Choice of desflurane or propofol for the maintenance of general anesthesia does not affect the risk of periprocedural myocardial damage in patients undergoing transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to reveal whether the occurrence of periprocedural myocardial damage (PMD) decreases in patients who received volatile anesthetics to maintain general anesthesia compared with those who received propofol during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). METHODS: We included one hundred and forty adult patients who underwent transfemoral TAVI under general anesthesia from January 2015 to March 2017 in this single-center retrospective review. We compared the rate of patients who developed PMD between those who received desflurane (Group D, n = 72) and propofol (Group P, n = 68) for anesthetic maintenance. PMD was represented by the peak levels of creatine kinase myocardial band (CK-MB) and troponin I within 72 h following the procedure and defined as an increase >5 times in CK-MB or >15 times in troponin I compared with the institutional upper reference limits. Further analysis was performed to identify the independent predictors of PMD. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the rate of PMD between groups (Group D 72.2% to Group P 70.6%, P = 0.85) or levels of CK-MB (Group D 7.85 [1.3-72.7] ng/mL to Group P 8.45 [1.8-49.7] ng/mL; P = 0.59) and troponin I (Group D 1.061 [0.050-10.8] ng/mL to Group P 1.214 [0.036-29.0] ng/mL; P = 0.97). The risk of PMD was higher in patients with more intraprocedural blood loss (odds ratio 1.49 per 100 mL, P = 0.048) and lower in those with an implanted permanent pacemaker (odds ratio 0.17; P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Desflurane does not appear to be more cardioprotective than propofol when used for anesthetic maintenance in patients undergoing transfemoral TAVI.

Perioperative factors related to the severity of vocal cord paralysis after thoracic cardiovascular surgery: A retrospective review.

BACKGROUND: Vocal cord paralysis (VCP) is a rare complication of thoracic cardiovascular surgery. In severe cases, life-threatening airway obstruction may occur. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the incidence and severity of VCP among patients who underwent thoracic cardiovascular surgery and to identify possible risk factors. DESIGN: Single-centre retrospective review of adult patients. SETTING: Osaka University Hospital, Suita, Japan, from January 2013 to August 2015. PATIENTS: We included 688 patients in the final analysis. Preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative data were collected from medical records. Patients with preoperative VCP or tracheostomy prior to extubation were excluded. The VCP severity in relation to functional recovery was graded using the following categories: absent; mild, remission at 6 months; moderate, partial or persistent VCP at 6 months; or severe, airway obstruction after extubation requiring reintubation. An otolaryngologist diagnosed all VCP cases. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The incidence and severity of VCP after extubation. RESULTS: The incidence (number) of VCP was 4.7% (32), with those of mild, moderate and severe VCP being 1.7% (12), 1.5% (10) and 1.5% (10), respectively. The ICU stay was significantly longer in patients with severe VCP than in patients without VCP [12.5 days (interquartile range 5.5 to 25.5) vs. 3 days (interquartile range 2 to 5), P = 0.0002]. In our multivariable analysis, type 2 diabetes mellitus [odds ratio (OR) 1.853, P = 0.009], intubation period (OR per 24 h 1.136, P = 0.014), ascending aortic arch surgery with brachiocephalic artery reconstruction (OR 8.708, P < 0.001) and ventricular assist device implantation (OR 3.460, P = 0.005) were independent predictors for VCP. CONCLUSION: The identification of these risk factors may facilitate screening for VCP before extubation and possibly help anaesthesia personnel to be prepared to treat VCP-related airway obstruction should it occur.

A longer total duration of rapid ventricular pacing does not increase the risk of postprocedural myocardial injury in patients who undergo transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Rapid ventricular pacing (RVP) is used during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). RVP disturbs myocardial oxygen balance, and when prolonged, it may cause procedure-related myocardial injury (PMI). This study investigated whether a longer duration of RVP increased the occurrence of PMI or worsened long-term mortality after TAVI. We retrospectively analyzed data from 188 patients who underwent TAVI in our institute from January 2013 to July 2015. Myocardial injury was represented by the peak value of creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB) within 72 h after the procedure; an increase greater than 5 times the upper reference limit was regarded as PMI. There was no difference in RVP time (RVPT) between patients with and without PMI (median [range]: 57 [9-189] s vs. 54 [0-159] s, p = 0.9). A higher peak CK-MB was significantly correlated with the apical approach for the procedure (p < 0.001) but not with total RVPT (p = 0.22). A subanalysis of 133 patients whose troponin I was tested within 72 h postprocedurally showed no correlation between the peak value and RVPT (p = 0.40). Shortening RVPT did not result in myocardial protection; thus, RVPT during TAVI should be sufficient to optimize valve placement.

Unexpected bioprosthetic mitral valve thrombus during left ventricular assist device implantation.

Acute bioprosthetic valve thrombosis can occur after surgery and sometimes cause hemodynamic instability and cardiogenic shock. Risk factors for bioprosthetic valve thrombosis are hypercoagulability, atrial fibrillation, atrial dilatation, low cardiac function, and lack of anticoagulation therapy. The authors present a case of severe mitral stenosis due to bioprosthetic valve thrombus. The patient was diagnosed with dilated-phase hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and underwent mitral valve replacement. He required venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) due to extremely low cardiac output and was scheduled for left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. Transesophageal echocardiographic examination before LVAD implantation revealed severe mitral stenosis due to bioprosthetic mitral valve thrombus, which was not detected by transthoracic echocardiography in the intensive care unit and contributed to the low cardiac function. The thrombus was removed through an unscheduled left atriotomy before LVAD implantation. The possibility of bioprosthetic valve thrombosis must be considered when the patient is dependent on VA-ECMO support. Early transesophageal echocardiographic examination of the bioprosthetic valve may be helpful and contribute to surgical decision-making.

Thoracic Paravertebral Block for Perioperative Analgesia in the Surgical Management of Left Ventricular Assist Device Infections.

Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is increasingly being used as a bridging therapy to heart transplantation. Infection is a major complication in patients with implanted LVADs, and it is associated with short- and long-term mortality. Surgical management for infection control is sometimes necessary; however, providing pain management during the surgical procedures is challenging. Anesthesiologists may be able to contribute to better pain management during surgical interventions to treat LVAD infections. We successfully performed a continuous thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) for perioperative pain relief during invasive surgical procedures on three patients with infections of implanted LVADs. Despite several limitations that need to be addressed in the future, TPVB was able to relieve surgical pain in these patients without obvious complications.

The efficacy of continuous subcostal transversus abdominis plane block for analgesia after living liver donation: a retrospective study.

PURPOSE: Postoperative pain management for living liver donors has become a major concern as a result of the increasing number of living liver donations. Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has been known to provide effective analgesia for abdominal surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of ultrasound-guided continuous subcostal TAP block as a part of a multimodal analgesic regimen in comparison with conventional intravenous (IV) fentanyl-based analgesia in living liver donors. METHODS: Thirty-two donors were retrospectively classified into either the continuous subcostal TAP block group (TAP group) or the IV fentanyl-based analgesia group (control group). TAP group donors received bilateral continuous subcostal TAP infusion of 0.125 % levobupivacaine at 6 ml/h. Control group donors did not receive any neural blockade. RESULTS: Cumulative fentanyl consumption was significantly lower in the TAP group for 48 h (P < 0.01) as compared to the control group. Further, the donors in the TAP group had significantly lower incidence of nausea and vomiting during 24-48 h postoperatively (P < 0.01) and fewer delays in the initiation of oral intake than those in the control group (P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, continuous subcostal TAP block provided an effective opioid-sparing analgesia for living liver donors.

[Anesthetic Management for Heart-Lung Transplantation Report of 2 Cases from Japan].

Heart and lung transplantation (HLT) is the surgical procedure for congenital heart disease and cardiomy- opathy with pulmonary hypertension. HLT is rare in the world and has been performed only twice until October, 2014 at our hospital in Japan. We report the anesthetic management for HLT.

[Survey of smoking status among preoperative patients and characteristics of smokers].

Smoking is an independent risk factor for both pulmonary and nonpulmonary perioperative complications. For safer anesthetic management, it is important to encourage and support the cessation of smoking in the preoperative period. As a first step to design a preoperative smoking cessation program, we conducted a survey of preoperative patients about smoking status and characteristics of smokers at an outpatient clinic for an anesthesiology department. The percentages of male and female smokers were 42% and 19%, respectively. Percentages of preoperative smokers considered to be in the preparation stage of smoking stage were 26% in male and 19% in female, as compared to 3% in male and 5% in female in general smokers. Twenty four % of both male and female patients were strongly committed to achieving smoking cessation. These trends in smoking characteristics indicate that preoperative smokers are more likely to quit smoking without heavy support and encouragement than general smokers. In designing a preoperative smoking cessation program, these results must be taken into consideration.