Validation of the German Registry for Acute Aortic Dissection Type A Score in predicting 30-day mortality after type A aortic dissection surgery.

OBJECTIVES: No reliable scores are available to predict mortality following surgery for type A acute aortic dissection (TAAAD). Recently, the German Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection Type A (GERAADA) score has been developed. We aim to compare how the GERAADA score performs in predicting operative mortality for TAAAD to the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) II. METHODS: We calculated the GERAADA score and EuroSCORE II in patients who underwent TAAAD repair at the Bristol Heart Institute. As there are no precise criteria to calculate the GERAADA score, we used 2 methods: a Clinical-GERAADA score, which evaluated malperfusion with clinical and radiological evidence, and a Radiological-GERAADA score, where malperfusion was assessed by computed tomography scan alone. RESULTS: 207 consecutive patients had surgery for TAAAD, and the observed 30-day mortality was 15%. The Clinical-GERAADA score showed the strongest discriminative power with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.80 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.71-0.89], while the Radiological-GERAADA score had an AUC of 0.77 (95% CI 0.67-0.87). EuroSCORE II showed acceptable discriminative power with an AUC of 0.77 (95% CI 0.67-0.87). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical GERAADA score performed better than the other scores and it is specific and easy to use in the context of a TAAAD. Further validation of the new criteria for malperfusion is needed.

Culture-negative infective endocarditis (CNIE): impact on postoperative mortality.

INTRODUCTION: Poor postoperative outcomes have been reported after surgery for infective endocarditis (IE). Whether the absence of positive cultures impacts the prognosis remains a matter of discussion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of negative cultures on the prognosis of surgically treated IE. METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective study. From January 2000 to June 2019, all patients who underwent valvular surgery for IE were included in the study. The primary endpoint was early postoperative mortality. A covariate balancing propensity score was developed to minimize the differences between the culture-positive IE (CPIE) and culture-negative IE (CNIE) cohorts. Using the estimated propensity scores as weights, an inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) model was built to generate a weighted cohort. Then, to adjust for confounding related to CPIE and CNIE, a doubly robust method that combines regression model with IPTW by propensity score was adopted to estimate the causal effect of the exposure on the outcome. RESULTS: During the study period, 327 consecutive patients underwent valvular repair/replacement with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass and cardioplegic cardiac arrest for IE. Their mean age was 61.4 ± 15.4 years, and 246 were males (75.2%). Native valve IE and prosthetic valve IE accounted for 87.5% and 12.5% of cases, respectively. Aortic (182/327, 55.7%) and mitral valves (166/327, 50.8%) were mostly involved; 20.5% of isolated mitral valve diseases were repaired (22/107 patients). The tricuspid valve was involved in 10 patients (3.3%), and the pulmonary valve in 1 patient (<1%). Fifty-nine patients had multiple-valve disease (18.0%). Blood cultures were negative in 136/327 (41.6 %). A higher postoperative mortality was registered in CNIE than in CPIE patients (19% vs 9%, respectively, p = 0.01). The doubly robust analysis after IPTW by propensity score showed CNIE to be associated with early postoperative mortality (odds ratio 2.10; 95% CI, 1.04-4.26, p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: In our cohort, CNIE was associated with a higher early postoperative mortality in surgically treated IE patients after dedicated adjustment for confounding. In this perspective, any effort to improve preoperative microbiological diagnosis, thus allowing targeted therapeutic initiatives, might lead to overall better postoperative outcomes in surgically treated IE.

Predictive scores for major bleeding after coronary artery bypass surgery in low operative risk patients.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac surgery is associated with perioperative bleeding and carries high risk of allogeneic blood transfusion. Recently new scores for prediction of severe bleeding have been developed. This study aims to compare the WILL-BLEED, CRUSADE, PAPWORTH, TRUST, TRACK and ACTION scores in predicting major bleeding after CABG in patients with low estimated operative risk. METHODS: A multicenter observational study included 1391 patients who underwent isolated CABG from July 2015 to January 2018. We tested the hypothesis that the WILL-BLEED score, specifically designed for CABG, would perform at least as well as the CRUSADE, PAPWORTH, TRUST, TRACK and ACTION scores in predicting postoperative major bleeding in low operative risk patients. The primary endpoint was the performance of known bleeding risk scores after CABG. The secondary endpoint was the evaluation of in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Mean age was 68.2±9.4 years and median Euroscore II value was 1.69% (IQR 1.15-2.81%). Mean blood losses in the first 12 postoperative hours was 339.75 mL. Seventy-three (5.2%) subjects underwent administration of blood products. The rate of severe-massive bleeding according to UDPB grades 3-4 was 1.5%. WILL-BLEED, TRUST, TRACK and ACTION scores were significantly associated with severe postoperative bleeding. WILL-BLEED presented the best c-index (AUC: 0.658; 95% CI: 0.600,0.716). Reclassification analysis showed a worsening in sensitivity and significant negative reclassification of CRUSADE, PAPWORTH, TRACK and ACTION scores when compared with WILL-BEED. The combination of WILL-BLEED and TRUST scores improved the prediction ability (AUC: 0.673; 95% CI: 0.615-0.732). Overall in-hospital mortality was 1.65%. Early mortality in patients with severe versus no-severe bleeding was found to be 11.8% vs. 1.0% Severe bleeding (OR: 13.26; P value<0.001) was found to be significantly associated with early mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Severe bleeding after CABG is a harmful event associated with adverse outcomes. WILL-BLEED Score has the better performance in predicting severe-massive bleeding after CABG. The TRUST Score, although suboptimal, represents a valuable alternative in this setting.

Aortic cross-clamp time and cardiopulmonary bypass time: prognostic implications in patients operated on for infective endocarditis.

OBJECTIVES: Prolonged aortic cross-clamp (XCT) and cardiopulmonary bypass time (CPBT) are associated with increased morbidity and mortality following cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to assess the predictors of mortality and other severe postoperative complications in patients undergoing surgery for infective endocarditis (IE), focusing in particular on the role of prolonged XCT and CPBT. METHODS: A retrospective single-centre study was conducted from January 2000 to January 2017, including all patients undergoing valvular surgery for IE. The primary end point was early postoperative mortality. The main secondary end point was a composite end point for severe postoperative complications. RESULTS: During the study period, 264 patients were included. Early postoperative mortality was 14%. Prolonged CPBT [odds ratio (OR) 1.008, 95% confidence intervals (CIs) 1.003-1.01; P = 0.009] and increasing age (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01-1.07; P = 0.02) independently predicted mortality, while an inverse association was observed for left ventricular ejection fraction (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.89-0.97; P = 0.0007). The best mortality cut-offs were >72 min for XCT and >166 min for CPBT. Prolonged CPBT also predicted severe complications, along with age, stroke, preoperative mechanical ventilation and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. When XCT was included in the multivariable models instead of CPBT, it was associated with both mortality and severe complications. CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged XCT and CPBT are associated with mortality and development of severe complications after valvular surgery for IE. Further validation of safe limits for XCT and CPBT might provide novel insights on how to improve intraoperative and postoperative outcomes of patients with IE.