The Egyptian Cardiothoracic Surgeon (ECTS - E-Journal)
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The use of cardiopulmonary bypass in the extraction of intracardiac foreign bodies
Full text linkBackground: Intracardiac foreign bodies (FBs) are uncommon and have diverse presentations. The objectives of this study were to assess the types and presentation of intracardiac FBs and to evaluate the use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in their extraction.
Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was carried out on 12 patients with a history or radiological evidence of a foreign body in the heart or the great vessels who were admitted between 2013 and 2018. Sternotomy was performed in 8 patients and left anterior thoracotomy in 4 patients. CPB was used in 4 patients with cardioplegic cardiac arrest. Aorto-bicaval cannulation was performed in 3 patients and femero-femoral bypass in 1 patient.
Results: The mean age of our patients was 32.7 ±21.7 years (range 2-62 years), six were males. Six different intracardiac FBs were reported including retained bullets (n= 3), migrated catheter piece (n=3), sewing needles (n=3), displaced pacemaker lead (n= 1), circular saw (n=1) and missed pigtail catheter after pericardiocentesis (n=1). Recovery from cardiopulmonary bypass was smooth, and no hospital complications were reported. The mean duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation in all sternotomy patients was 7.8 ± 6.7 hours (5 ±2.1 in CPB patients and 10.7±8.9 in non- CPB). The duration of hospital stay in CPB cases vs. non-CPB was (5.5±1.3 vs. 5.7±0.9 days). No postoperative wound infection nor sternal dehiscence were reported. One baby who had lateral thoracotomy died on the fifth postoperative day because of severe gastroenteritis. No residual pericardial or pleural collection were reported in 6 months follow-up period.
Conclusions: Retrieval of intracardiac FBs can be performed safely with low morbidity and mortality. The use of CPB did not increase morbidity or mortality. Removal of all types of intracardiac FBs is recommended to avoid complication
Clinical and echocardiographic evaluation of patients undergoing total leaflets preservation during mitral valve replacement; Does it make a difference?
Full text linkBackground: The effect of anterior and posterior leaflet preservation on left ventricular function after mitral valve replacement is still the subject of ongoing research. The objective of this study is to analyze the early outcomes of total leaflets preservation compared to posterior and non-leaflet preservation during mitral valve surgery on cardiac function and dimensions measured by echocardiography and on the clinical outcomes.Methods: This prospective cohort study recruited 155 patients who had mitral valve replacement (MVR) from April 2016 to March 2018 at Assiut University Hospital. Patients were divided into three groups according to the technique of leaflets preservation; Group I (no leaflet preservation-N-MVR), Group II (total leaflet preservation- T-MVR) and Group III (posterior leaflet preservation-P-MVR). Patients who underwent redo mitral valve replacement (MVR) or those with endocarditis and had combined coronary artery bypass grafting with the MVR were excluded from the study.Results: There were nine early deaths (6%); eight patients were in Group I (N-MVR). Causes of mortality were massive intracranial hemorrhage (n= 2) and left ventricular failure (n=6). One patient died in Group III (P-MVR) from intracranial hemorrhage (1.3%). Hospital stay was significantly longer in N-MVR group compared to T-MVR and P-MVR (10.6±2.13 days in N-MVR group; p= 0.03 and 0.011 respectively). Postoperative low cardiac output occurred in all patients in N-MVR group. Left ventricular function (ejection fraction= 61.28±6.02%) and dimensions (end-diastolic diameter= 5.18±0.69 mm, end-systolic diameter= 3.58±0.78 mm) improved significantly in total leaflets preservation group.Conclusion: Leaflet preservation during mitral valve replacement was associated with improved clinical and echocardiographic outcomes. Non-leaflets preservation increased the risk of postoperative complications and length of hospital stay. Leaflet preservation is recommended as the standard approach during mitral valve replacement
Video assisted minimally invasive mitral valve replacement in rheumatic valve disease.
Full text linkObjective:
Assessment early outcome of video assisted minimally invasive mitral valve replacement, in rheumatic valve disease. Also, to evaluate early postoperative quality of life by SF 36 questionnaire.
Methods: This is a prospective single center study which was conducted on 20 rheumatic heart patients, in Egypt; during the period from October 2015 to June 2018. The main pathological lesion was sever mitral regurgitation (MR), mitral stenosis (MS) or both. Patients underwent video assisted minimally invasive mitral valve replacement, through a right mini thoracotomy. 13 patients (65%) were via infra-mammary incision, 4 patients (20%) were via periareolar incision and 3 patients (15%) were via limited right anterolateral mini-thoracotomy.
Results: Mean length of surgical incision was (6.60 ± 1.35 cm). Mean duration of operation, cardiopulmonary bypass, and cross clamp times were (4.32 ± 1.08 hr.), (2.85 ± 0.75 hr.) and (1.78 ± 0.47 hr.) respectively.
ICU stay was 2.35 ± 1.14 days and Hospital stay was 6.45 ± 1.43 days.
The mean amount of blood loss was 398.50 ± 245.79 ml with two patients of bleeding requiring re-opening.
At discharge, all patients had normal mitral prosthetic valve function with no or trivial regurgitation, as shown by echocardiographic studies. The postoperative quality of life revealed faster recovery of usual activities.
Conclusions: Video assisted minimally invasive mitral valve surgery in the surgically challenging rheumatic valve disease has less surgical trauma, blood loss and pain, which translates into short hospital stay, rapid return to normal activities, less use of resources
Hypothermic circulatory arrest with or without antegrade cerebral perfusion for aortic arch surgery in infants
Full text linkBackground: Antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) minimizes deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) duration during arch surgery in infants, which may impact the outcomes of the repair. We aimed to evaluate the effect of adding antegrade cerebral perfusion to deep hypothermic circulatory arrest on DHCA duration and operative outcomes of different aortic arch operations in infants.
Methods: We retrospectively collected data from infants (<20 weeks old) who underwent aortic arch reconstruction (Norwood operation, arch reconstruction for the hypoplastic arch and interrupted aortic arch) using DHCA alone (n=88) or combined with ACP (n=26). We excluded patients who had concomitant procedures and those with preoperative neurological disability.
Results: There was no difference between groups as regards the age, gender, and the operation performed (p= 0.64; 0.87 and 0.50; respectively). Among the 114 patients, 11 (9.6%) had operative mortality, and 14 (12.3%) had cerebral infarction diagnosed with CT scanning. Adding ACP to DHCA significantly reduced DHCA duration from 50.7 ± 10.6 minutes to 22.4 ± 6.2 minutes (p<0.001) and lowered the mortality (11 vs. 0; p=0.066) and cerebral infarction (13 vs. 1; p=0.18). No statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of ischemic time (p=0.63) or hospital stay duration (p=0.47).
Conclusion: Using ACP appears to reduce the DHCA duration and was associated with better survival and neurological outcomes of aortic arch surgery in infants. A study with longer follow-up to evaluate the long-term neurological sequelae is recommended
Early Outcomes of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in Patients with Low Ejection Fraction
Full text linkBackground: Patients with low ejection fraction (EF) are at a higher risk for postoperative complications and mortality. Our objective was to assess the effect of low EF (<40%) on early clinical outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and to determine the predictors of mortality.
Methods: From June 2017 to February 2019, 170 consecutive patients underwent CABG. There were 120 patients with low EF (<40%; 37.49 ± 2.89%); 94 were men (78.3%), and the mean age was 55.83 ± 8.04 years. Fifty patients had normal EF (> 40; 57.90 ± 2.27 %), 41 were men (82.0%), and the mean age was 54.30 ± 7.01 years and used as a control group.
Results: Overall 30-day mortality was 10/120 patients (8.3%). Factors associated with higher mortality were females ( 70.0% vs. 17.3%, P<0.001); older age (61.40 ± 7.01 vs. 55.32 ± 7.97 years, P=0.025); diabetes mellitus (100% vs. 51.8%; P=0.003); longer cardiopulmonary bypass time (148.70 ± 40.12 vs. 108.49 ± 36.89 min; P=0.012); longer cross clamp time (88.19 ± 31.94 vs.64.77 ± 22.67 min; P=0.049), longer total operative time (6.82 ± 1.03 vs 5.38 ± 0.95 hours; P=0.001); intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) insertion (90.0% vs. 10.9%; P<0.001); intra-operative complications (60% vs. 1.8%, P<0.001); ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation (30% and 50% vs. 4.5% and 5.5% respectively; P=0.002 for both); myocardial infarction (70% vs 11.8%, P<0.001), and lower postoperative ejection fraction (21.46 ± 1.93 vs 40.30 ± 8.19 %, P<0.001). In patients with low EF, postoperative NYHA and CCS angina class have improved compared to the preoperative levels (1.50 ± 0.61 vs. 3.31 ± 0.56; p< 0.001 and 1.38 ± 0.52 vs. 3.11 ± 0.55; p< 0.001 respectively)
Conclusion: Patients with low EF have a higher risk of morbidity and mortality; however, the clinical and echocardiographic parameters improve over time. Therefore, CABG remains a viable option in selected patients with low EF. Factors affecting our 30-days mortality were related to the severity of the disease
Chest wall reconstruction still has place in Today’s modern practice:" a tertiary center experience"
Full text linkBackground: The key factor following chest wall resection is the preservation of the stability and integrity of the chest wall to support the respiration and protect the underlying organs. The present study aims to evaluate the use of the available grafts and prosthetic materials at our center in chest wall reconstruction with adherence to the proper surgical techniques, good perioperative and postoperative care to obtain good results.
Methods: This is a retrospective single center study that concludes all patients underwent chest wall reconstruction for a variety of defects resulting from resection of tumors, trauma due to primarily firearms or motor car accidents, resection of radio necrotic tissues, infection and dehiscence of median sternotomy wounds after cardiac surgery.
Results: Study population consisted of 30 patients between January 2015and may 2018, among them were 20 male (70%) and 10 female patients (30%), with a median age of 43 ± 16.3 years, resection and reconstruction was performed in 23 cases (15 neoplastic,5 infective and 3 firearm cases) while reconstruction alone was performed in 7 (traumatic flail chest) cases. Eighteen patients, underwent rib resection with an average 4.18 ± 2.2 ribs (range 2-6). Associated lung resection was performed in 5 patients (27.8 %): diaphragmatic resection was done in 2 cases in addition total sternal resection was performed in 5 cases. Most of the patients (96.7%) had primary healing of their wounds. there was one death (3.3%) in the early postoperative period. The average length of hospital stay for all patients was 8.7 days (range: 5–15). Respiratory complications occurred in three cases in the form of atelectasis and pneumonia at the ipsilateral side of reconstruction. Three cases suffered wound seroma which successfully managed by daily dressing and antibiotic coverage.
Conclusions: according to our study and the analysis of similar studies, adequate perioperative preparation of patient undergoing chest wall resection and reconstruction with adherence to effective surgical techniques allowed us to use the available materials at our center for chest wall reconstruction with good and effective results without adding burden in terms of cost on the patient
Outcome Prediction after Surgical Management of Prosthetic Mitral Valve Dysfunction; a single center experience
Full text linkBackground: Prosthetic Mitral valve dysfunction is a serious complication associated with a high mortality rate particularly in obstructive cases. The number of cases undergoing redo mitral valve surgery is increasing. This study aims to identify the risk factors of mortality and morbidity in patients who underwent redo mitral valve surgery for prosthetic mitral valve dysfunction.
Methods: This study was conducted on 80 patients who underwent re-operation for management of prosthetic mitral valve dysfunction from December 2014 to February 2018. Patients’ age ranged between 21 and 58 years with a mean of 36.8±9.60 years, and 53 patients (66.3%) were males. The causes of mitral valve malfunction were thrombus in 67 patients (83.7%) and pannus in 13 patients (16.3%).
Results: 53 patients (66.25%) had urgent surgical intervention. Thrombectomy or pannus resection was done in 75 patients (93.75%) and valve replacement in 5 patients (6.25%). Re-exploration was required in 11 patients (13.75%) and was significantly associated with diabetes (p= 0.004), preoperative liver dysfunction (p= 0.04), elevated INR (p= 0.006), trial of thrombolysis (p<0.001) and prolonged ischemic time (p= 0.01). Postoperative renal failure occurred in 11 patients (13.75%) and was associated with diabetes (p< 0.001), preoperative renal dysfunction (p< 0.001), prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass and ischemic times (p< 0.001). 17 patients (21%) required prolonged mechanical ventilation and it was significantly associated with chronic obstructive lung disease (p< 0.001), pulmonary edema (p <0.001), low systolic blood pressure (p <0.001), low ejection fraction (p<0.001) and thrombectomy (p<0.001). Operative mortality occurred in 13 patients (16%) and was significantly associated with preoperative stroke, renal dysfunction, low blood pressure and acute pulmonary edema (p <0.001).
Conclusion: Reoperation for prosthetic mitral valve dysfunction is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Outcomes can be predicted based on preoperative clinical status and operative times. Thrombectomy and pannus resection with the repair of the paravalvular leak is a simple and easy technique for management of those patients with a reduction of cardiopulmonary bypass and cross-clamp times
Nicorandil reduces myocardial injury and improves cardiac function in valve replacement surgery.
Full text linkBackground: Myocardial injury during cardiac surgery is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, and proper myocardial protection improves surgical outcomes. We aimed to study the role of preoperative nicorandil in myocardial protection during valve replacement surgery.
Methods: The study included 40 patients who were randomized into two groups: control group, and nicorandil group. Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative data were collected. Creatine kinase- MB (CK-MB), troponin I, malondialdehyde (MDA), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were measured 24-hours before surgery then 4, 12 and 48 hours after aortic cross-clamp removal.
Results: Nicorandil significantly decreased MDA (p=0.005 and 0.036), TNF-α (p< 0.001), IL-6 (p<0.001 and 0.003) 4 and 12 hours following the removal of aortic clamp compared to the control group. Additionally, It significantly reduced CK-MB (p< 0.0001 and 0.0002) and troponin-I (p= 0.0002 and < 0.0001) 4 and 12 hours after the removal of the aortic clamp, respectively. However, there was no significant difference in MDA, TNF-α, IL-6, CK-MB, and troponin-I levels between the nicorandil and the control group after 48 hours following the removal of aortic clamping (p= 0.084; 0.64; 0.12; 0.12; 0.75; respectively).
Conclusions: Nicorandil reduced myocardial injury significantly in valve replacement surgery. Nicorandil decreased CK-MB and troponin I and improved postoperative left ventricular ejection fraction
Conduction system disorders after surgical patch closure of ventricular septal defects; a comparison between two suturing techniques
Full text linkBackground: Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is the most common congenital heart disease, and conduction disorder is one of the frequent complications after VSD closure. Suturing technique used for VSD closure may affect the occurrence of this complication. The aim of this study was to compare the outcome of VSD surgical patch closure using continuous versus interrupted suture techniques.
Methods: The study included 150 VSD patients who had surgical patch closure between December 2014 and March 2017. They were subclassified into two groups according to the suture technique; continuous suture technique (n= 75) and interrupted suture technique (n= 75). Preoperative, operative, and postoperative variables were reviewed and analyzed. The postoperative rhythm was recorded using contіnuous electrocardiogram during intensive care unit stay. 12-leads electrocardiogram and echocardiography were performed immediately after surgery and repeated before discharge and after 3, 6, 12 months then yearly. The follow-up period ranged from 1 to 3.25 years (2.04 ± 0.84 years).
Results: Aortіc cross-clamp tіme was longer in the interrupted technique group (51.40±15.21 vs. 42.32±13.86 minutes; p <0.01). 7 (9.3%) patients in the continuous technique group had an atrioventricular block during ICU stay, and 2 (2.7 %) had complete heart block. However, one patient (1.3%) in the interrupted technique group had an atrioventricular block, and no patient had complete heart block (p=0.006). Incidence of conduction defects during follow-up was insignificantly different between the groups. There was no significant difference in the postoperative complications between the groups.
Conclusions: Complete heart block is an infrequent complication after VSD patch closure. The interrupted suture technique was associated with a lower incidence of conduction defects during the early postoperative perio
DeVega versus ring annuloplasty in severe functional tricuspid insufficiency and their impact on the right ventricle
Full text linkBackground: Functional tricuspid valve regurgitation secondary to left-sided valve disease is common. DeVega repair is simple, but residual regurgitation with subsequent impairment of the right ventricular function is a concern. This study aims to compare tricuspid valve repair using DeVega vs. ring annuloplasty and their impact on the right ventricle in the early postoperative period and after six months.
Methods: This is a prospective cohort study of 51 patients with rheumatic heart disease who underwent tricuspid valve repair for secondary severe tricuspid regurgitation. Patients were divided into two groups: group A; DeVega repair (n=34) and group B; ring annuloplasty repair (n=17). Patients were assessed clinically and by echocardiography before discharge and after six months for the degree of tricuspid regurgitation, right ventricular diameter and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE).
Results: Preoperative echocardiographic assessment showed no difference in left ventricular end-systolic diameter, end-diastolic diameter, ejection fraction and right ventricular diameter, however; group A had significantly better preoperative right ventricular function measured by TAPSE (1.96 ± 0.27 vs1.75 ± 0.31 cm; p=0.02). Group B had significantly longer cardiopulmonary bypass time (127.65 ± 13.56 vs. 111.74 ± 18.74 minutes; p= 0.003) and ischemic time (99.06 ± 11.80 vs. 87.15 ± 16.01 minutes; p= 0.009). Pre-discharge, there was no statistically significant difference in the degree of tricuspid regurgitation, but the right ventricular diameter was significantly lower in group B (2.66 ± 0.41 and 2.40 ± 0.48 cm; p=0.049). After six months of follow up, the degree of tricuspid regurgitation (p= 0.029) and the right ventricular diameter were significantly lower in the ring annuloplasty group (2.56 ± 0.39 and 2.29 ± 0.44 cm; p=0.029). Although there was a statistically significant difference in preoperative TAPSE, this difference disappeared after six months.
Conclusion: Both DeVega and ring annuloplasty techniques were effective in the early postoperative period, ring annuloplasty was associated with lesser residual regurgitation and better right ventricular remodeling in severe functional tricuspid regurgitation than DeVega procedure after 6-months of follow up