Oved Cohen

Myocardial protection in operations requiring more than 2 h of aortic cross-clamping

OBJECTIVE Long periods of aortic cross-clamping time during cardiac surgery are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality because of damage to the myocardium. Recently, we have used a method of myocardial protection based on the principles of hyperkalemic cardioplegic arrest. We use antegrade administration of warm, undiluted blood followed by continuous retrograde infusion of tepid, undiluted blood supplemented with potassium and magnesium. In this study, we have retrospectively reviewed our experience with this method of cardioprotection in operations requiring more than 2 h of cross-clamp time. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 1280 patients who underwent myocardial revascularization, valve repair or replacement, or a combination of both operations between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1997. Patients were divided into two groups: the short cross-clamp group (SXC) (n = 1144) had cross-clamp times < 120 min (mean, 78 +/- 20 min; range, 35-119 min) and the long cross-clamp group (LXC) (n = 136) had cross-clamp times > 120 min (mean, 154 +/- 31 min; range, 120-277 min). We compared preoperative, operative, and postoperative variables between the two groups. RESULTS Significantly more patients in the long cross-clamp group (43.4%) underwent the combined operation than in the short cross-clamp group (2.3%), and the rate of reoperation was significantly higher in the long cross-clamp group (12%) than in the short cross-clamp group (5%). Despite these differences in operative complexity, we found no difference in hospital mortality rates between the two groups. The only significant postoperative differences were that the long cross-clamp group had a greater need for inotropic agents (43 vs. 29%), higher serum levels of creatine kinase (880 +/- 583 vs. 613 +/- 418) and CK-MB (10.9 +/- 6.4 vs. 5.9 +/- 5.2), and a longer hospital stay (9.6 vs. 6.1 days). CONCLUSION Long, complex operations requiring more than 2 h of cross-clamping can be performed safely with our method of cardioprotection based on continuous retrograde infusion of tepid, hyperkalemic, undiluted blood.

Aortic Valve-Sparing Repair with Autologous Pericardial Leaflet Extension Has Low Long-Term Mortality and Reoperation Rates in Children and Adults

OBJECTIVES We sought to establish whether there was a difference in outcome after aortic valve repair with autologous pericardial leaflet extension in pediatric and adult populations. METHODS In our study, 128 patients (pediatric and adult) underwent valvular pericardial extension repair at our institution from 1997 through 2006. The patients were divided into either the pediatric group (< or =18 years of age; n = 54/128, 42%), with a mean age of 8.4 +/- 5.4 (range, 0-17 years), or the adult group (n = 74/128, 58%), with a mean age of 48.9 +/- 19.7 (range, 19-85 years). The endpoints of the study were mortality and reoperation rates. RESULTS Thirty-day mortality for the adult group was 0, and for the pediatric group it was 1/54 (1.8%), with no statistical difference (P = .1) between the groups. Late mortality for the pediatric group was 2/54 (3.7%) and in the adult group was 2/74 (2.7%). There was no statistical difference (P = .12) between the groups. In the pediatric group, there were 6 total reoperations (6/54) in 5 patients, with one patient undergoing reoperation twice. From these 6 cases, 3 were re-repair and 3 had aortic valve replacement; the mean interval between original repair and reoperation was 4.3 +/- 2.5 years (range, 0.1-7.7 years). In the adult group, there were 5 total reoperations (5/74). From these 5 cases, 3 had aortic valve replacement and 2 re-repair; the mean interval between original repair and reoperation was 3.5 +/- 3 years (range, 0.1-7 years). There was no statistical difference in the reoperation rate between the 2 groups (P= .38). At late follow-up, 82% of all patients in the adult group had no aortic regurgitation or only a trace (grades 0 and 1) and 78% of all patients in the pediatric group had no aortic regurgitation or only a trace (grades 0 and 1). There was no statistical difference in either aortic regurgitation (P = .06) or aortic stenosis (P = .28) between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS Aortic valve repair with autologous pericardial leaflet extension has low mortality and morbidity rates, as well as good mid-term durability in both the pediatric and the adult groups.

Valve-in-Valve in the Tricuspid Position for a Stenosed Bioprosthesis

The strategy of transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation into failing mitral and aortic bioprosthetic valves is a documented approach. It allows one to avoid performing a high-risk repeat cardiac surgery in elderly patients with multiple comorbidities. Tricuspid valve-in-valve implantation has been documented only a few times in the literature. We report the case of a 65-year-old woman with a failing bioprosthetic tricuspid valve who had undergone 3 prior open heart operations. We attempted a transatrial transcatheter approach and successfully deployed a 29-mm Edwards Sapien balloon-expandable bioprosthesis into a severely stenotic tricuspid bioprosthesis. This case demonstrates the technical feasibility and safety of this approach.

Tricuspid valve repair using autologous pericardium annuloplasty in adults.

Uncorrected functional tricuspid regurgitation can lead to long-term morbidity and mortality. To evaluate our results using autologous pericardium annuloplasty to treat tricuspid regurgitation, we retrospectively reviewed 59 consecutive adult patients aged 19 years to 83 years (58.7 +/- 15.5 years) who underwent tricuspid valve annuloplasty between 2000 and 2003. Concomitant procedures consisted of mitral valve surgery in 83% of patients, aortic valve surgery in 28%, coronary bypass in 31%, and atrial-septal defect correction in 28%. Annuloplasty was performed using a strip of pericardium treated in glutaraldehyde 0.6% for 10 min. Two rows of continuous horizontal mattress Gore-Tex sutures were used to secure the pericardium to the tricuspid annulus. Follow-up was performed in 100% of the patients, and the mean follow-up was 4.4 +/- 1.2 years (range, 2.4 to 7 years). Postoperative death within 30 days occurred in 1 of 59 patients (1.6%). None of the patients required reoperation related to tricuspid regurgitation or stenosis. The actuarial survival rate was 98.4% at 7 years after operation. Echocardiography was performed in 58 of 58 surviving patients (100%). Up to 7 years postoperatively, tricuspid regurgitation was trace in 67.2% of patients, mild in 31%, and moderate in 1.8%; there was no occurrence of severe regurgitation on follow-up. Our results indicate that autologous pericardium tricuspid annuloplasty is a useful procedure in patients with moderate or severe tricuspid regurgitation. This procedure provides a durable, reproducible annuloplasty of the tricuspid valve.