The Short-term and Mid-term Outcomes of Elderly Patients With Valvular Heart Disease Undergoing Valve Replacement With Biological or Mechanical Prostheses / 中国循环杂志

Objectives: To compare the short-term and mid-term outcomes of elderly patients (>60 years old) with valvular heart disease (VHD) underwent bioprosthetic or mechanical valve replacement. Methods: Between January 2007 and December 2010, 559 elderly patients underwent valve replacement in Fuwai Hospital, clinical data of these patients were analyzed retrospectively (319 cases with bioprostheses vs 240 cases with mechanical prostheses). After matching, data from 192 cases in each group were compared. Results: The mortality within 30 postoperative days were similar (2.1% in both groups). All-cause death during follow up was also similar between the two groups (13.6% vs 13.7%, P=0.98). There was no statistically significant difference on the hospital readmission rate between the two groups (25.5% vs 35.9%, P=0.17). No significant difference was found on thromboembolic and hemorrhagic events free survival between the two groups (144 cases vs 138 cases, P=0.78). Conclusions: Short-term and mid-term survival and readmission rate are similar for the elderly VHD patients receiving bioprosthetic or mechanical valve replacement.

Is the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation useful in Chinese patients undergoing heart valve surgery? / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) is one of the most widely used risk models for the predicting mortality after cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to validate the EuroSCORE model for predicting operative mortality in heart valve surgery on a Chinese multicenter database and comparing the performance of EuroSCORE with our new risk stratification system, the Sino System for Coronary Operative Risk Evaluation (SinoSCORE).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Data from patients undergoing heart valve surgery between January 2007 and December 2008 were retrospectively collected, from 43 hospitals in China. The EuroSCORE and the SinoSCORE were calculated for each patient. Mortality was defined as any in-hospital death. Area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) was used to study the discriminatory abilities of the models. The Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) goodness-of-fit test was used to study the calibration of the predictive models.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 15 367 patients were analyzed. For the entire cohort, the observed mortality was 2.34%, the predicted mortality was 3.71% (additive), 3.19% (logistic) and 3.66% (SinoSCORE). AUC was 0.747 for SinoSCORE, 0.699 additive and 0.696 for logistic EuroSCORE. Calibration of SinoSCORE and additive EuroSCORE was good (H-L: P = 0.250 and P = 0.051, respectively), but the logistic EuroSCORE model had a poor calibration (H-L: P < 0.05). The discriminatory ability and calibration of the SinoSCORE were good in low- and high-risk patients. However, the discriminatory ability of the EuroSCORE model was poor in all risk deciles.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The EuroSCORE does not accurately predict mortality in Chinese patients with heart valve surgery, and the SinoSCORE is superior to the EuroSCORE at predicting in-hospital mortality in Chinese heart valve surgery patients.</p>

Left ventricular reconstruction with no-patch technique: early and late clinical outcomes / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Few studies have evaluated late clinical outcome of no-patch technique in patients with large left ventricular aneurysms. The objectives of this study were to evaluate a no-patch surgical technique to reconstruct the left ventricle in patients with left ventricular aneurysm and to assess early and late clinical outcomes.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In 1995, we began using a no-patch technique in patients with dyskinetic left ventricular aneurysms. A total of 145 patients underwent left ventricular reconstruction with this technique and were followed up for (59 ± 29) months (range, 1 - 127 months). Risk factors for early mortality were analyzed by bivariate analyses. Cox's proportional hazards model was used to calculate risk factors for all-cause mortality and hospital readmission. Kaplan-Meier methodology was used to analyze late survival.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>One week after operation, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter had decreased from (61 ± 8) mm to (55 ± 8) mm, and geometry of the left ventricle was restored to a more normal conical shape. Early mortality was 3% and late mortality 11%. Over a 5-year follow-up period, hospital readmission was 28%. One-, 5-, and 10-year survival estimates were 95% (95% confidence interval (CI) 91% - 99%), 86% (95%CI 78% - 94%), and 74% (95%CI 60% - 88%). Readmission-free survival at 1 and 5 years after operation was 87% (95%CI 81% - 93%) and 60% (95%CI 50% - 70%), respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The no-patch technique for left ventricular reconstruction is an effective and simple procedure that can achieve satisfactory early and late clinical outcomes in patients with left ventricular aneurysms.</p>

Effects of left ventricular reconstruction on magnetic resonance imaging derived left ventricular wall stress and contractive function in patients with postinfarction ventricular aneurysm / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effects of left ventricular reconstruction on left ventricular wall stress and function in patients with postinfarction left ventricular aneurysm.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>During January 2005 to June 2006, 16 patients [15 male, (56.6 +/- 8.8) years] with postinfarction ventricular aneurysm received left ventricular reconstruction operation on CPB (5 linear repair, 6 endoventricular purse-string suture, 5 endoventricular patch repair) and CABG was also performed in 15 patients. MRI examination was made before and 3 months post operation by Siemens Magnetom Avanto 1.5T MR with routine cine-MRI in combination with late-delayed enhancement sequence. Left ventricular geometric parameters and segmental thickening were obtained with accessory image analysis software. Non-invasive blood pressure was acquired in order to compute ventricular wall stress. The revascularized and unrevascularized segments were defined by comparing the post operation revascularization of the blood-supply coronary artery with preoperative results.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 192 segments including 74 unrevascularized segments were analyzed. Segmental thickening were significantly increased while wall stress were significantly reduced in both unrevascularized and revascularized segments 3 months post operation compared to preoperative values (all P < 0.05). The increase of wall thickening was positively correlated with the reduction of wall stress in these segments.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Left ventricular reconstruction plus CABG is associated with reduced left ventricular wall stress and increased myocardial contractive function in patients with postinfarction left ventricular aneurysm.</p>

Repair of left ventricular aneurysm: ten-year experience in Chinese patients / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>A large transmural myocardial infarction often results in a dyskinetic or akinetic left ventricular aneurysm (LVA). This study aimed to explore the early and long-term clinical outcomes and to identify predictors for survivals and hospital re-admission after the repair of left ventricular aneurysm.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We followed up 497 patients who had undergone LVA repair from a single center in China between 1995 and 2005. The perioperative parameters were recorded. Risk factors for early mortality and long-term results were analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression. Cox's proportional hazard model was used to calculate risk factors for major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events, cause of death and re-admission. Kaplan-Meier curve was employed to analyze long-term survival.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The operative mortality was 2.0%. The long-term mortality was 11.1% and cardiac causes contributed to 61.8% of the overall long-term mortality. Four hundred and thirty-two patients survived during the follow-up period and 37.5% of them had been re-admitted at least one time. One hundred and five patients experienced major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events. Survival analysis exhibited that the probability of survival at 1 and 5 years after operation was 96% and 86% respectively. Previous atrial fibrillation was the independent risk factor for early mortality. Independent risk factors for long-term mortality were poor left ventricular ejection fraction and stroke,and risk factors for cardiac mortality were intraventricular block, stroke and poor left ventricular ejection fraction. Stroke, intraventricular block and advanced age were independent risk factors for major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events, and New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III-IV was the only risk factor for hospital re-admission.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Postinfarction LVA can be repaired and satisfying early and long-term clinical outcome can be obtained. Endoventricular circular plasty technique is the better choice than linear repair in patients with large LVA. Survival is affected in patients with poor heart function, intraventricular block and stroke.</p>