Radiotherapy-Induced Atrial Myxoma: A Case Report and Literature Review.

In this particular case study, we present a 66-year-old male who was diagnosed with an atrial myxoma eight years after receiving treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. The patient underwent chemo-radiotherapy (mediastinal area) in 2012 to address stage III-A adenocarcinoma of the lung. During follow-up imaging in 2020, a left atrial mass displaying characteristic features of a cardiac myxoma was detected. Upon reviewing a computed tomographic (CT) scan from 2017 within the previously irradiated mediastinal region, the cardiac mass was retrospectively identified. The surgical excision of the cardiac mass was performed, and a subsequent pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of myxoma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a left atrial myxoma in a patient previously treated for adenocarcinoma of the lung and the first instance of an atrial myxoma occurring in a site that had undergone prior radiation therapy.

Erector Spinae Plane (ESP) Block for Postoperative Pain Management after Open Oncologic Abdominal Surgery.

Patients undergoing abdominal oncologic surgical procedures require particular surgical and anesthesiologic considerations. Traditional pain management, such as opiate treatment, continuous epidural analgesia, and non-opioid drugs, may have serious side effects in this patient population. We evaluated erector spinae plane (ESP) blocks for postoperative pain management following elective oncologic abdominal surgeries. In this single-center, prospective, and randomized study, we recruited 100 patients who underwent elective oncological abdominal surgery between December 2020 and January 2022 at Soroka University Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel. We compared postoperative pain levels in patients who were treated with a preincisional ESP block in addition to traditional pain management with intravenous opioids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and acetaminophen, compared to patients who were only given traditional pain management (control). Patients who were treated with a preincisional ESP block demonstrated significantly lower Visual Analog Scale scores at 60 minutes and 4, 8, and 12 hours following the surgery, compared to the control group (p < 0.001). Accordingly, patients in the ESP group required less morphine from 60 minutes to 12 hours after surgery, but they required increased non-opioid postoperative analgesia management at 4, 8, and 12 hours after surgery (p from 0.002 to <0.001) compared to the control group. In this study, we found ESP blocks to be a safe, technically simple, and effective treatment for postoperative pain management after elective oncologic abdominal procedures.

A prospective cohort study of dynamic cell-free DNA elevation during cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) are associated with a systemic inflammatory reaction that occasionally induces a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by the dysregulated host response to the damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). In severe inflammation, cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and histones are released by inflammatory cells and damaged tissue and act as DAMPs. We sought to characterize the changes in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) levels during CPB. Primary outcomes were renal failure, ventilation time (>18 hr), length of stay (LOS) in the intensive care unit (ICU) (>48hr), hospital LOS (>15 days), and death. We looked for associations with blood tests and comparison to standard scores. In a prospective cohort study, we enrolled 71 patients undergoing non-emergent coronary artery bypass grafting. Blood was drawn at baseline, 20 and 40 minutes on CPB, after cross-clamp removal, and 30 minutes after chest closure. cfDNA was measured by our fast fluorescent method. Baseline cfDNA levels [796 (656-1063) ng/ml] increased during surgery, peaked after cross-clamp removal [2403 (1981-3357) ng/ml] and returned to baseline at recovery. The difference in cfDNA from 20 to 40 minutes on CPB (ΔcfDNA 40-20) inversely correlated with peripheral vascular disease (PVD), longer ventilation time, and longer ICU and hospital length of stay (LOS). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of ΔcfDNA 40-20 for long ICU-LOS (>48hr) was with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.738 (p = 0.022). ROC AUC of ΔcfDNA 40-20 to long Hospital LOS (>15 days) was 0.787 (p = 0.006). Correction for time on CPB in a multivariate logistic regression model improved ROC-AUC to 0.854 (p = 0.003) and suggests that ΔcfDNA 40-20 is an independent risk factor. To conclude, of measured parameters, including STS and Euroscore, the predictive power of ΔcfDNA 40-20 was the highest. Thus, measurement of ΔcfDNA 40-20 may enable early monitoring of patients at higher risk. Further studies on the mechanism behind the negative association of ΔcfDNA 40-20 with PVD and outcomes are warranted.

Hemoglobin A1c in Patients with Diabetes Predict Long-Term Mortality Following Coronary Artery Surgery.

OBJECTIVE: to estimate the association between preoperative hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels below and above 7%, and the rate of all-cause mortality (ACM) in diabetes mellitus (DM) patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) within a ten-year follow-up period. METHODS: we collected data on patient HbA1c levels that were measured up to 3 months prior to isolated CABG in consecutive patients with DM, and analyzed the rates of ACM over a median of a 5.9-year post-operative period. RESULTS: preoperative HbA1c levels were collected in 579 DM patients. The mean HbA1c was 8.0 ± 1.7%, where 206 (35.6%) patients had an HbA1c ≤ 7% and 373 (64.4%) had an HbA1c > 7%. During the follow-up period, mortality rates were 20.4% and 28.7% in the HbA1c ≤ 7% and HbA1c > 7% groups, respectively (Kaplan-Meier estimates, log-rank p = 0.01). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusted for age, gender, smoking status, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, chronic renal failure, old myocardial infarction, number of coronary artery bypass surgeries, and post-operative glycemic control, showed a hazard ratio of 2.67 for long-term ACM (p = 0.001) in patients with HbA1c > 7%. CONCLUSIONS: DM patients with high HbA1c levels prior to CABG are at higher risk for long-term complications, especially late ACM.