Contemporary series of postpericardiotomy syndrome (PPS) are lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence, time course, features at presentation, risk factors, and prognosis of PPS. ...The study population consisted of 360 consecutive candidates to cardiac surgery enrolled in a prospective cohort study. PPS was diagnosed in 54 patients (15.0%; mean age 66 ± 12 years, 48.1% women): 79.6% in the first month, 13.0% in the second month, and 7.4% in the third month. Specific symptoms, signs, or features were pleuritic chest pain (55.6%), fever (53.7%), elevated markers of inflammation (74.1%), pericardial effusion (88.9%), and pleural effusion (92.6%). Cardiac tamponade was rare at presentation (1.9%). Female gender (hazard ratio 2.32, 95% confidence interval 1.22 to 4.39, p = 0.010), and pleura incision (hazard ratio 4.31, 95% confidence interval 2.22 to 8.33, p <0.001) were identified as risk factors in multivariate analysis. Patients with PPS had longer cardiac surgery stays (11.5 ± 4.6 vs 9.9 ± 4.7 days, p = 0.021) and rehabilitation stays (16.4 ± 6.7 vs 12.4 ± 6.2 days, p <0.001) and more readmissions (13.0% vs 0%, p <0.001). Adverse events after a mean follow-up period of 19.8 months were recurrences (3.7%), cardiac tamponade (<2%), but no cases of constriction. In conclusion, despite advances in cardiac surgery techniques, PPS is a common postoperative complication, generally occurring in the first 3 months after surgery. Severe complications are rare, but the syndrome is responsible for hospital stay prolongation and readmissions. Female gender and pleura incision are risk factors for PPS.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Background Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has been designed to treat elderly patients with severe aortic stenosis at high risk for operation; however, these patients are also often ...affected by severe iliac-femoral arteriopathy that prohibits the transfemoral approach. Methods From May 2008 to January 2012, 400 patients were evaluated for TAVI at our center; of these, 141 patients (64 men; mean age 81.3 ± 8 years) with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis and no reasonable surgical option due to excessive risk were eligible for CoreValve (137 patients; Medtronic Inc, MN) or Sapien (Edwards Lifesciences, CA) implantation. Twenty-five patients (all affected by severe peripheral vasculopathy, including five re-do procedures), with a mean The Society of Thoracic Surgeons mortality score 11% ± 6%, underwent CoreValve implantation directly from the ascending aorta through a right anterior minithoracotomy. This case series was reviewed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of these patients. A combined team of cardiologists, cardiac surgeons with expertise in hybrid procedures, and anesthetists performed all the procedures. Results In all patients after valve deployment, the mean aortic gradient immediately dropped to 5 mm Hg or less, and the angiographic grade aortic insufficiency was 1 or less in 22 patients. One patient was converted to the transfemoral approach due to an extremely fragile aortic wall, but the patient died of abdominal aorta aneurysm rupture on postoperative day 1. Procedural success was obtained in the remaining 24 patients. A left ventricle tear in 1 patient was successfully surgically treated. Four patients required a permanent pacemaker implantation. Thirty-day mortality was 8% (2 patients). All discharged patients improved their New York Heart Association functional class and functional capacity, and echocardiograms demonstrated good valve performance up to 2 years (mean valve gradient, 9 mm Hg). During follow-up, 1 patient died of cachexia and another of bone marrow aplasia. Conclusions TAVI with the direct aortic approach is safe and feasible, offering a new attractive option to treat selected high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis and peripheral vasculopathy, including those requiring a re-do procedure, and has emerged as a valuable alternative route to transapical access.
Background
Cardiac dysfunction, mainly assessed by biomarker alterations, has been described in COVID-19 infection. However, there are still areas of uncertainty regarding its effective role in ...disease evolution. Aim of this study was to evaluate early echocardiographic parameters in COVID pneumonia and their association with severity disease and prognosis.
Methods
An echocardiographic examination was performed within 72 h from admission in 64 consecutive patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia in our medium-intensity care unit, from March 30th to May 15th 2020. Six patients were excluded for inadequate acoustic window.
Results
Fifty-eight consecutive patients were finally enrolled, with a median age of 58 years. Twenty-two (38%) were classifiable as severe COVID-19 disease. Eight out of 58 patients experienced adverse evolution (six died, two were admitted to ICU and received mechanical ventilation), all of them in the severe pneumonia group. Severe pneumonia patients showed higher troponin, IL-6 and
d
-Dimer values. No significant new onset alterations of left and right ventricular systolic function parameters were observed. Patients with severe pneumonia showed higher mean estimated systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) (30.7 ± 5.2 mmHg vs 26.2 ± 4.3 mmHg,
p
= 0.006), even if in the normality range values. No differences in echocardiographic parameters were retrieved in patients with adverse events with respect to those with favorable clinical course.
Conclusion
A mild sPAP increase in severe pneumonia patients with respect to those with milder disease was the only significant finding at early echocardiographic examination, without other signs of new onset major cardiac dysfunction. Future studies are needed to deepen the knowledge regarding minor cardiac functional perturbation in the evolution of a complex systemic disorder, in which the respiratory involvement appears as the main character, at least in non-ICU patients.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Background No preventive pharmacologic strategies have been proven efficacious for the prevention of postoperative effusions after cardiac surgery. Colchicine is safe and efficacious for the ...prevention of pericarditis. On this basis, we realized a substudy of the COPPS trial to assess the efficacy and safety of colchicine for the prevention of postoperative pericardial and pleural effusions. Methods The COPPS is a multicenter, double-blind, randomized trial, where 360 consecutive patients (mean age 65.7 ± 12.3 years, 66% men), 180 in each treatment arm, were randomized on the third postoperative day to receive placebo or colchicine for 1 month (1.0 mg twice daily for the first day, followed by a maintenance dose of 0.5 mg twice daily in patients ≥70 kg, and halved doses for patients <70 kg). The incidence of postoperative effusions was evaluated in each study group. Results Despite similar baseline features, colchicine significantly reduced the incidence of postoperative pericardial (12.8% vs 22.8%, P = .019, relative risk reduction 43.9%, no. of patients needed to treat 10) and pleural effusions (12.2% vs 25.6%, P = .002, relative risk reduction 52.3%, no. of patients needed to treat 8). The rate of side effects (only gastrointestinal intolerance) and drug withdrawal was similar in the study groups with a trend toward an increased rate of both events for colchicine. In multivariable analysis, female gender (hazard ratio 1.76, 95% CI 1.03-3.03, P = .040) and pleura incision (hazard ratio 2.58, 95% CI 1.53-4.53, P < .001) were risk factors for postoperative effusions. Conclusions Colchicine is safe and efficacious for the primary prevention of postoperative effusions after cardiac surgery.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Transcatheter valve implantation into failing surgical mitral bioprosthetic valves have been reported. This strategy avoids performing high-risk repeat cardiac surgery in elderly patients with ...multiple comorbidities. All these patients have been treated by a transapical approach. We report a case of failing bioprosthetic mitral valve in an 82-year-old woman successfully treated with a 29-mm Edwards SAPIEN balloon expandable bioprosthesis (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA) with direct left atrial approach through a right anterior thoracotomy. Our experience demonstrates the technical feasibility and safety of this approach. Therefore, mitral valve-in-surgical valve implantation may be a viable treatment alternative in carefully selected patients.
We describe a case of Direct Flow (Direct Flow Medical Inc, Santa Rosa, CA) transcatheter aortic valve implantation in a patient with a mechanical valve in a mitral position.
No data are available in the literature regarding the effectiveness and safety of transcatheter aortic valve implantation in patients who underwent previous mitral valve ring repair. Concerns exist ...related to the possible interference between the percutaneous aortic valve and the mitral annuloplasty ring. We report our experience with percutaneous aortic self-expandable valve implantation in a 76-year-old woman affected by severe aortic stenosis, previously operated on for “undersized” mitral annuloplasty repair of severe functional mitral regurgitation in dilated cardiomyopathy. No deformation of the nitinol tubing of the CoreValve device (CoreValve, Inc, Irvine, CA), neither distortion nor malfunction nor change of the conformation of the mitral ring occurred. No change in mitral function and regurgitation was evident at echocardiography monitoring, which was performed during the implant.
We report the case of a healthy 35‐year‐old woman who had experienced a flu‐like syndrome during the week before childbirth and heart failure symptoms 10 days before the current hospitalization and ...presented to our emergency department with clinical signs of congestive heart failure, echocardiographic evidence of a severely dilated and hypokinetic heart, laboratory evidence of SARS‐CoV‐2 disease, and radiologic findings consistent with both virus‐related pneumonia and heart failure. Early cardiac magnetic resonance was crucial for the diagnosis of postpartum cardiomyopathy and for the exclusion of virus‐related myocarditis, allowing us to decide on a prudent and supportive clinical approach.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
IMPORTANCE: Postpericardiotomy syndrome, postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF), and postoperative effusions may be responsible for increased morbidity and health care costs after cardiac surgery. ...Postoperative use of colchicine prevented these complications in a single trial. OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy and safety of perioperative use of oral colchicine in reducing postpericardiotomy syndrome, postoperative AF, and postoperative pericardial or pleural effusions. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Investigator-initiated, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial among 360 consecutive candidates for cardiac surgery enrolled in 11 Italian centers between March 2012 and March 2014. At enrollment, mean age of the trial participants was 67.5 years (SD, 10.6 years), 69% were men, and 36% had planned valvular surgery. Main exclusion criteria were absence of sinus rhythm at enrollment, cardiac transplantation, and contraindications to colchicine. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomized to receive placebo (n=180) or colchicine (0.5 mg twice daily in patients ≥70 kg or 0.5 mg once daily in patients <70 kg; n=180) starting between 48 and 72 hours before surgery and continued for 1 month after surgery. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Occurrence of postpericardiotomy syndrome within 3 months; main secondary study end points were postoperative AF and pericardial or pleural effusion. RESULTS: The primary end point of postpericardiotomy syndrome occurred in 35 patients (19.4%) assigned to colchicine and in 53 (29.4%) assigned to placebo (absolute difference, 10.0%; 95% CI, 1.1%-18.7%; number needed to treat = 10). There were no significant differences between the colchicine and placebo groups for the secondary end points of postoperative AF (colchicine, 61 patients 33.9%; placebo, 75 patients 41.7%; absolute difference, 7.8%; 95% CI, −2.2% to 17.6%) or postoperative pericardial/pleural effusion (colchicine, 103 patients 57.2%; placebo, 106 patients 58.9%; absolute difference, 1.7%; 95% CI, −8.5% to 11.7%), although there was a reduction in postoperative AF in the prespecified on-treatment analysis (placebo, 61/148 patients 41.2%; colchicine, 38/141 patients 27.0%; absolute difference, 14.2%; 95% CI, 3.3%-24.7%). Adverse events occurred in 21 patients (11.7%) in the placebo group vs 36 (20.0%) in the colchicine group (absolute difference, 8.3%; 95% CI; 0.76%-15.9%; number needed to harm = 12), but discontinuation rates were similar. No serious adverse events were observed. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among patients undergoing cardiac surgery, perioperative use of colchicine compared with placebo reduced the incidence of postpericardiotomy syndrome but not of postoperative AF or postoperative pericardial/pleural effusion. The increased risk of gastrointestinal adverse effects reduced the potential benefits of colchicine in this setting. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01552187
Inflammation and pericarditis may be contributing factors for postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF), and both are potentially affected by antiinflammatory drugs and colchicine, which has been ...shown to be safe and efficacious for the prevention of pericarditis and the postpericardiotomy syndrome (PPS). The aim of the Colchicine for the Prevention of the Post-Pericardiotomy Syndrome (COPPS) POAF substudy was to test the efficacy and safety of colchicine for the prevention of POAF after cardiac surgery.
The COPPS POAF substudy included 336 patients (mean age, 65.7±12.3 years; 69% male) of the COPPS trial, a multicenter, double-blind, randomized trial. Substudy patients were in sinus rhythm before starting the intervention (placebo/colchicine 1.0 mg twice daily starting on postoperative day 3 followed by a maintenance dose of 0.5 mg twice daily for 1 month in patients ≥70 kg, halved doses for patients <70 kg or intolerant to the highest dose). The substudy primary end point was the incidence of POAF on intervention at 1 month. Despite well-balanced baseline characteristics, patients on colchicine had a reduced incidence of POAF (12.0% versus 22.0%, respectively; P=0.021; relative risk reduction, 45%; number needed to treat, 11) with a shorter in-hospital stay (9.4±3.7 versus 10.3±4.3 days; P=0.040) and rehabilitation stay (12.1±6.1 versus 13.9±6.5 days; P=0.009). Side effects were similar in the study groups.
Colchicine seems safe and efficacious in the reduction of POAF with the potentiality of halving the complication and reducing the hospital stay.
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