Outcome of Jehovah's Witnesses after adult cardiac surgery: systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative studies

BACKGROUND: The objective was to evaluate the early outcome after adult cardiac surgery in Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs) compared with controls not refusing blood transfusions. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A literature review was performed through PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar to identify any comparative study evaluating the outcome of JWs and patients not refusing blood transfusion after adult cardiac surgery. RESULTS: Six studies comparing the outcome of 564 JWs and 903 controls fulfilled the inclusion criteria of this study. All series included a matched control cohort. Baseline characteristics of these two cohorts were similar, but JWs had higher hemoglobin (Hb) levels as reported in three studies. Pooled analysis of postoperative outcomes showed that JWs had higher postoperative levels of Hb (data from four studies: mean, 11.5 g/L vs. 9.8 g/L; p < 0.001) and significantly less postoperative blood loss (mean, 402 mL vs. 826 mL; p < 0.001) compared to controls. JWs and controls had similar early outcome. However, JWs had a nonsignificant trend toward decreased early mortality (2.6% vs. 3.6%; p = 0.318), reoperation for bleeding (3.2% vs. 4.7%; p = 0.070), atrial fibrillation (9.9% vs. 14.3%; p = 0.056), stroke (2.2% vs. 3.1%; p = 0.439), myocardial infarction (0.4% vs. 1.4%; p = 0.203), and length of stay in the intensive care unit (1.5 days vs. 2.0 days; p = 0.081). CONCLUSION: JWs undergoing adult cardiac surgery have a nonsignificant trend toward better early outcome than controls receiving or not blood transfusions. The suboptimal quality of available studies prevents conclusive results on the possible benefits of a transfusion-free strategy in patients not refusing blood transfusion

Bedside noninvasive monitoring of mechanically ventilated patients

Purpose of review Among noninvasive lung imaging techniques that can be employed at the bedside electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and lung ultrasound (LUS) can provide dynamic, repeatable data on the distribution regional lung ventilation and response to therapeutic manoeuvres. In this review, we will provide an overview on the rationale, basic functioning and most common applications of EIT and Point of Care Ultrasound (PoCUS, mainly but not limited to LUS) in the management of mechanically ventilated patients. Recent findings The use of EIT in clinical practice is supported by several studies demonstrating good correlation between impedance tomography data and other validated methods of assessing lung aeration during mechanical ventilation. Similarly, LUS also correlates with chest computed tomography in assessing lung aeration, its changes and several pathological conditions, with superiority over other techniques. Other PoCUS applications have shown to effectively complement the LUS ultrasound assessment of the mechanically ventilated patient. Summary Bedside techniques – such as EIT and PoCUS – are becoming standards of the care for mechanically ventilated patients to monitor the changes in lung aeration, ventilation and perfusion in response to treatment and to assess weaning from mechanical ventilation

Pooled estimates of immediate and late outcome of mitral valve surgery in octogenarians: a meta-analysis and meta-regression

Objective: The authors evaluated the outcome of patients >= 80 years undergoing mitral valve (MV) surgery.Design: Systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis.Setting: None.Participants: None.Interventions: None.Main Results: Twenty-four studies reporting on 5,572 patients 80 years of age who underwent MV surgery were included in this analysis. Pooled proportion of operative mortality was 15.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 11.9-18.1), stroke was 3.9% (95% Cl 2.6-5.2), and dialysis was 2.7% (95% Cl 0.5-4.9). Early date of study (p = 0.014), increased age (p = 0.006), MV replacement (p = 0.008), procedure other than isolated MV surgery (p = 0.010), MV surgery associated with coronary artery surgery (p = 0.029), aortic cross-clamping time (p < 0.001), and cardiopulmonary bypass time (p < 0.001) were associated significantly with increased operative mortality. MV repair had lower operative mortality compared with MV replacement (7.3% v 14.2%, relative risk 0.573, 95% Cl 0.342-0.962). Random-effects metaregression showed that prolonged aortic cross-clamping time (p = 0.005) was the only determinant of increased operative mortality, even when adjusted (p < 0.001) for date of study (p = 0.004). Operative mortality was significantly higher in studies reporting a mean cross-clamp time >90 minutes (17.0% v 7.4%, p < 0.001). Survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years were 76.1%, 67.7%, and 56.5%, respectively.Conclusions: MV surgery in patients >= 80 years of age is associated with operative mortality, which has decreased significantly during recent years. Prolonged aortic cross-clamp time is a major determinant of operative mortality. MV repair may achieve better results than MV replacement in the very elderly. Five-year survival of these patients is good and justifies surgical treatment of MV diseases in octogenarians. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved