A. Järvinen

Angiographic 5-year follow-up study of right gastroepiploic artery grafts

BACKGROUNDnThe right gastroepiploic artery (RGEA) has been used from 1987 in coronary artery bypass grafting in several clinical studies. However, the published 1- to 5-year patency rates have been dependent on the selection of patients for angiography.nnnMETHODSnIn our study, the RGEA was used from March 1987 to May 1990 for coronary artery bypass grafting in 31 consecutive patients, 25 male and 6 female. All but 1 patient had triple-vessel disease, and the mean number of distal anastomoses was 3.9 (range, 2 to 5). Internal thoracic artery grafts were used concomitantly in all patients.nnnRESULTSnOne early and two late deaths occurred. All but 1 of the 28 surviving patients underwent clinical and angiographic follow-up examinations 3 months and 5 years after the operation. The 5-year patency of RGEA grafts was 82.1%, with a 95% confidence interval of 63.1% to 93.9%. In 4 of the 5 nonvisualized cases, the recipient coronary artery showed proximal stenosis of up to 70%, allowing substantial competitive flow. The 5-year patency of the RGEA graft was near that of the left internal thoracic artery, at 90.3%, and the right internal thoracic artery, at 94.4%; and superior to the 66.7% patency of venous grafts.nnnCONCLUSIONSnAt 5-year follow-up, angiography of RGEA grafts showed good function and a smooth lumen, especially if the proximal stenosis was more than 70%.

Right gastroepiploic artery as a coronary bypass graft

Between November 1987 and April 1988, the right gastroepiploic artery (GEA) was used as a coronary artery bypass graft in 11 patients, 9 men and 2 women. In 1 of them, the GEA was used because no veins were available; in the others, the GEA was used to avoid the use of vein grafts. The GEA was anastomosed to the right coronary artery in all patients, and internal mammary artery grafts were used to bypass the left anterior descending and circumflex coronary arteries. All patients survived the operation. There were no early and, to date, there have been no late complications of the abdominal component of the operation. Postoperative coronary angiography showed a patent right GEA in 9 patients (82%). In 1 patient the GEA was occluded, probably because of an enlarged liver. If the long-term patency of right GEA grafts is similar to that of internal mammary artery grafts, wider use of this viable graft is indicated.

Unexpected urethral strictures after short-term catheterization in open-heart surgery.

Urethral stricture was found in 59 of 478 male patients who had undergone open-heart surgery between June 79 and December 81. In 40/59 cases the stricture showed a string-of-pearls configuration or long narrowing of the penile urethra on the urethrogram. Burning pain and dysuria were the main symptoms, and the urinary stream started to weaken immediately after the removal of the siliconized latex catheter which had been routinely inserted at the time of the heart operation and usually kept indwelling for 3 days. The stricture epidemic stopped after change of the latex catheters to silicone-ones. The different catheters were investigated for cell toxicity. Eluates of catheters were added at different concentrations to cultures of various cell lines. The cell proliferation was measured by thymidine incorporation. The results were uniform and showed marked toxicity of the latex catheters against all investigated cell lines.

Indications for and risks in reoperation for coronary artery disease

Seventy-one coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) reoperations were performed during a 17-year period, comprising 2.7% of all CABG operations. The main indication (in 87%) was vein graft failure alone or combined with other causes. Progression of disease in native coronary arteries was the sole indication in only 4 of the 71 cases. There were seven perioperative deaths, mainly due to myocardial infarction. Significant perioperative complications arose in 36 cases, including intraoperative lesion of a previous left internal mammary graft (16.2%) or of the right ventricle or anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery (2.8%). Postoperative low output syndrome appeared in 13 patients (18.3%), in seven of whom myocardial infarction was verified. Postoperative bleeding required resternotomy in six cases (9.1%). Because of the heightened operative mortality and morbidity risks, indications for redo CABG should be individualized. A well functioning internal mammary artery graft may be a relative contraindication. Accurate knowledge of the previous operation is essential and, especially in young patients, the possibility of reoperation should be taken into consideration at initial CABG.

Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Using the Right Gastroepiploic Artery

BACKGROUNDnAnastomosis of the left internal thoracic artery to the left anterior descending artery without sternotomy and without cardiopulmonary bypass is a standard approach in minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting. To expand the indications for minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting from one-vessel disease to two-vessel disease, we began to perform anastomosis of the right gastroepiploic artery (RGEA) to the right coronary artery (RCA).nnnMETHODSnFrom February to November 1996, an RGEA graft was used in 25 of the 100 patients who underwent minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting at our clinic. Eleven of the patients had only RCA disease and 14 had both RCA and left anterior descending artery disease. One of the operations was a redo coronary artery bypass grafting. The RGEA was anastomosed to the RCA through a laparotomy incision and the left internal thoracic artery was anastomosed to the left anterior descending artery through a left anterior thoracotomy. In 5 patients, the RGEA was lengthened by venous grafting.nnnRESULTSnAll patients underwent angiography after operation; 82.6% of the RGEA grafts and all the left internal thoracic artery grafts were functioning well. In three of the four nonvisualized RGEA grafts, the percentage of proximal stenosis of the RCA seen on postoperative angiography was not critical (40%, 50%, and 50%, respectively), allowing significant competitive flow through the native bypassed RCA. The patency of all the RGEA grafts without competitive flow was 95%, with a 95% confidence interval of 75.1% to 99.9%.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThe indications for minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting could be extended to primary operations in patients with left anterior descending artery and RCA lesions by using both the left internal thoracic artery and the RGEA.

Primary tumours of the ribs

Thirty-four primary rib tumours (24 benign, 10 malignant) were surgically treated in 1966-1985. The mean age was higher and the tumour diameter was greater in the patients with malignant, than in those with benign neoplasm. The benign tumours were excised without operative death. At follow-up after a mean of 12.3 years there was no recurrence of benign growth, but in two cases with initial diagnosis of chondroma a regrowth at the same site proved to be chondrosarcoma. Among the cases of malignant tumour there was one operative death from pulmonary embolism, after radical resection of sarcoma. None of the four patients with chondrosarcoma had recurrence 6-13 years after surgery. There was no long-term survival among the patients with other forms of sarcoma or malignant tumour of the reticuloendothelial system.

Combined Valve Replacement and Myocardial Revascularization: Factors Influencing Early and Late Results

The risk factors involved in simultaneous valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting were evaluated in 54 consecutive patients, 42 men and 12 women, aged 22 to 73 years. The predominant valve anomalies were aortic stenosis (30 patients), aortic regurgitation (9), mitral regurgitation (10) and mitral stenosis (5). All the patients had angina. Myocardial infarction had occurred in 22 cases and was impending at the time of operation in 10. The diseased valves were replaced with mechanical prostheses, and on average 2.5 coronary arteries per patient were bypassed with vein or with internal mammary artery grafts. Four of the 54 patients died in association with surgery, and four more during follow-up (0.5-6 years). The operative mortality was 2/39 in the aortic valve group and 2/14 in the mitral valve group. The late mortality was equal in both groups. A relatively small ejection fraction and long aortic cross-clamping were the only factors which attained statistical significance as surgical risks, but mitral regurgitation due to ischaemic papillary muscle dysfunction, advanced rheumatic mitral regurgitation and tight aortic stenosis combined with coronary artery disease also seemed to be indicators of poor prognosis.

The performance of the probability density function in differentiating supraventricular from ventricular rhythms.

TOIVONEN, L., et al.: The Performance of the Probability Density Function in Differentiating Supraventricular from Ventricular Rhythms. The ability of the probability density function (PDF) of an automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD) to reject supraventricular arrhythmias being recognized as ventricular was evaluated in 12 patients who were treated with an AICD (Ventak P 1600). The PDF criterion was monitored via telemetry with the sinus rate during exercise test. PDF was satisfied in seven patients at a rate of 75–144/min (mean 109/min), and not in the remaining five patients (mean rate 141/ min). PDF was fulfilled in five of ten patients at a lower heart rate than predicted by the duty cycle index, derived from the ventricular patch lead electrogram at the implantation. Thus PDF is often fulfilled already at a moderately elevated sinus rate. If used to prevent inadvertent AICD discharges during rapid supraventricular rhythms, its performance should be tested in the individual patient.

Relation of Magnetocardiographic Arrhythmia Risk Parameters to Delayed Ventricular Conduction in Postinfarction Ventricular Tachycardia

KORHONEN, P., et al.: Relation of Magnetocardiographic Arrhythmia Risk Parameters to Delayed Ventricular Conduction in Postinfarction Ventricular Tachycardia. Time‐domain late field and intra‐QRS fragmentation parameters in magnetocardiography (MCG) identify patients prone to VT after myocardial infarction. This study investigated if they are related to slow ventricular conduction and affected by arrhythmia surgery. Twenty‐two patients with old myocardial infarction undergoing map‐guided subendocardial resection to treat sustained VT were included. Bipolar electrograms were recorded during operation using an epicardial jacket and endocardial balloon electrode array. The time from the QRS onset to the end of local ventricular excitation in each electrogram was measured during sinus rhythm. Multichannel MCG was recorded before and after operation and filtered QRS duration (QRSd), root mean square amplitude of the magnetic field strength during the last 40 ms of the QRS complex (RMS40), duration of the low amplitude signal < 300 fT (LAS300), fragmentation index M (M), and fragmentation score S (S) were determined. All patients had one or two VT foci localized and resected. MCG parameters correlated with time to the latest end of ventricular excitation; r = 0.45 for QRSd (P = 0.035), r = 0.64 for M (P = 0.001), and r = 0.73 for S (P < 0.001). The correlations were even better in patients with anterior infarction (e.g., r = 0.87 for QRSd, P < 0.001; r = 0.91 for M, P < 0.001). The operation reduced the abnormalities in MCG parameters and 20 of the 21 patients tested postoperatively became noninducible. MCG parameters indicating postinfarction arrhythmia propensity are related to delayed ventricular conduction. Abolition of the arrhythmia substrate reverses the abnormality of these parameters.

Mediastinal infection following open-heart surgery. Treatment with retrosternal irrigation.

A consecutive series of 1083 patients undergoing open-heart surgery was prospectively observed for infectious complications. Postoperative mediastinitis developed in 15 cases (1.4%). Surgical management of the mediastinal complication consisted of careful debridement of the sternal wound and the anterior mediastinum, followed by continuous retrosternal irrigation with an antiseptic or antibiotic solution after sternal refixation. The mean duration of mediastinal irrigation was 12.7 days. This treatment was successful in 13 of the 15 patients. In 2 of the 13, however, secondary refixation became necessary to stabilize the fragmented sternum. Repeated refixation with mediastinal irrigation was effective in one of these patients. The other underwent removal of the fragmented sternum followed by muscle plasty, but died unexpectedly of aortic dissection when signs of infection were subsiding. Two patients (13%) treated with closed chest irrigation died of recalcitrant mediastinal infection.