COVID-19 related mortality in post-operative cardiac surgical patients.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has caused a global pandemic of unprecedented proportions. Elective cardiac surgery has been universally postponed with only urgent and emergency cardiac operations being performed. The National Health Service in the United Kingdom introduced national measures to conserve intensive care beds and significantly limit elective activity shortly after lockdown. CASE PRESENTATION: We report two cases of early post-operative mortality secondary to COVID-19 infection immediately prior to the implementation of these widespread measures. CONCLUSION: The role of cardiac surgery in the presence of COVID-19 is still very unpredictable and further studies on both short term and long term outcomes are warranted.

Replacing the ascending aorta in the elderly: do or do not.

Advanced age is a proven independent factor for perioperative morbidity and mortality in all forms of aortic surgery and forms an important variable in most available risk scores. Improvements in selection and perioperative management of high-risk elderly cohorts have reduced the incidence of adverse outcomes. Concerns remain however in the surgical and anesthesiology community that exposing elderly frail patients to ascending aortic surgery is associated with significant risk. As with many clinical scenarios, individualization of care for each patient is of paramount importance. With advances in our understanding of perioperative and intraoperative care, age should no longer be considered in isolation as a contraindication to ascending aortic surgery.

Pain management using patient controlled anaesthesia in adults post Nuss procedure: an analysis with respect to patient satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: The Nuss procedure for correction of pectus excavatum is commonly associated with severe postoperative pain. The belief that thoracic epidural offers the best pain control has recently come under scrutiny after several studies have shown patient controlled anaesthesia (PCA) to be just as effective. Nevertheless, centres who have shifted to an exclusively PCA regime exist in the minority. We have conducted a retrospective survey of all patients who underwent the Nuss procedure at the Heart Hospital, London, where all patients are managed exclusively using PCA. The study aims to assess the efficacy and validity of our practice. METHODS: A retrospective survey was carried out on 149 patients (139 males and 10 females), with an average age of 28, after undergoing a Nuss bar insertion. The study was conducted between August and October, 2014. The PCA technique used a 1 mg bolus dose of morphine sulphate, administered through a 5-minute lockout. There was no background infusion and no maximum dose limit in a 4-hour period. The outcome of the study measured patient satisfaction with postoperative analgesia and medication prescribed for home usage. The pre-operative provision of information with regard to patient expectations of pain was also assessed. The study is approved by the institutional ethical committee and has obtained the informed consent from every patient. RESULTS: The majority of patients were either satisfied or extremely satisfied with the pain management received in hospital immediately following surgery. Additionally, a substantial number of patients strongly agreed that they were adequately warned about postoperative pain prior to the operation. None of the cohort specified that they experienced more pain than expected or thought that the medication prescribed for home usage was inadequate. Moreover, a small minority of patients reported postoperative long-term or chronic pain, with only one reporting that it lasted for longer than 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: Results obtained from retrospective patient satisfaction surveys indicate high efficacy for PCA as a pain management strategy. The large majority of patients did not seek more medication for pain alleviation and found in-hospital treatment sufficient. Further, all patients agreed that they were adequately informed of pain-risk prior to surgery.

Transient limb ischemia induces remote preconditioning and remote postconditioning in humans by a K(ATP)-channel dependent mechanism.

BACKGROUND: Transient limb ischemia administered before a prolonged ischemic insult has systemic protective effects against ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury (remote ischemic preconditioning [RIPC]). It has been demonstrated that protection from IR can be achieved by brief periods of ischemia applied at a remote site during an injurious ischemic event (remote postconditioning [RPostC]). Using an in vivo model of endothelial IR injury, we sought to determine whether RPostC occurred in humans and whether it shared mechanistic similarities with RIPC. METHODS AND RESULTS: Endothelial function was assessed by flow-mediated dilation before and after IR (20 minutes of arm ischemia followed by reperfusion). RIPC was induced by conditioning cycles of 5 minutes of ischemia and reperfusion on the contralateral arm or leg before IR. For RPostC induction, conditioning cycles were administered during the ischemic phase of IR. Oral glibenclamide was used to determine the dependence of RIPC and RPostC on K(ATP) channels. IR caused a significant reduction in flow-mediated dilation in healthy volunteers (baseline, 9.3+/-1.2% versus post-IR, 3.3+/-0.7%; P<0.0001) and patients with atherosclerosis (baseline, 5.5+/-0.6% versus post-IR, 2.3+/-0.5%; P<0.01). This reduction was prevented by RIPC (post-IR+RIPC: healthy volunteers, 7.2+/-0.5% [P<0.0001 versus post-IR]; patients, 4.5+/-0.3% [P<0.01 versus post-IR]) and RPostC (post-IR+RPostC: 8.0+/-0.5%; P<0.0001 versus post-IR). The protective effects of RIPC and RPostC were blocked by glibenclamide. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates for the first time in humans that RPostC can be induced by transient limb ischemia and is as effective as RIPC in preventing endothelial IR injury. RIPC and RPostC share mechanistic similarities, with protection being dependent on K(ATP) channel activation. These results suggest that remote conditioning stimuli could be protective in patients with acute ischemia about to undergo therapeutic reperfusion.