Prediction of survival in patients with cardiogenic shock and multiorgan failure treated with biventricular assist device.

Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) is valuable in saving the lives of patients with severe cardiogenic shock. However, their survival is limited if multiorgan failure (MOF) proves to be irreversible. Although ventricular assist devices (VADs) have been shown to reverse end-organ failure in some patients, the pathophysiological mechanisms of end-organ failure and its regression are not fully understood, and clinical markers and thresholds for the "point of no return" are lacking. We investigated predictors of 30-day survival in patients supported with a biventricular assist device (BVAD). We studied 157 patients implanted with a Berlin Heart EXCOR BVAD between 1987 and 2006. Children younger than 10 years and cases with postcardiotomy syndrome and transplant failure were excluded from the analysis as well as patients with technical or bleeding problems requiring rethoracotomy. In total, 69 clinical, hemodynamic, echocardiographic, and laboratory parameters were evaluated. Most of the patients suffered from ischemic cardiomyopathy or acute myocardial infarction. In addition, the preoperative multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores were calculated. The patients were divided into two groups regarding procedural success: group I-survival >30 days or heart transplantation or weaning from device (n = 105) and group II-death on system <30 days after surgery (n = 52). The 30-day procedural success rate was 67%. The patients in group I had higher systolic blood pressure (96.7 vs. 90.1 mm Hg, p = 0.027), lower serum creatinine (1.96 vs. 2.4 mg/dl, p = 0.001), and higher arterial pH (7.43 vs. 7.37, p = 0.02). The multivariate analysis recognized age, body temperature, systolic blood pressure, MODS score, and higher arterial pH as significant predictors for 30-day mortality. Standard markers for severity of cardiogenic shock and MOF do not predict survival on BVAD. As expected, older patients are at higher risk for death on BVAD. Acidosis and high MODS score predict unfavorable outcome. However, the prediction of clinical outcome in patients in severe cardiogenic shock supported by BVAD is possible in extreme situations only.

Predictors of early mortality in patients with active infective native or prosthetic aortic root endocarditis undergoing homograft aortic root replacement.

PURPOSE: We compared early results of homograft aortic root replacement (ARR) in native (NVE) and prosthetic (PVE) aortic valve endocarditis in order to identify predictors for early mortality (<30 days). METHODS: Between 05/1986 and 12/2007, 1,163 endocarditis patients were operated upon. Of these, 221 patients (n = 185 men, median age 55 years) underwent homograft ARR due to 99 cases of NVE (45%) and 122 of PVE (55%) aortic root endocarditis. Demographics, clinical differences, survival rates and predictors of early mortality were analyzed. Follow-up (mean 5.2 +/- 0.4 years, maximum 18.4 years) was completed in 96.8% with a total of 1,127 patient years. RESULTS: Main causes of the 47 (21.2%) early deaths were septic multiorgan failure in 23 (48.9%) and myocardial failure in 10 (21.3%) patients with a significantly better survival for NVE than for PVE patients (patients = 0.029). The highest ORs were found in the univariate analysis for preoperative development of septic shock (OR 14.28), preoperative necessity of ventilation (OR 7.08), high doses of catecholamines (OR 5.60), severe aortic root destruction (OR 5.12), emergency operation (OR 4.25) and persistent fever despite antibiotic treatment (OR 4.11). Multivariate analysis showed that preoperative ventilation (OR 5.43), persistent fever under antibiotic treatment (OR 2.84) and prosthetic endocarditis (OR 2.32) were independent risk factors for early mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that early outcome could be improved if patients were referred earlier for surgery. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary, involving at least specialists in intensive care medicine, cardiology, infectious disease and cardiac surgery in order to identify the optimal time for surgery and decrease early mortality.

Aorticopulmonary paraganglioma with severe obstruction of the pulmonary artery: successful combined treatment by stenting and surgery.

Aorticopulmonary paraganglioma is a rare tumor of the middle mediastinum. Complete surgical resection is the only effective treatment, even when it may pose a surgical challenge due to the proximity of the tumor to the heart and great vessels, often rendering complete resection difficult to achieve. We report the case of a 30-year-old woman with an aorticopulmonary paraganglioma who presented with severe pulmonary hypertension due to obstruction of the pulmonary artery. In the first step, stenting of the pulmonary artery was performed and 2 months later a radical resection of the tumor using cardiopulmonary bypass under circulatory arrest and deep hypothermia was carried out. In addition, the ascending aorta and aortic arch were replaced by a prosthesis. The patient is in optimal condition and has now been disease-free for almost 7 years. We believe that this is the first description in the English literature of a successful combined management strategy in view of such an unusual manifestation of aorticopulmonary paraganglioma.