Nikolaos J. Skubas

2014 AHA/ACC Guideline for the Management of Patients With Valvular Heart Disease

The medical profession should play a central role in evaluating evidence related to drugs, devices, and procedures for detection, management, and prevention of disease. When properly applied, expert analysis of available data on the benefits and risks of these therapies and procedures can improve

2014 AHA/ACC Guideline for the Management of Patients With Valvular Heart Disease A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines

Jeffrey L. Anderson, MD, FACC, FAHA, Chair , Jonathan L. Halperin, MD, FACC, FAHA, Chair-Elect , Nancy M. Albert, PhD, CCNS, CCRN, FAHA, Biykem Bozkurt, MD, PhD, FACC, FAHA, Ralph G. Brindis, MD, MPH, MACC, Mark A. Creager, MD, FACC, FAHA[§§][1], Lesley H. Curtis, PhD, FAHA, David DeMets, PhD,

2014 AHA/ACC Guideline for the Management of Patients With Valvular Heart Disease: Executive Summary A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines

Jeffrey L. Anderson, MD, FACC, FAHA, Chair , Jonathan L. Halperin, MD, FACC, FAHA, Chair-Elect , Nancy M. Albert, PhD, CCNS, CCRN, FAHA, Biykem Bozkurt, MD, PhD, FACC, FAHA, Ralph G. Brindis, MD, MPH, MACC, Mark A. Creager, MD, FACC, FAHA[§§][1], Lesley H. Curtis, PhD, FAHA, David DeMets, PhD,

2014 AHA/ACC Guideline for the Management of Patients With Valvular Heart Disease: Executive Summary

Rick A. Nishimura, MD, MACC, FAHA, Co-Chair† Catherine M. Otto, MD, FACC, FAHA, Co-Chair† Robert O. Bonow, MD, MACC, FAHA† Carlos E. Ruiz, MD, PhD, FACC† Blase A. Carabello, MD, FACC*† Nikolaos J. Skubas, MD, FASE¶ John P. Erwin III, MD, FACC, FAHA‡ Paul Sorajja, MD, FACC, FAHA# Robert A. Guyton, MD, FACC*§ Thoralf M. Sundt III, MD* **†† Patrick T. O’Gara, MD, FACC, FAHA† James D. Thomas, MD, FASE, FACC, FAHA‡‡

Guidelines for Performing Ultrasound Guided Vascular Cannulation: Recommendations of the American Society of Echocardiography and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGEIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Methodology and Evidence Review . . . . . . .46Ultrasound-Guided Vascular Cannulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Ultrasound Principles for Needle-Guided Catheter Placement . . . .

A Phase III, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Multicenter Study on the Efficacy of Recombinant Human Antithrombin in Heparin-resistant Patients Scheduled to Undergo Cardiac Surgery Necessitating Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Background:The study evaluated the efficacy of recombinant human antithrombin (rhAT) for restoring heparin responsiveness in heparin resistant patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Methods:This was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in heparin-resistant patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Heparin resistance was diagnosed when the activated clotting time was less than 480 s after 400 U/kg heparin. Fifty-four heparin-resistant patients were randomized. One cohort received 75 U/kg rhAT, and the other received normal saline. If the activated clotting time remained less than 480 s, this was considered treatment failure, and 2 units fresh frozen plasma was transfused. Patients were monitored for adverse events. Results:Only 19% of patients in the rhAT group received fresh frozen plasma, compared with 81% of patients in the placebo group (P < 0.001). During their hospitalization, 48% of patients in the rhAT group received fresh frozen plasma, compared with 85% of patients in the placebo group (P = 0.009). Patients in the placebo group required higher heparin doses (P < 0.005) for anticoagulation. There was no increase in serious adverse events associated with rhAT. There was increased blood loss 12 h postoperatively (P = 0.05) with a trend toward increased 24-h bleeding in the rhAT group (P = 0.06). There was no difference between the groups in blood and platelet transfusions. Conclusion:Treatment with 75 U/kg rhAT is effective in restoring heparin responsiveness and promoting therapeutic anticoagulation in the majority of heparin-resistant patients. Treating heparin-resistant patients with rhAT may decrease the requirement for heparin and fresh frozen plasma.

Basic Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography Examination: A Consensus Statement of the American Society of Echocardiography and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists

Scott T. Reeves, MD, FASE, Alan C. Finley, MD, Nikolaos J. Skubas, MD, FASE, Madhav Swaminathan, MD, FASE, William S. Whitley, MD, Kathryn E. Glas, MD, FASE, Rebecca T. Hahn, MD, FASE, Jack S. Shanewise, MD, FASE, Mark S. Adams, BS, RDCS, FASE, and Stanton K. Shernan, MD, FASE, for the Council on Perioperative Echocardiography of the American Society of Echocardiography and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists, Charleston, South Carolina; New York, New York; Durham, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts

Optimal Management of Bleeding and Transfusion in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

Patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) are at increased risk for excessive perioperative blood loss requiring transfusion of blood products. Point-of-care evaluation of platelets, coagulation factors, and fibrinogen can enable physicians to rapidly assess bleeding abnormalities, facilitate the optimal administration of pharmacological and transfusion-based therapy, and also identify patients with surgical bleeding. The ability to reduce the unnecessary use of blood products in this setting has important implications for emerging issues in blood inventory and blood costs. The ability to decrease surgical time, along with exploration rates, has important consequences for health care costs in an increasingly managed health care environment.

Intraoperative Doppler tissue imaging is a valuable addition to cardiac anesthesiologists' armamentarium: a core review.

Endocardial motion and surface/volume changes during the cardiac cycle are echocardiographic methods for regional (analysis of wall motion) and global (fractional area change, stroke volume, and ejection fraction) evaluation of cardiac function. These conventional methods can be subjective, and/or time consuming and, depending upon circumstances, may divert the anesthesiologist’s attention from intraoperative activities. Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) is a novel echocardiographic technique, which displays and measures systolic and diastolic velocity from a myocardial region. DTI is simple to perform and independent of adequate endocardial imaging. The numeric information (velocity or time intervals) is easily obtained and measured. Assessment of systolic and diastolic function on regional (detection of ischemia) as well as global level (ejection fraction, grading of diastolic dysfunction) and evaluation of filling pressure can be derived from DTI signals and used by any practicing cardiac anesthesiologist. This review describes the principles, imaging modalities, and clinical applications of DTI.

Perioperative assessment of diastolic dysfunction.

Assessment of diastolic function should be a component of a comprehensive perioperative transesophageal echocardiographic examination. Abnormal diastolic function exists in >50% of patients presenting for cardiac and high-risk noncardiac surgery, and has been shown to be an independent predictor of adverse postoperative outcome. Normalcy of systolic function in 50% of patients with congestive heart failure implicates diastolic dysfunction as the probable etiology. Comprehensive evaluation of diastolic function requires the use of various, load-dependent Doppler techniques This is further complicated by the additional effects of dehydration and anesthetic drugs on myocardial relaxation and compliance as assessed by these Doppler measures. The availability of more sophisticated Doppler techniques, e.g., Doppler tissue imaging and flow propagation velocity, makes it possible to interrogate left ventricular diastolic function with greater precision, analyze specific stages of diastole, and to differentiate abnormalities of relaxation from compliance. Additionally, various Doppler-derived ratios can be used to estimate left ventricular filling pressures. The varying hemodynamic environment of the operating room mandates modification of the diagnostic algorithms used for ambulatory cardiac patients when left ventricular diastolic function is evaluated with transesophageal echocardiography in anesthetized surgical patients.