Sutureless aortic valve with supracoronary ascending aortic replacement as an alternative strategy for composite graft replacement in elderly patients.

Aortic valve disease is frequently associated with ascending aorta dilatation and can be treated either by separate replacement of the aortic valve and ascending aorta or by a composite valve graft. The type of surgery is depending on the exact location of the aortic dilatation and the concomitant valvular procedures required. The evidence for elective aortic surgery in elderly high-risk patients remains challenging and therefore alternative strategies could be warranted. We propose an alternative strategy for the treatment of ascending aortic aneurysm and aortic valve pathology with the use of a sutureless, collapsible, stent-mounted aortic valve prosthesis.

Evolution of cerebral perfusion techniques in type a aortic dissection surgery: a single center experience.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using antegrade selective cerebral perfusion (ASCP) with moderate hypothermia on hospital mortality after surgery for acute type A aortic dissection (AAAD). METHODS: Between January 1998 and December 2008, 142 consecutive patients were operated on for AAAD. Patients were divided into two subgroups: the cohort of patients operated on from January 1998 until December 2003 (without ASCP) (P1998-2003, n=64) and the cohort operated on from January 2004 until December 2008 (with ASCP)(P2004-2008, n=78). RESULTS: The difference in hospital mortality was statistically significant (P1998-2003: 42.2%; P2004-2008: 14.1%, p<0.0005). Survival rates were 51.6±6.2% vs. 75.1±5.5% and 45.9±6.2% vs. 69.7±7.3% for one and four years, respectively (p=0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that ASCP was the only independent protective factor of hospital mortality (p=0.047). CONCLUSION: In patients operated on for AAAD, antegrade selective cerebral perfusion with moderate hypothermia is a significant factor in decreasing hospital mortality.

Clinical evaluation of the Sorin Xtra(R) Autotransfusion System.

The performance of the Sorin Xtra® Autotransfusion System (ATS) was studied in 62 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Blood was collected intraoperatively and washed using three different wash sets in 4 groups. Both collected and washed blood were analysed for hemoglobin levels and hematocrit, concentrations of proteins, albumin, heparin and plasma free hemoglobin (PFH) were determined, erythrocytes, platelets and leukocytes were counted. Hematocrit measurements of the Xtra® were compared with laboratory measurements to study the accuracy of the Xtra® hematocrit sensor. In addition, the red blood cell recovery rate and elimination rates were calculated to evaluate the clinical performance of the Xtra®. The Xtra® ATS produced a volume of concentrated red blood cells with an average hematocrit from 58% to 63%, depending on the size of the bowl and the chosen default program. In all bowl sizes and programs, the Xtra® Hct-out measurement underestimated the CELL-DYN measurement by approximately 15%. The calculated recovery rates for red blood cells (RBC) in the 4 groups ranged from 86.7% to 91.6%. Elimination rates were calculated in each group for proteins (96.8-99.2%), albumin (96.4-98.7%), plasma free hemoglobin (83.6-91.2%), heparin (98.8-99.9%), platelets (82.4-94.3%) and white blood cells (28.6-42.3%). The Xtra® ATS can be appealing for its performance by producing high hematocrit levels in the washed RBC volume, while keeping RBC recovery rate at the same high level (≈ 90%) as in its predecessor, the Electa® Autotransfusion System.

Impact of temperature and atmospheric pressure on the incidence of major acute cardiovascular events.

BACKGROUND: The impact of meteorological conditions on the occurrence of various cardiovascular events has been reported internationally. Data about the Dutch situation are limited. OBJECTIVES: We sought to find out a correlation between weather conditions and the incidence of major acute cardiovascular events such as type A acute aortic dissection (AAD), acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and acutely presented abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAA). METHODS: Between January 1998 and February 2010, patients who were admitted to our hospital (Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven, the Netherlands) because of AAD (n = 212), AMI (n = 11389) or AAAA (n = 1594) were registered. These data were correlated with the meteorological data provided by the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) over the same period. RESULTS: During the study period, a total number of 11,412 patients were admitted with AMI, 212 patients with AAD and 1593 patients with AAAA. A significant correlation was found between the daily temperature and the number of hospital admissions for AAD. The lower the daily temperature, the higher the incidence of AAD (p = 0.002). Lower temperature was also a predictor of a higher incidence of AMI (p = 0.02). No significant correlation was found between daily temperature and onset of AAAA. CONCLUSIONS: Cold weather is correlated with a higher incidence of AAD and AMI.

Which method of estimating renal function is the best predictor of mortality after coronary artery bypass grafting?

OBJECTIVES: Definitions of renal function in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) vary in the literature. We sought to investigate which method of estimating renal function is the best predictor of mortality after CABG. METHODS: We analysed the preoperative and postoperative renal function data from all patients undergoing isolated CABG from January 1998 through December 2007. Preoperative and postoperative renal function was estimated using serum creatinine (SeCr) levels, creatinine clearance (CrCl) determined by the Cockcroft-Gault formula and the glomerular filtration rate (e-GFR) estimated by the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formula. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the ROC curves were calculated. RESULTS: In 9987 patients, CrCl had the best discriminatory power to predict early as well as late mortality, followed by e-GFR and finally SeCr. The odds ratios for preoperative parameters for early mortality were closer to 1 than those of the postoperative parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Renal function determined by the Cockcroft-Gault formula is the best predictor of early and late mortality after CABG. The relationship between renal function and mortality is non-linear. Renal function as a variable in risk scoring systems such as the EuroSCORE needs to be reconsidered.

Screening for activating EGFR mutations in surgically resected nonsmall cell lung cancer.

The clinical applicability of screening surgically resected nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumour tissue and serum for activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation is unknown. Furthermore, the comparative accuracy of inexpensive EGFR mutation tests, mutant-enriched (ME)-PCR and high-resolution melt (HRM) has not been determined. Lung tumour DNA from 522 surgically resected stage I-IV NSCLC and matched serum DNA from a subset of 64 subjects was analysed for EGFR mutations in exons 19 and 21 using ME-PCR and HRM. Additionally, 97 subjects had previous EGFR DNA sequencing data available for comparison. ME-PCR and HRM detected EGFR mutations in 5% (27 out of 522) of tumour samples. Compared to DNA sequencing, ME-PCR had a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 99%, while HRM had 100% sensitivity and specificity. Six subjects with EGFR mutation tumours had matched serum, where ME-PCR detected mutations in three samples and HRM in two samples. In the cohort of never-smoker subjects, those with EGFR mutated tumours had worse survival compared with wild-type tumours (30 versus 49 months; p=0.017). ME-PCR and HRM have similar accuracy in detecting EGFR mutations but the prognostic implications of the mutations in resected NSCLC warrants further study.

Combined off-pump coronary surgery and left lung resection through midline sternotomy with a Medtronic Starfish 2 Heart Positioner.

Concomitant lung malignancy and coronary artery disease is uncommon. When the left lung is involved, the approach is considered to be staged or through left thoracotomy. We present a patient who was operated on for left pneumonectomy and off-pump coronary surgery through a midline sternotomy with the use of a Medtronic Starfish 2 Heart Positioner.

Assessment of a point-of-care test for paracetamol and salicylate in blood.

BACKGROUND: Paracetamol and salicylate are commonly taken in acute overdose. Clinicians have a low threshold for excluding the presence of these two drugs, by ordering laboratory tests in any patient suspected of ingesting an overdose or with an altered mental state. AIM: To test the effectiveness of a new point of care test that qualitatively detects paracetamol and salicylate in blood and to examine the potential time saved by its use. DESIGN: Prospective multicentre trial. METHODS: The new test was compared with laboratory analysis in a routine blood sample taken from patients presenting to emergency departments with suspected overdose. RESULTS: The test had sensitivities of 98.5% and 88.5%, and specificities of 74.7% and 92%, for paracetamol and salicylate, respectively, at cut-off levels of 25 mg/l and 100 mg/l, respectively The point of care test results were available 2 h before the laboratory result. DISCUSSION: This point-of-care test could be used to rule out an overdose with either of these two drugs, and could thus lead to earlier clinical decisions for suspected overdose patients. Recommendations have been made following this trial that the cut-off value for paracetamol should be reduced from 25 mg/l to 12.5 mg/l in order to increase its usefulness. To prevent the test being misread, we also suggest that each device should be embossed to remind users that the presence of a line indicates there is no drug present.

Corneal and conjunctival sensitivity to air stimuli.

AIMS: To determine the repeatability of ocular surface sensitivity to mechanical stimulation using air stimuli and the effect of contact lens (CL) wear on sensitivity. METHODS: Repeatability: 14 subjects (24-39 years) participated. Mechanical sensitivity to warmed (34 degrees C) and ambient (20 degrees C) air was measured for the central cornea (CC), inferior cornea (IC), and inferior conjunctiva (ICON). Measurements were taken on 12 days; six morning and six afternoon measurements. Differences between sites, time of day, and stimulus temperature were evaluated. CL wear: 10 subjects (22-30 years) participated. Measurements were taken at the same time of day, either following no wear, wear of a CL of oxygen permeability [Dk] of 28 x 10(-9) [cm/s][ml O(2)/ml mm Hg] or wear of a CL of Dk 140 x 10(-9) [cm/s][ml O(2)/ml mm Hg]. Differences between sites and wear conditions were evaluated. RESULTS: Repeatability: Sensitivity varied between sites (p<0.01), time of day (p<0.05), and stimulus temperatures (p<0.01). There were no significant differences between days. Mean thresholds for eye temperature stimuli were; CC 64.4 (SD 28.6) ml/min; IC 84.6 (40.0) ml/min; ICON 120.6 (40.4) ml/min and for ambient temperature stimuli were CC 53.9 (16.0) ml/min, IC 59.0 (20.0) ml/min; ICON 72.6 (43.7) ml/min. CL wear: Sensitivity varied between sites and wear conditions (p<0.05). Conjunctival sensitivity was increased after wear of highly oxygen permeable CLs but unaffected by wear of low oxygen permeable CLs. CONCLUSIONS: The prototype gas aesthesiometer is able to repeatably measure ocular surface sensitivity and measurements are consistent with previously reported techniques.

[Ischemia of the lower limbs as a symptom of acute dissection of the ascending aorta]. / Ischemie van de benen als symptoom van een acute dissectie van de aorta ascendens.

A 27-year-old man, two 54-year old men and a 64-year-old woman presented with aspecific symptoms: acute pain and tingling in the shoulders plus paraplegia; exertional dyspnoea and tingling in both feet for the past week; increasing shortness of breath and cold, pale legs and feet for the past week; acute retrosternal pain, incontinence and paraparesis. The cause was dissection of the ascending aorta (type A). Following the operation, the legs were amputated because of ischaemia. The 27-year-old man and one of the 54-year-old men died; the other two patients made a satisfactory recovery. Acute type-A aortic dissection is a life-threatening disease that must be recognised early because it is an absolute indication for emergency surgery. The initial manifestation of type-A dissection may be very aspecific. Post-operative lower limb ischaemia, as the first symptom of this disease, is rare and usually disappears after surgery for type-A dissection. In some cases, however, ischaemia persists and alters the post-operative course dramatically.

Sensations evoked by selective mechanical, chemical, and thermal stimulation of the conjunctiva and cornea.

PURPOSE: To study the sensations evoked by selective mechanical, chemical, and thermal stimulation of the conjunctiva and compare them with those elicited by similar stimulation of the cornea. METHODS: Six young subjects participated in the study. Using a gas esthesiometer, selective mechanical (air puffs at flows from 0 to 264 ml/min), chemical (0--80% CO(2) in air), and thermal (air at temperatures from -10 degrees C to +80 degrees C) stimulation was performed on the center of the cornea and on the temporal conjunctiva. The intensity, degree of irritation, stinging and burning pain components, and thermal characteristics of the evoked sensation were evaluated after each stimulus in separate, 10-cm continuous visual analogue scales (VASs). The ability of the subjects to identify the quality of the stimulus applied to the cornea and the conjunctiva was also studied. RESULTS: The subjective intensity and thermal components (cooling or warming) of the sensation reported after mechanical, chemical, and heat stimulation were similar in the conjunctiva and cornea, although lower VAS scores were always reported in the conjunctiva for the irritation and the stinging and burning pain components. In the cornea, stimulation with low temperatures was perceived as a cooling sensation with an irritative component. In the conjunctiva, cooling was perceived as a purely cold sensation. Subjects showed similar discrimination capability in the cornea and the conjunctiva for the various types of stimuli. CONCLUSIONS: Sensations evoked in the cornea by selective mechanical, chemical, and heat and cold stimulation always presented an irritation component. In the conjunctiva, stimuli of the same intensity are always perceived as less irritating than in the cornea. Cold and other non-noxious subqualities of sensation can be evoked in the conjunctiva.

Risk stratification in acute type A dissection: proposition for a new scoring system.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to develop a scoring system for operative mortality of patients with acute type A aortic dissection. METHODS: Between 1974 and 1999, a total of 252 patients were operated on for an acute type A aortic dissection. We reviewed retrospectively preoperative and intraoperative records to conduct an analysis of risk factors associated with surgery. Multivariate analysis was used to predict operative mortality and to provide a preoperative risk profile of each individual patient that could be used for future patients. RESULTS: Operative mortality was 25.0% (n = 63). A logistic regression model with three explanatory variables to predict operative death showed a good fit: the risk factors associated with operative mortality were preoperative cardiopulmonary resuscitation (p = 0.0013, odds ratio = 15.7) and iatrogenic dissection (p = 0.0014, odds ratio = 9.8). Drained pericardial tamponade (p = 0.0386, odds ratio = 0.12) appeared to be a protective factor associated with decreased mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Because existing scoring systems do not fit this pathologic condition, we propose the use of this Antonius Dissection Scoring System, based on the logistic regression model, to predict the chances of operative mortality for each patient before operation. The survival of patients with concomittant pericardial tamponade may benefit from pericardial drainage.

Twenty-four year experience with reoperations after ascending aortic or aortic root replacement.

OBJECTIVE: A retrospective analysis of early and late outcome for late (>4 weeks) reoperations on the ascending aorta or aortic root. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During a 24-year interval, starting in 1974, 834 patients underwent replacement of the ascending aorta (39.2%) or aortic root (60.8%). During the same period, 56 patients with a mean age of 51.1 +/- 14.4 years underwent reoperation after ascending aortic or aortic root replacement. Predominant indications for reoperation were false aneurysm in 25 (44.6%) patients and true aneurysm in 18 (32.1%) patients. Most frequent surgical procedures were redo aortic root replacement in 30 (53.6%) patients and closure of a false aneurysm in 14 (25.0%) patients. Median interval between the operations was 51 months. Eighteen (32.2%) patients underwent concomitant partial or total aortic arch replacement. RESULTS: Hospital mortality was 5.4% (n = 3; 70% CL: 2.4-8.4%). Cause of death was low cardiac output in two patients and rupture of the aorta at the distal suture line in one patient. Univariate analysis identified two or more previous operations (P = 0.038) and the interval between initial operation and reoperation for complication of less than 8 months (P = 0.005) as risk factors for hospital death. Multivariate analysis indicated operation for active endocarditis or vascular graft infection as an independent risk factor for hospital death (P = 0.038, odds 14.6). Follow-up was complete, median 3.1 years. Nine (16.9%; 70% CL: 11.7-22.1%) patients died during that period. Estimated survival at 1, 5 and 10 years was 91.2, 84.0 and 76.4%. One patient underwent another reoperation. Estimated event-free survival at 1, 5 and 10 year is 84.3, 72.2 and 65.6%. CONCLUSION: False aneurysm formation and progression of aneurysmatic disease are the predominant causes for late reoperations after aortic root or ascending aortic replacement. Reoperations can be performed with low hospital mortality and good late results.

Anemia in institutionalized elderly patients.

In a one-year period (1976--1977), 161 residents of a long-term facility were evaluated. There were 44 men and 117 women. According to criteria established by the World Health Organization, 64 residents (40 percent) were anemic. The incidence was greater for women than for men. The peak incidence occurred in the 71--80 age group for women, and in the 90+ age group for men. Iron deficiency secondary to surgical procedures, gastrointestinal bleeding or anticoagulant therapy was the most common cause of correctable anemia. Of the 64 anemic patients, 42 percent responded to therapy. Anemia among the elderly in institutions is often reversible, unlike the anemia of chronic disease. Evaluation should include a careful history and physical examination plus readily available laboratory findings. Invasive procedures are rarely indicated.