Bidirectional Glenn with interruption of antegrade pulmonary blood flow: Which is the preferred option: Ligation or division of the pulmonary artery.

We report a rare complication of massive aneurysm of the proximal ligated end of the main pulmonary artery which occurred in the setting of a patient with a functionally univentricular heart and increased pulmonary blood flow undergoing superior cavopulmonary connection. Awareness of this possibility may guide others to electively transect the pulmonary artery in such a clinical setting

Short‑term prognostic value of perioperative coronary sinus‑derived‑serum cardiac troponin‑I, creatine kinase‑MB, lactate, pyruvate, and lactate‑pyruvate ratio in adult patients undergoing open heart surgery.

Objectives: To investigate the release pattern of different cardiac metabolites and biomarkers directly from the coronary sinus (CS) and to establish the diagnostic discrimination limits of each marker protein and metabolites to evaluate perioperative myocardial injury in patients undergoing cardiac surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Patients and Methods: Sixty-eight patients undergoing first mitral and/or aortic valve replacements with/without coronary artery bypass grafting and Bentall procedure under CPB and blood cardioplegic arrest were studied. All cardiac metabolites and biomarkers were measured in serial CS-derived blood samples at pre-CPB, immediate post aortic declamping, 10 minutes post-CPB and 12 hrs post-CPB. Results: Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of cardiac biomarkers indicated lactate-pyruvate ratio as the superior diagnostic discriminator of myocardial injury with an optimal “cut-off” value >10.8 immediately after aortic declamping (AUC, 0.92; 95% CI: 0.85-0.98). Lactate was the second best diagnostic discriminator of myocardial injury with an optimal “cut-off” value >2mmol/l at immediately after aortic declamping (AUC, 0.89; 95% CI: 0.80-0.96). Cardiac troponin-I was the third best diagnostic discriminator of myocardial injury with an optimal “cut-off” value >2.1ng/ml at immediately after aortic declamping (AUC, 0.88; 95% CI: 0.80- 0.95). Creatine kinase-MB was the fourth best diagnostic discriminator of myocardial injury with an optimal “cut-off” value >58 log units/ml prior to decanulation (AUC, 0.85; 95% CI: 0.78-0.94). Conclusions: Measurable cardiac damage exists in all patients undergoing cardiac surgery under cardioplegic arrest. The degree of myocardial injury is more in patients with poor ventricular function and those requiring longer aortic clamp time. CS-derived lactate-pyruvate ratio, lactate, cTn-I served as superior diagnostic discriminators of peri-operative myocardial damage.

Serum albumin perturbations in cyanotics after cardiac surgery: Patterns and predictions.

Introduction: Hypoalbuminemia is a well‑recognized predictor of general surgical risk and frequently occurs in patients with cyanotic congenital heart disease (CCHD). Moreover, cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)‑induced an inflammatory response, and the overall surgical stress can effect albumin concentration greatly. The objective of his study was to track CPB‑induced changes in albumin concentration in patients with CCHD and to determine the effect of hypoalbuminemia on postoperative outcomes. Materials and Methods: Prospective observational study conducted in 150 patients, Group 1 ≤18 years (n = 75) and Group 2 >18 years (n = 75) of age. Albumin levels were measured preoperatively (T1), after termination of CPB (T2) and 48 h post‑CPB (T3). Primary parameters (mortality, duration of postoperative ventilation, duration of inotropes and duration of Intensive Care Unit [ICU] stay) and secondary parameters (urine output, oliguria, arrhythmias, and hemodynamic parameters) were recorded. Results: The albumin levels in Group 1 at T1, T2, and T3 were 3.8 ± 0.48, 3.2 ± 0.45 and 2.6 ± 0.71 mg/dL; and in Group 2 were 3.7 ± 0.50, 3.2 ± 0.49 and 2.7 ± 0.62 mg/dL respectively. All patients showed a significant decrease in albumin concentration 48 h after surgery (P < 0.01). Analysis between the groups, however, showed no statistical difference. Eleven patients expired during the study period, and nonsurvivors showed significantly lower serum albumin concentration 48 h after surgery 2.3 ± 0.62 mg/dL versus 3.7 ± 0.56 mg/dL in the survivors (P < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic curve showed that a baseline albumin cut‑off value of 3.3 g/dL predicts mortality with a positive predictive value 47.6% and a negative predictive value of 99.2% (P < 0.05). A strong correlation was seen between albumin levels at 48 h with duration of CPB (r2 = 0.6321), ICU stay (r2 = 0.7447) and incidence of oliguria (r2 = 0.8803). Conclusions: The study demonstrated similar fall in albumin concentration in cyanotic patients (both adult and pediatric) in response to CPB. Low preoperative serum albumin concentrations (<3.3 g/dL) can be used to identify and prognosticate subset of cyanotics predisposed to additional surgical risk.

The role of blood lactate clearance as a predictor of mortality in children undergoing surgery for tetralogy of Fallot.

Background: The identification of biomarkers for predicting morbidity and mortality, particularly in pediatric population undergoing cardiac surgery will contribute toward improving the patient outcome. There is an increasing body of literature establishing the clinical utility of hyperlactatemia and lactate clearance as prognostic indicator in adult cardiac surgical patients. However, the relationship between lactate clearance and mortality risk in the pediatric population remains to be established. Objective: To assess the role of lactate clearance in determining the outcome in children undergoing corrective surgery for tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Methods and Study Design: A prospective, observational study. Setting: A tertiary care center. Study Population: Two hundred children undergoing elective surgery for TOF. Study Method: Blood lactate levels were obtained as baseline before operation (T0), postoperatively at admission to the cardiac intensive care unit after surgery (T1), and then at every 6 h for the first 24 h of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) stay (T6, T12, T18, and T24, respectively). The lactate clearance in the study is defined by the equation ([lactate initial – lactate delayed]/lactate initial) ×100%. Lactate clearance was determined at T1–T6, T1–T12, T1–T18, and T1–T24 time interval, respectively. The primary outcome measured was mortality. Secondary outcomes measured were the duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of inotropic requirement, and duration of ICU stay. Results: Eleven out of the two hundred patients enrolled in the study died. Nonsurvivors had higher postoperative lactate concentration (P < 0.05) and low‑blood lactate clearance rate during 24 h (P < 0.05) in comparison to the survivors. Lactate clearance was significantly higher in survivors than in nonsurvivors for the T1–T6 period (19.55 ± 14.28 vs. 5.24 ± 27.79%, P = 0.009) and remained significantly higher for each studied interval in first 24 h. Multivariate logistic regression analysis of statistically significant univariate variables showed early lactate clearance to have a significant relationship with mortality. Patients with a lactate clearance >10%, relative to patients with a lactate clearance <10%, in the early postoperative period, had improved outcome and lower mortality. Conclusion: Lactate clearance in the early postoperative period (6 h) is associated with decreased mortality rate. Patients with higher lactate clearance (>10%) after 6 h have improved outcome compared with those with lower lactate clearance.

Use of dexmedetomidine as an adjunct in the treatment of paradoxical hypertension after surgical repair of coarctation of the aorta in infants.

Severe persistent hypertension is seen infrequently in newborns and infants, but we came across two infants who developed severe paradoxical hypertension after successful coarctation repair. Treatment of systemic hypertension following repair of coarctation of the aorta is always challenging particularly in infants. Dexmedetomidine was used successfully as an adjunct to the established anti‑hypertensive drugs in the immediate postoperative period in our cases to treat postoperative paradoxical hypertension.