgeries (n = 10 [0.6%] and 21 [1.2%], respectively) were lower than for on-pump surgeries (n = 27 [1.7%] and 26 [1.7%], respectively). Stroke rates were also lower for OPCAB surgeries (7 cases [0.4%] versus 15 cases [1%]). The lower risk of stroke in the OPCAB group was significant (P &lt; .05) after risk adjustment. Monitoring curves and case reviews demonstrated a preventable death percentage of at least 30%.The attitude of the team was mostly positive because of the promising results (eg, fewer strokes, increasing TOPCAB popularity, and a top national rank). Conclusions: The change from conventional CABG to TOPCAB was effective in decreasing the incidence and severity of stroke, in developing a team routine and a positive team attitude, and in producing excellent benchmarking results. The presence of a training and communication deficiency at the beginning of the study suggested an area for further improvement. After 6 years TOPCAB had largely replaced conventional CABG