Objective To summarize the experience of open heart operation on neonates with critical and complex congenital heart diseases and evaluate the methods of perioperative management. Methods From May 2001 to January 2003, 12 patients of neonates with congenital heart diseases underwent emergency operation. Their operating ages ranged from 6 to 30 days, the body weights were 2.8 to 4.5 kg. Their diagnoses included D-transposition of the great arteries in 4 cases, ventricular septal defect with atrial septal defect in 5 cases, complete atrioventricular septal defect, obstructed supracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage and cardiac rhabdomyomas in 1 case respectively. 12 cases were operated under moderate or deep hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. Results All cases were observed in ICU for 2-11 days and discharged 7-19 days after operation. The postoperative complications included low cardiac output, mediastinal infection, respiratory distress syndrome, systemic capillary leak syndrome and acute renal failure. All cases were cured and the follow-up (from 6 months to 2 years) showed satisfactory outcome. Conclusion A particular cardiopulmonary bypass and proper perioperative management is very important to ensure the successful outcome. Peritoneal dialysis is an effective and safe method for treating acute renal failure after cardiac operation in neonates.
Objective To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of dexmedetomidine for postoperative sedation in cardiac patients. Methods Such databases as PubMed, EBSCO, Springer, Ovid, The Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data were searched electronically from the date of their establishment to May 2012, and other relevant journals and references of the included literature were also searched manually. Two reviewers independently screened the studies in accordance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed methodology quality. Then the meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1software. Results A total of 8 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 1 157 patients were included. The Jadad scores of 7 RCTs were more than 3, and only 1 RCT scored 2. The results of meta-analysis showed that compared with the control group, dexmedetomidine significantly raised peripheral oxygen saturation (RR=0.90, 95%CI 0.31 to 0.49, P=0.003), decreased the incidence of average heart rate (RR=–5.86, 95%CI –7.31 to −4.40, Plt;0.000 01), ventricular tachycardia (RR=0.27, 95%CI 0.08 to 0.88, P=0.03), delirium (RR=0.28, 95%CI 0.16 to 0.48, Plt;0.000 01) and postoperative hyperglycemia (RR=0.57, 95%CI 0.38 to 0.85, P=0.006), and reduced the number of patients who needed vasoactive agents such as epinephrine (RR=0.53, 95%CI 0.29 to 0.96, P=0.04) and β-blocker (RR=0.60, 95%CI 0.38 to 0.94, P=0.03). However, it failed to shorten the time of both ICU stay (RR=−1.24, 95%CI −4.35 to 1.87, P=0.43) and mechanical ventilation (RR=−2.28, 95%CI −5.13 to 0.57, P=0.12), increase mean artery pressure (RR=−2.78, 95%CI −6.89 to 1.34, P=0.19), and well control postoperative nausea, vomiting and atrial-fibrillation. There were no significant differences between the two groups in myocardial infarction, acute cardiac failure, acute kidney failure, and mortality rate. Conclusion For postoperative sedation in cardiac patients, dexmedetomidine can effectively stabilize hemodynamic indexes, and reduce tachycardia, delirium, postoperative hyperglycemia and vasoactive agents. However, it has no marked influence on the prognosis. For the quantity and quality limitation of included studies, this conclusion needs to be proved by performing more high quality and large sample RCTs.
Objective To systematically review the effectiveness and safety of thoracic epidural analesis (TEA) for postoperative complications after cardiac surgery. Methods Such databases as PubMed, Science Citation Index, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI and CBM were electronically searched from inception to October 2012 for collecting the randomized controlled trials on the effectiveness and safety of thoracic epidural analgesisa for postoperative complications after cardiac surgery. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1 software. Results Totally 14 studies were eligible, involving 1 942 patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that, TEA combined with general anesthesia (GA) was superior to GA alone in reducing the incidences of myocardial ischemia/infarction (RR=0.63, 95%CI 0.41 to 0.96, P=0.03), respiratory complications (RR=0.55, 95%CI 0.40 to 0.75, P=0.000 1), supraventricular arrhythmias (RR=0.64, 95%CI 0.47 to 0.88, P=0.005), and duration of mechanical ventilation (MD= –2.15, 95%CI –3.72 to –0.58, P=0.007), with significant differences. Conclusions Current evidence shows that, TEA after surgery is effective in reducing the incidences of myocardial ischemia/infarction, respiratory complications, supraventricular arrhythmias, and duration of mechanical ventilation. There is the lack of data on the adverse events of TEA (mainly referring to epidural hematoma). Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, patients’ conditions should be fully considered before applying TEA in clinical practice.
Objective To systematically evaluate the effectiveness and accuracy of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) for predicting postoperative cardiovascular events of non-cardiac surgery. Methods Databases including The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Ovid, EMbase, WanFang Data and CNKI were searched electrically to collect literature published from 2000 to 2011, and relevant periodicals and references of the included studies were also manually retrieved. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, related cohort studies were selected, data were extracted, and quality of the included studies was evaluated by two reviewers independently. Then meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.0 software. Results A total of 11 studies involving 3 649 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with patients with lower BNP levels than the cut-off point before surgery, patients with higher BNP levels than the cut-off point before surgery suffered from a higher incidence of cardiovascular events, with a significant difference (OR=27.54, 95%CI 17.49 to 43.35, Plt;0.000 01), while the result of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was similar to that of BNP (OR=19.53, 95%CI 13.54 to 28.17, Plt;0.000 01). Conclusion Postoperative higher levels of BNP and NT-BNP can be used to predict postoperative cardiovascular events of non-cardiac surgery patients. This conclusion needs to be further proved by more high quality studies due to the quality limitation of the included studies.
Objective To analyze the risk factors for ventilator-associated pneumonia( VAP) in adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass ( CPB) . Methods A total of 127 consecutive adult patients who received postoperative ventilation for more than 48 hours between January 2002 and June 2008 in the cardiac surgical intensive care unit( CSICU) were included in this study. The patients were assigned into a VAPgroup( n =64) and a control group( n = 63) . Pre-, intra-, and postoperative factors were collected and analyzed between two groups, and the multivariate analysis( logistic regression)were used to identify the risk factors of VAP. Results The overall incidence of VAP was 5.1%. The mortality of VAP was 28. 1% . Compared to the control group, the patients in the VAP group had longer duration of cardiopulmonary bypass time, ventilation time, more blood products usage and the duration of stay in CSICU( P lt; 0. 001) , higher morbidity of low cardiac output syndrome and tracheotomy( P lt; 0. 01) and higher rate of aortic surgery and mortality( P lt; 0. 05) . The preoperative left ventricular ejection fraction ( LVEF) and postoperative oxygenation index( PaO2 /FiO2 ) were lower in the VAP group than those of the control group( P lt; 0. 001) . Five variables were found to be significantly related to the development of VAP by multivariate analysis: CPB time gt; 120 min( OR = 6. 352, P = 0. 000) ; PaO2 /FiO2 lt; 300 mm Hg( OR =3. 642, P = 0. 017) , transfusion of blood products ≥1500 mL( OR = 5. 083, P = 0. 039) , ventilation time≥5 days( OR = 9. 074, P = 0. 047) and tracheotomy( OR = 19. 899, P = 0. 021) . A total of 102 pathogens were obtained by sputum culture in 64 VAP patients. There were 62( 60. 8% ) cases of gram negative bacilli, 19 cases( 18. 6% ) of gram positive cocci and 21( 20. 6% ) cases of eumycetes. Conclusion This study shows that the cardiopulmonary bypass time, ventilation time, hypoxemia, blood products transfusion and tracheotomy are risk factors most likely associated with VAP development.
Objective To investigate the prognosis and risk factors of cardiac surgical patients with preoperative renal dysfunction，and evaluate the accuracy of estimated glomerular filtration rate （eGFR） as a predictor of adverse outcomes. Methods A total of 2 151 adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery in Renji Hospital，School of Medicine of Shanghai Jiaotong University from January 2005 to December 2009 were included in this study. There were 1 267 male patientsand 884 female patients with their average age of 58.7 （18-99）years. Clinical characteristics of patients with preoperative renal dysfunction，severity of postoperative acute kidney injury （AKI）and patients’ outcomes were analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to analyze perioperative risk factors of postoperative AKI. Receiver operating characteristic（ROC） curve was used to evaluate the accuracy of eGFR to predict patients undergoing postoperative renal replacement therapy （RRT） and in-hospital death. Results A total of 221 patients （10.27%） had preoperative renal dysfunction，among whom 124 patients （56.11%） developed postoperative AKI. Patients with preoperative renal dysfunction were older，had more comorbidities including hypertension and diabetes mellitus，were more likely to receive postoperative RRT，and had worse outcomes. Patients with decreased preoperative eGFR had significantly higher in-hospital mortality. Patients with preoperative renal dysfunction who developed postoperative AKI had the worst prognosis. Multivariate logistic regression showed that hypertension （OR=4.497，P=0.003），postoperative central venous pressure （CVP） ＜6 cm H2O （OR=16.410，P=0.000） and postoperative CVP＞14 cm H2O （OR= 5.178，P=0.013） were independent predictors of postoperative AKI for patients with preoperative renal dysfunction. The areas under the ROC curves of eGFR to predict in-hospital mortality and postoperative RRT were 0.691 and 0.704 respectively （95% CI 0.630-0.752，P=0.000；95% CI 0.614-0.795，P=0.001）. Conclusion Patients with preoperative renal dysfunction are older，have more comorbidities，higher likelihood to develop postoperative AKI and worse prognosis. Hypertension，postoperative CVP＜6 cm H2O and postoperative CVP＞14 cm H2O are independent predictors of postoperative AKI for patients with preoperative renal dysfunction. We believe eGFR can accurately predict the risk of adverse kidney outcomes and in-hospital death of patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
Abstract： Objective To summarize surgical results of secondary subaortic stenosis （SSS） after congenital heart disease （CHD） operations，and analyze the pathogenesis of SSS. Methods We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 19 patients who underwent surgical repair for SSS in Guangdong General Hospital from 1st June 2008 to 31st December 2012. There were 10 males and 9 females. CHD types included double outlet right ventricle，ventricular septal defect and partial atrioventricular septal defect，et al. The median age of the patients when they received their first CHD operations was 4 months （15 days to 5 year and 11 months）. The median age of the patients when they received SSS repair was 5 years and 3 months （1 year to 15 years and 3 months）. The median time interval from CHD operation to SSS repair was 4 years and 10 months （8 months to 13 years and 11 months）. Results All the patients successfully received their SSS repair. There was no surgical death in this study. Median cardiopulmonary bypass time was 79 （39 to 172） minutes，and median aortic cross-clamp time was 42 （22 to 124） minutes. Median postoperative hospital stay was 7 （5 to 9） days. Postoperatively， 1 patient required permanent pacemaker implantation. All the patients were followed up after discharge for a median durationof 1 year and 10 months （5 months to 4 years and 4 months） . During follow-up， none of the patients had any clinical symptom，their heart function was normal，and there was no late death. One patient received another subaortic stenosis repair for gradually aggravating left ventricular outflow tract stenosis. Conclusions SSS is very rare after CHD operations. The pathogenesis of SSS is perhaps related to abnormal blood flows in the left ventricular outflow tract after CHD operations. The pathogenesis time of SSS and types of CHD leading to SSS cannot be predicted. Subaortic stenosis repair is a simple and safe procedure for SSS，but postoperatively left ventricular outflow tract stenosis may appear and aggravate again.
Bloodless surgery is a comprehensive and systematic perioperative treatment approach in order to avoid allogeneic transfusion for surgery，improve patient prognosis，and relieve blood shortage. Bloodless heart surgery indicates some perioperative strategies to avoid allogeneic transfusion and improve clinical outcomes，which involves participation of cardiac surgeons and other professionals during cardiac surgery. For years，many cardiac surgeons have utilized several blood management and conservation techniques during open heart surgery to avoid allogeneic transfusion. Research results from major medical centers indicate that bloodless heart surgery can shorten postoperative recovery period and improve patientprognosis. In this review，we describe basic theory and systematic methods of bloodless surgery，and summarize applicationprogress of bloodless heart surgery and current status in China.