The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Allogeneic blood transfusion has been associated with immune modulation in other solid organ transplants. Within cardiothoracic surgery, allogeneic blood transfusion is associated with greater postoperative morbidity and mortality. We investigated the impact of allogeneic blood transfusion on rejection, function, and late mortality within lung transplantation. ⋯ All blood products administration regardless of amount transfused did not appear to affect early rejection outcomes or forced expiratory volume in 1 second expressed as percentage of forced vital capacity at 3 and 6 months. Use of RBC and FFP had no effect on survival. However, greater platelet usage appeared to adversely affect early but not late mortality.
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Bleeding may occur frequently during adult extracorporeal life support; however, there are no detailed investigations of bleeding events, red blood cell transfusion, and their impact on mortality. The purpose of our study was to characterize the incidence of bleeding and red blood cell transfusion during adult extracorporeal life support and examine the impact on mortality. ⋯ Bleeding and red blood cell transfusion occur frequently during adult extracorporeal life support, but only the amount of red blood cell transfusion is associated with inhospital mortality after controlling for confounding variables.
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Intramural coronary arteries may complicate coronary artery transfer during the arterial switch operation. We sought to determine the long-term outcomes of 28 patients with intramural coronary arteries who underwent an arterial switch operation at a single institution. ⋯ Patients with intramural coronary arteries are not at increased risk of death or coronary reinterventions and have excellent late outcomes after the arterial switch operation.
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Comparative Study
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Versus Aortic Valve Bypass: A Comparison of Outcomes and Economics.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is currently offered to patients who are high-risk candidates for conventional surgical aortic valve replacement. For the past 37 years, off-pump aortic valve bypass (AVB) has been used in elderly patients at our center for this similarly high-risk group. Although TAVR and AVB were offered to similar patients at our center, comparisons of clinical outcomes and hospital economics for each strategy were not reported. ⋯ TAVR and AVB relieve aortic stenosis and have similar and acceptable procedural mortality rates. AVB-treated patients had 1.75 times the STS risk score when compared with the TAVR cohort. Hospital charges for TAVR were nearly twofold those of AVB. Hospital reimbursement was similar, but AVB had two to four times the profit margin of TAVR. Longer follow-up for the TAVR cohort will determine whether survival is comparable to that after AVB at 3 and 5 years.
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A Fontan Y-shaped graft using a commercially available aortoiliac graft has been used to connect the inferior vena cava (IVC) to the pulmonary arteries. This modification of the Fontan procedure seeks to improve hepatic flow distribution (HFD) to the lungs. However, patient-specific anatomical restrictions might limit the space available for graft placement. Altering the superior vena cava (SVC) positioning is hypothesized to provide more space for an optimal connection, avoiding caval flow collision. Computational modeling tools were used to retrospectively study the effect of SVC placement on Y-graft hemodynamics. ⋯ SVC positioning with respect to the Y-graft affects HFD, especially in patients with lower IVC flow. Careful positioning of the SVC at the time of a bidirectional Glenn (BDG) procedure based on patient-specific anatomy can optimize the hemodynamics of the eventual Fontan completion.