Early and Mid-term Outcome of the St. Jude Medical Regent 19-mm Aortic Valve Mechanical Prosthesis. Functional and Haemodynamic Evaluation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study is to report the early and mid-term clinical and haemodynamic results of the St Jude Medical Regent 19-mm aortic mechanical prothesis (SJMR-19). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2002 and January 2012, 265 patients with aortic valve disease underwent AVR (Aortic Valve Replacement) with a SJMR-19 (St Jude Medical Regent Nr.19). There were 51 males. Mean age was 67.5±12.72years and mean body surface area (BSA) was 1.67±0.14m2. Thirty-six patients required annulus enlargement. The mean follow-up was 34.5±18.8months (range 6-60 months). All patients underwent echocardiographic examination at discharge and within 1 year after surgery. RESULTS: There were 14 (5.3%) hospital deaths. Six of the hospital deaths were identified in patients undergoing reoperation, significantly higher than patients undergoing first time operation (p=0.0001). Also the postoperative mortality was significantly higher in patients undergoing annulus enlargement versus patients not requiring annulus enlargement (p=0.02). The mean transprosthesis gradient at discharge was 19±9mmHg. At 6 months follow-up the mean NYHA FC class was 1.6±0.5 significantly lower than preoperatively 2.4±0.75 (p <0.0001). The M-TPG was 15.2±6.5mmHg within 1 year after surgery. Left ventricular mass (LVM) and indexed left ventricular mass (LVMi) were significantly lower than preoperatively The actuarial survival and cumulative freedom from reoperation at 1, 2 and 3 years follow-up were 99.5%, 97.5%, 96.7% and 99.2%, 96.5%, 94.5% respectively. The cumulative actuarial free-events survival at 4 years was 92%. The Cox model identified age (p=0.015), LVEF≤35% (p=0.043), reoperation (p=0.031), combined surgery (p=0.00002), and annulus enlargement (p=0.015) as strong predictors for poor actuarial free-major events survival. CONCLUSIONS: The SJMR-19 offers excellent postoperative clinical, haemodynamic outcome and LVMi reduction in patients with small aortic annulus. These data demonstrate that the modern St Jude small mechanical protheses do not influence the intermediate free-reoperation survival.

Surgical treatment of post-infarction left ventricular pseudoaneurysm: Case series highlighting various surgical strategies.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The left ventricular pseudoaneurysm (LVP) is rare, the surgical experience is limited and its surgical treatment remains still a challenge with an elevated mortality. Herein, it is presented a retrospective analysis of our experience with acquired post infarct LVP over a10-year period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2006 through August 2016, a total of 13 patients underwent operation for post infarct pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle. There were 10 men and 3 women and the mean age was 61 ± 7.6 years. 4 patients presented acute LVP. Two patients had preoperative intraortic balloon pump implantation. RESULTS: Various surgical techniques were used to obliterate the pseudoaneurysm such as direct pledgeted sutures buttressed by polytetrafluoroethylene felt, a Gore-Tex or Dacron patch, transatrial closure of LVP neck in submitral pseudoaneurysm, or linear closure in cases presenting associated postinfarct ventricular septal defect. Concomitant coronary artery bypasses were performed for significant stenoses in 12 patients, ventricular septal defect closure in 4 patients, mitral valve replacement in 3 and aortic valve replacement in 1 patient. Operative mortality was 30.8% (4 patients). Three of them were acute LVP. Three patients required the continuous hemodyalisis and 8 patients required intra-aortic balloon pump. At follow-up two deaths occurred at 1 and 3 years after surgery. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this study revealed that surgical repair of post infarct left ventricular pseudoaneurysm was associated with an acceptable surgical mortality rate, that cardiac rupture did not occur in surgically treated patients.

Heart Failure Predictors in a Group of Patients with Myocardial Infarction.

AIM: The present study considers of the prevalence of heart failure (HF) in patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the University Hospital Centre of Tirana (UHCT) "Mother Theresa"; the demographic and clinical characteristics of the sample during hospitalization; and the main predictors of heart failure occurrence inside the group of patients suffering an AMI. MATERIAL AND METHODS: During a period of study from 2013-2015 we studied demographic and clinical data from 587 consecutive patients presenting with AMI; Framingham criteria were adopted for classifying patients with HF upon admission. RESULTS: A Killip class ≥ 2 was the main diagnostic criterion of HF during hospitalisation. HF was identified in 156 patients (26.6%). The subgroup with HF had significant differences when compared with the other patients with regard to age, sex (male), heart rate upon admission, systolic blood pressure on admission, previous episodes of AMI, glycemia on admission, previous antihypertensive treatment, previous revascularization procedures, peripheral vascular disease, chronic renal disease, ejection fraction (EF), anemia, and atrial fibrillation presence. Independent predictors for HF occurrence in the logistic regression model were EF, previous revascularization, peripheral vascular disease, age, sex, previous AMI, systolic blood pressure upon admission, and anaemia. CONCLUSION: As a conclusion, HF seems to be a common occurrence after AMI, in spite of changes in the epidemiological profile of the acute coronary syndrome. An increase in the incidence is registered as well, parallel to a decrease in the mortality following AMI. Attention must be shown for highly risked subpopulations, aged persons, patients with the previous coronary disease, and concomitant conditions.

A rare coronary anomaly consisting of a single right coronary ostium in an adult undergoing surgical coronary revascularization: a case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Coronary arteries originating from the right coronary ostium in the ascending aorta represent a very rare anatomic presentation. Also, the presence of a single coronary ostium is an extremely rare finding. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 74-year-old Albanian man from Kosovo. He had unstable angina due to critical triple vessel disease and a single coronary artery originating from a single ostium in the right sinus of Valsalva with an anomalous course of his left anterior descending artery anteriorly to the right ventricular outflow tract as a "T-vessel" from which originated the proximal and distal left anterior descending artery, the circumflex artery originating from the mid portion of the right coronary artery which had a normal course. He underwent successful coronary revascularization consisting of three vein grafts to the right coronary artery, first diagonal and obtuse marginal artery, and left internal mammary artery anastomosed to left anterior descending artery. CONCLUSIONS: We describe a proposed IID1 pattern. After a careful revision of the literature, only six cases have been reported with a similar anomalous coronary origin. Only two out of six patients underwent surgical coronary revascularization. In our case the aberrant vessel arising from his right coronary artery coursed anteriorly to the right ventricle and continued as a left anterior descending artery at its mid portion which then continued distally as the distal left anterior descending artery and proximally as a proximal left anterior descending artery, having the shape of a "T vessel". The "T-vessel" configuration has never been reported in the literature. The reported case with its specific presentation adds further information on this rare form of anomalous origin of the coronary arteries, representing a first report of a configuration that we name the "T-vessel" of the left anterior descending artery. Diagnosis of the coronary anatomy is very important for the invasive cardiologist and cardiac surgeon in cases with a single coronary ostium, such as our case, so that they can proceed with the invasive or surgical treatment when critical coronary artery disease is present.