Relationship Between the Degree of Carotid Stenosis and the Risk of Stroke in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery.

BACKGROUND: The impact of carotid stenosis (CS) in patients undergoing cardiac surgery remains controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between carotid stenosis and stroke and/or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in patients undergoing cardiac surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study including patients undergoing cardiac surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass from January 2006 to March 2018 at the Québec Heart and Lung Institute. Data of patients' preoperative demographic characteristics, operative and postoperative variables were taken from a computerised database and patients' charts. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. RESULTS: A total of 20,241 patients were included in the study. Among those who had received preoperative carotid ultrasound, 516 (2.6% of the total population) had unilateral or bilateral CS ≥ 50%. Categorised levels of CS severity were identified as independent risk factors for postoperative stroke and/or TIA. There was an almost 3-fold increased risk of postoperative neurologic events in 80%-99% CS vs less severe 50%-79% CS (odds ratio 2.91, 95% confidence interval 1.30-6.54), suggesting that the degree of severity of CS is potentially a strong independent predictor of postoperative neurologic events. CONCLUSIONS: CS is an independent risk factor of postoperative stroke and/or TIA. This study suggests for the first time that the risk of stroke increases with the degree of severity of CS, with the greatest risk being for CS of 80%-99%. The strength of this relationship and potential causality effect should be further explored in a prospective study focusing on this population most at risk.

Bilateral mammary artery grafting increases postoperative mediastinitis without survival benefit in obese patients.

OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of obesity has risen in the last decade, increasing the percentage of obese patients who undergo cardiac surgery. Deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) is a rare but devastating postoperative complication, more often encountered in the obese population. DSWI is also associated with the use of bilateral internal mammary artery (BIMA), particularly in this high-risk population. The aim of this study is to determine the short-term and long-term outcomes following BIMA revascularization in obese patients. METHODS: This is a single-centre retrospective cohort study using prospectively collected data including all obese patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery between April 1991 and April 2014. Preoperative demographic characteristics, operative and postoperative variables were taken from the computerized database of the hospital. A propensity score matching was conducted for the short- and long-term outcomes in the entire study population. RESULTS: Results showed that 5608 patients with a body mass index of ≥30 kg/m2 underwent CABG during the studied period. After propensity scoring, 494 patients receiving BIMA were matched to 5089 patients receiving single internal mammary artery (SIMA). All preoperative characteristics were comparable except for a higher prevalence of left ventricular dysfunction and left main disease as well as higher mean EuroSCORE in the SIMA group. In the postoperative period, short-term mortality was comparable in the two groups (P = 0.68). In-hospital DSWI was also comparable (P = 0.10). However, when considering DSWI occurring after hospitalization (median time; 19 days), the latter was significantly lower in the SIMA than in the BIMA group (1.1 vs 3.2%; P < 0.0001). For long-term survival, no difference was observed between the BIMA and SIMA groups after appropriate matching (P = 0.22). CONCLUSIONS: In obese patients, CABG surgery using BIMA instead of SIMA increased the risk of postoperative DSWI, without improving survival. According to our results, short-term postoperative risks of infection associated with BIMA are not offset by longer-term benefits in that patient population. Special care should be exerted when selecting conduits for myocardial revascularization in obese patients.

Obesity and coronary artery disease: evaluation and treatment.

With the increasing prevalence of obesity, clinicians are now facing a growing population of patients with specific features of clinical presentation, diagnostic challenges, and interventional, medical, and surgical management. After briefly discussing the effect of obesity on atherosclerotic burden in this review, we will focus on strategies clinicians might use to ensure better outcomes when performing revascularization in obese and severely obese patients. These patients tend to present comorbidities at a younger age, and their anthropometric features might limit the use of traditional cardiovascular risk stratification approaches for ischemic disease. Alternative techniques have emerged, especially in nuclear medicine. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography might be the diagnostic imaging technique of choice. When revascularization is considered, features associated with obesity must be considered to guide therapeutic strategies. In percutaneous coronary intervention, a radial approach should be favoured, and adequate antiplatelet therapy with new and more potent agents should be initiated. Weight-based anticoagulation should be contemplated if needed, with the use of drug-eluting stents. An "off-pump" approach for coronary artery bypass grafting might be preferable to the use of cardiopulmonary bypass. For patients who undergo bilateral internal thoracic artery grafting, harvesting using skeletonization might prevent deep sternal wound infections. In contrast to percutaneous coronary intervention, lower surgical bleeding has been observed when lean body mass is used for perioperative heparin dose determination.