Effect of concurrent mitral valve surgery for secondary mitral regurgitation upon mortality after aortic valve replacement or coronary artery bypass surgery.

Objectives: It is uncertain whether concurrent mitral valve repair or replacement for moderate or greater secondary mitral regurgitation at the time of coronary artery bypass graft or aortic valve replacement surgery improves long-term survival. Methods: Patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft and/or aortic valve replacement surgery with moderate or greater secondary mitral regurgitation were reviewed. The effect of concurrent mitral valve repair or replacement upon long-term mortality was assessed while accounting for patient and operative characteristics and mitral regurgitation severity. Results: Of 1,515 patients, 938 underwent coronary artery bypass graft or aortic valve replacement surgery alone and 577 underwent concurrent mitral valve repair or replacement. Concurrent mitral valve repair or replacement did not alter the risk of postoperative mortality for patients with moderate mitral regurgitation (hazard ratio = 0.93; 0.75-1.17) or more-than-moderate mitral regurgitation (hazard ratio = 1.09; 0.74-1.60) in multivariable regression. Patients with more-than-moderate mitral regurgitation undergoing coronary artery bypass graft-only surgery had a survival advantage from concurrent mitral valve repair or replacement in the first two postoperative years (P = 0.028) that did not persist beyond that time. Patients who underwent concurrent mitral valve repair or replacement had a higher rate of later mitral valve operation or reoperation over the five subsequent years (1.9% vs. 0.2%; P = 0.0014) than those who did not. Conclusions: These observations suggest that mitral valve repair or replacement for more-than-moderate mitral regurgitation at the time of coronary artery bypass grafting may be reasonable in a suitably selected coronary artery bypass graft population but not for aortic valve replacement, with or without coronary artery bypass grafting. Our findings are supportive of 2021 European guidelines that severe secondary mitral regurgitation "should" or be "reasonabl[y]" intervened upon at the time of coronary artery bypass grafting but do not support 2020 American guidelines for performing mitral valve repair or replacement concurrent with aortic valve replacement, with or without coronary artery bypass grafting.

Joint preoperative transthoracic and intraoperative transoesophageal echocardiographic assessment of functional mitral regurgitation severity provides better association with long-term mortality.

OBJECTIVES: Functional mitral regurgitation (MR) is observed with ischaemic heart disease or aortic valve disease. Assessing the value of mitral valve repair or replacement (MVR/P) is complicated by frequent discordance between preoperative transthoracic echocardiographic (pTTE) and intraoperative transoesophageal echocardiographic (iTOE) assessment of MR severity. We examined the association of pTTE and iTOE with postoperative mortality in patients with or without MR, at the time of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and/or aortic valve replacement without MVR/P. METHODS: Medical records of 6629 patients undergoing CABG and/or aortic valve replacement surgery with or without functional MR and who did not undergo MVR/P were reviewed. MR severity assessed by pTTE and iTOE were examined for association with postoperative mortality using proportional hazards regression while accounting for patient and operative characteristics. RESULTS: In 72% of 709 patients with clinically significant (moderate or greater) functional MR detected by pTTE, iTOE performed after induction of anaesthesia demonstrated a reduction in MR severity, while 2% of patients had increased severity of MR by iTOE. iTOE assessment of MR was better associated with long-term postoperative mortality than pTTE in patients with moderate MR [hazard ratio (HR) 1.31 (1.11-1.55) vs 1.02 (0.89-1.17), P-value for comparison of HR 0.025] but was not different for more than moderate MR [1.43 (0.96-2.14) vs 1.27 (0.80-2.02)]. CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing CABG and/or aortic valve replacement without MVR/P, these findings support intraoperative reassessment of MR severity by iTOE as an adjunct to pTTE in the prediction of mortality. Alone, these findings do not yet provide evidence for an operative strategy.

Etomidate derivatives: Novel pharmaceutical agents in anesthesia.

Etomidate is an imidazole derivative that possesses important sedative properties employed in anesthesia practice, however, etomidate has a number of well-know side effects which limit its use in certain subpopulations and over long periods of time, mostly related to dose-dependent adrenal suppression. This review focuses on novel etomidate derivatives with an emphasis on pharmacological properties which afford improved safety profile and potentially desirable clinical effects. The pharmacology and clinical investigation of some of these etomidate derivatives, e.g. cyclopropyl-methoxycarbonyl, carboetomidate metomidate, methoxycarbonyl-etomidate, cyclopropyl-methoxycarbonyl metomidate (CPMM), and dimethyl-methoxycarbonyl metomidate, are discussed in detail. The increased potency and decreased metabolite build-up of CPMM potentially makes it a very favorable drug, particularly in the setting of prolonged infusions. Further, when compared with etomidate, CPMM produces lower plasma cytokine concentration and improved survival in lipopolysaccharide inflammatory sepsis models.

Unplanned Reintubation Following Cardiac Surgery: Incidence, Timing, Risk Factors, and Outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence, timing, risk factors for, and outcomes after unplanned reintubation following cardiac surgery in adults. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of admission data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project Database, 2007-2013, inclusive. Univariate and multivariate analyses of risk factors and outcomes. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 18,571 patients, over 18 years of age, undergoing cardiac surgery. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Reintubation incidence was 4.0%. Risk factors included older age, preoperative partial or total dependence, dyspnea at rest or on exertion, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, previous cardiac surgery, congestive heart failure, emergency surgery, longer duration of surgery, and mitral and tricuspid valve surgery. Patients requiring reintubation after surgery had 7.5 times higher mortality (21.9% v 2.9%), longer hospital admissions (22.2 v 7.8 days), and were less likely to be discharged home within 30 days (35% v 80%). Multivariate analysis demonstrated increased risk of failure to wean from the ventilator, pneumonia, sepsis, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, and discharge to skilled care, rehabilitation, or other care. CONCLUSIONS: Patients reintubated after cardiac surgery had significantly higher mortality, complication rates, and length of stay. Novel risk factors identified could be used to tailor extubation timing and strategy appropriately. Compared to noncardiac surgery, some risk factors for reintubation differed and risk continued beyond the immediate postoperative period to a greater degree.

Remimazolam: Pharmacologic Considerations and Clinical Role in Anesthesiology.

Midazolam, fentanyl, and propofol are commonly used for sedation in modern anesthesia practice. These agents possess characteristics that have afforded various anesthetics to be delivered and produce relatively safe and effective outcomes. However, each agent has certain drawbacks in clinical practice. Remimazolam, a novel benzodiazepine created out of so-called soft drug development, is an ultrashort-acting intravenous sedative-hypnotic currently being investigated in clinical trials. In this review, we evaluate the recent literature on the use of remimazolam in clinical practice as compared with current sedative agents, and we describe its potential roles for use in sedation. A literature search of the Medline database (2012-May 2016) was performed. Additional references were identified from a review of literature citations, manufacturer reports, and professional meeting abstracts. All premarket studies involving remimazolam as the primary study drug were evaluated. Literature describing the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of remimazolam, propofol, and midazolam was also included. Phase I and II studies in the United States have shown remimazolam to be a safe and effective option for procedural sedation. Unlike midazolam and propofol, remimazolam undergoes organ-independent metabolism to an inactive metabolite. Because remimazolam follows first-order pharmacokinetics, prolonged infusions or higher doses are unlikely to result in accumulation and extended effect, making it favorable for use as an intravenous anesthetic and for sedation in the intensive care unit. It is expected that phase III trials will further describe the niche that remimazolam may be able to occupy in clinical practice. Postmarket cost-benefit analyses will need to be performed.

Medication errors in anesthesia.

Medication errors represent one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Anesthesia has specific medication-related risks; providers must administer many potent intravenous medications quickly, often with minimal to no supervision. Well-described reasons for medication administration errors in anesthesia include medication ampoules with similar appearance and packaging, clinician inattention, ineffective communication, fatigue, and haste. Technologies that are used widely in other parts of the hospital, such as barcoding, are a challenge to implement in anesthesia, and systemic approaches, including color-coding of syringe labels and barcoding technology of syringes, have been evaluated with mixed results. Emphasis should be placed on implementing forcing functions when possible, utilizing technology, standardization, and education about the need for awareness in specific situations. More studies need to be done to define the epidemiology of medication errors in anesthesia, and more importantly, to assess interventions for preventing them.

An anesthesia medication cost scorecard--concepts for individualized feedback.

There is a growing emphasis on both cost containment and better quality health care. The creation of better methods for alerting providers and their departments to the costs associated with patient care is one tool for improving efficiency. Since anesthetic medications used in the OR setting are one easily monitored factor contributing to OR costs, anesthetic cost report cards can be used to assess the cost and, potentially the quality of care provided by each practitioner. An ongoing challenge is the identification of the most effective strategies to control costs, promote cost awareness and at the same time maximize quality. To test the scorecard concept, we utilized existing informatics systems to gather and analyze drug costs for anesthesia providers in the OR. Drug costs were analyzed by medication class for each provider. Individual anesthesiologist's anesthetic costs were collected and compared to the average costs of the overall group and individual trends over time were noted. We presented drug usage data in an electronic report card format. Real-time individual reports can be provided to anesthesiologists to allow for anesthetic cost feedback. Data provided can include number of cases, average case time, total anesthetic medication costs, and average anesthetic cost per case. Also included can be subcategories of pre-medication, antibiotics, hypnotics, local anesthetics, neuromuscular blocking drugs, analgesics, vasopressors, beta-blockers, anti-emetics, volatile anesthetics, and reversal agents. The concept of anesthetic cost report card should be further developed for individual feedback, and could include many other dimensions. Such a report card can be utilized to encourage lower anesthetic costs, quality improvement among anesthesia providers, and for cost containment in the operating room.