Surgical retrieval of a degenerated Sapien 3 valve after 29 months.

A 70-year-old man developed heart failure due to severe mixed disease of a degenerated transcatheter aortic valve prosthesis. The patient underwent retrieval of the transcatheter aortic valve and implantation of a 25-mm bioprosthesis through a redo sternotomy

Ischemic mitral regurgitation: Pathophysiology, diagnosis and surgical treatment

none5noIschemic mitral valve regurgitation often complicates acute myocardial infarction and also represents a negative prognostic factor for long-term survival in patients undergoing surgical myocardial revascularization. While severe mitral regurgitation should always be corrected during a coronary artery bypass operation, the decision making is more difficult in patients with a mild-to-moderate degree of regurgitation. Recent studies and experimental protocols have elucidated the pathophysiological mechanisms leading to mitral regurgitation with great interest in annular modifications and subvalvular alterations. These data suggest that new and integrated surgical approaches that address annuloplasty ring sizing, ring type selection and tethering phenomenon (i.e., chordal cutting, 'edge-to-edge' technique and left-ventricular plasty techniques) are required for a safer and durable valve repair. Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography are useful in determining the etiology and the degree of mitral regurgitation, to assess mitral deformation and to measure indexes of global and regional left-ventricular remodeling. Stress echocardiography may unmask higher degrees of mitral regurgitation. More data are needed in order to confirm the promising and interesting preliminary experimental findings of magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosis and clinical evaluation of ischemic mitral regurgitation. © 2006 Future Drugs Ltd.nonePaparella D.; Malvindi P.G.; Romito R.; Fiore G.; Schinosa L. de L.T.Paparella, D.; Malvindi, P. G.; Romito, R.; Fiore, G.; Schinosa, L. de L. T

BNP in mitral valve restrictive annuloplasty for ischemic mitral regurgitation

Restrictive annuloplasty with undersized mitral rings is used to correct functional mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients with ischemic left ventricular dysfunction. Seventeen patients with severe coronary artery disease, previous myocardial infarction, moderate/severe functional MR and heart failure symptoms were prospectively evaluated. All patients received CABG associated with restrictive annuloplasty. Preoperatively and 6 months after the operation, clinical evaluation, echocardiography and blood sampling for BNP measurement were performed. Operative mortality occurred in 1 patient. MR degree decreased from 3.8 ± 0.3 to 1.0 ± 0.7 (p < 0.01), LVEF increased from 36 ± 11% to 43 ± 8% (p < 0.05), left ventricular end diastolic diameters changed from 54.7 ± 5.2 mm to 51.5 ± 5.8 mm (p = 0.51). NYHA class improved from 2.94 ± 1.02 to 1.21 ± 0.42 (p < 0.01). Mean plasma BNP levels decreased from 471 ± 248 pmol/l to 55.6 ± 52.8 pmol/l (p < 0.05). Restrictive mitral annuloplasty is a safe procedure to be associated to CABG operation. We demonstrated mid-term reduction of BNP plasma values after MR correction thus suggesting the effectiveness of surgical treatment in modifying natural history of the disease

D-dimers are not always elevated in patients with acute aortic dissection

none8noIn patients with acute aortic dissection, an early diagnosis is essential to anticipate aortic rupture, cardiac tamponade, organ ischemia and improve surgical results. A specific blood laboratory marker able to rule out the presence of aortic dissection has not been identified yet. Recently, several studies suggested using D-dimers as a negative predicting test to rule out diagnosis of acute aortic dissection in patients presenting with chest pain. In 61 patients with confirmed aortic dissection, preoperative D-dimers were assayed and correlated with time from symptom onset and extension of the false lumen dissection (according with De Bakey classification). Abnormal D-dimers values were considered those being greater than 400 μg/l. D-dimers values were above 400 μg/l in 50 patients (82%) and below 400 μg/l in 11 patients (18%). There was no correlation between preoperative D-dimers values and time from symptoms onset (r = -0.232; P = 0.1). We found that D-dimers are not always elevated in patients presenting with acute aortic dissection. Given the potential devastating effects of denying the diagnosis of acute aortic dissection with consequent delay of adequate treatment, a word of caution regarding the negative predictive value of D-dimer test in the diagnosis of aortic dissection seems warranted. © 2009 Italian Federation of Cardiology.nonePaparella D.; Malvindi P.G.; Scrascia G.; De Ceglia D.; Rotunno C.; Tunzi F.; Cicala C.; De Luca Tupputi Schinosa L.Paparella, D.; Malvindi, P. G.; Scrascia, G.; De Ceglia, D.; Rotunno, C.; Tunzi, F.; Cicala, C.; De Luca Tupputi Schinosa, L

Myocardial injury after off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting operation

Objective: Perioperative myocardial ischemia is less pronounced in off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) compared to on-pump coronary artery bypass; however, the threshold over which the postoperative release of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) release and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) after OPCAB should be considered clinically relevant is unknown. The study was designated to evaluate if perioperative myocardial damage, measured by means of postoperative release of cTnI and CK-MB, has an influence on short- and mid-term outcome after OPCAB operations. Methods: Two hundred and sixty-one unselected patients undergoing OPCAB had cTnI and CK-MB measured preoperatively and nine times postoperatively. Postoperative peak values were evaluated and the 80th percentiles were used to segregate the population into two groups for each marker. The following cut-offs were used: 7.1 ng/dl for cTnI peak and 36.3 ng/dl for CK-MB peak. Results: Patients with cTnI&gt;7.1 ng/ml (n=51) and CK-MB&gt;36.3 ng/ml (n=48) had a longer mechanical ventilation and ICU length of stay. Nevertheless, hospital mortality did not differ between groups. Survival after 3 years was 92.8+/-2.3% and 81.8+/-6.2 for patients with postoperative cTnI peak7.1 ng/ml, respectively (p=0.003). It was 93+/-2.2% and 80+/-6.8% for patients with CK-MB36.3 ng/ml, respectively (p=0.005). Adjusted hazard ratios for mid-term mortality were HR 2.7 (CI 1-7.6), p=0.05 for cTnI&gt;7.1 ng/dl and HR 3.1 (CI 1-9.1), p=0.04 for CK-MB&gt;36.3 ng/ml. Conclusion: Perioperative myocardial damage should not be considered an innocuous event following OPCAB operations since the survival rate over 3 years is significantly worse in patients with the highest postoperative peak release of cTnI and CK-MB

Surgery for pseudoaneurysm of the ascending aorta under moderate hypothermia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Pseudoaneurysm of the ascending aorta is a rare complication after cardiac surgery. Particularly, pseudoaneurysm due to postoperative infection in the ascending aorta requires surgical treatment with antibiotics. If a large sized pseudoaneurysm is located at the retrosternal space, then there is a very high risk of massive bleeding from rupture during performance of resternotomy. To avoid this risk, we performed femoro-femoral bypass under moderate hypothermia with transient circulatory arrest, and we report here on the successful result of this case.</p