Mitral valvuloplasty is a more suitable surgical procedure than mitral valve replacement in the case of mitral valve degeneration. Quadrangular resection and artificial chordae plantation, considered to be classical procedures, are widely employed in posterior mitral valve prolapse, and have prominent long-term effects during the follow-up. However, is there any difference in mitral valve reconstruction due to completely different surgical methodology and concepts of the two procedures? Every surgeon has his own ideas and preferences for mitral valvuloplasty, and the choice of surgical procedures mostly depends on experience of surgeons. The article generally reviews variances in intraoperative and long-term clinical outcomes of both rectangular excision and artificial chordae plantation in posterior leaflet valvuloplasty, hoping to provide references for clinical decision.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has a tremendous impact on the countries around the world since the outbreak in December 2019. From December 2022, with the loosening of domestic epidemic control policies, the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) rose significantly and reached to its epidemic peak in the majority of the cities in China, which further overwhelmed our medical care system. The cardiac surgery departments in China lack the experience in conducting work under the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we summarize the main topics that might be faced during the pandemic by reviewing the previous related literatures, which included: the cardiac surgery volume trends, the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the prognosis of cardiac surgery, the timing of cardiac surgery and the surgical strategy should be modified, and possible recommendations for the manager or governors during the pandemic, so as to outline a path forward for cardiac surgery for the near future.
Objective To study the relation between competitive flow and graft flow in coronary artery bypass grafting. Methods Twelve adult healthy dogs （weighing 27. 62 ± 1. 63 kg） were anesthetized and received offpump coronary artery bypass grafting. During operation, flow meter was used to measure the degree of stenosis, and according to which four groups were classified. They were： non-stenosis group, 33% stenosis group, 50% stenosis group and 75 % stenosis group. Hemodynamic parameters including flow volume of graft, pulsatility indes （PI）, heart rate（HR） and mean arterial pressure（MAP） were recorded with or without competitive flow. Results When there was a competitive flow, the flow volume of graft in all four groups was less than the flow volume of graft which has not been affected by competitive flow. PI of non-stenosis group and 33% stenosis group was lower than normal PI. 50% stenosis group PI decreased from 8. 36±3. 52 to 3. 02±0. 94; 75% stenosis group PI was more than 5. Conclusion Competitive flow will restrain the graft flow. The position of graft anastomosis may be affected graft＇s patency.
Thoracoscopic mitral valve replacement is a common minimally invasive cardiac surgery procedure. However, small annulus, severe calcification of the annulus, and severe thickening of the posterior valve leaflet or sub valvular structure are the difficulties of thoracoscopic mitral valve replacement. Improper treatment can easily lead to left ventricular rupture or prosthesis-patient mismatch. This paper reports a thoracoscopic mitral bioprosthesis replacement case using the "chimney" technique in Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and summarizes its operating key points. The patient was a 68-year-old female, weighing 36 kg. The preoperative diagnosis was rheumatic mitral stenosis and atrial fibrillation, the preoperative trans-thoracic echocardiogram showed the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter was 39 mm. The surgical effect was satisfactory. The patient was in good condition at the follow-up 2 months after the operation.
ObjectiveTo investigate the perioperative results and safety of minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafting (MIDCAB) treatment of anterior descending artery disease through a small left thoracic incision assisted by thoracoscopy. MethodsThe clinical data of 92 patients who received MIDCAB in our hospital from May 2014 to October 2018 were retrospectively analyzed, including 72 (78.26%) males aged 42-78 (61.2±7.48) years, and 20 (21.74%) females aged 30-80 (61.30±12.26) years. The perioperative complications, blood product use, left heart function changes, ventilator use time, ICU stay, hospital stay and other indicators were analyzed. ResultsTwo (2.17%) patients were transferred to thoracotomy, 5 (5.43%) patients received blood products during the operation, 2 (2.17%) were subjected to secondary thoracotomy to stop bleeding, 4 (4.34%) had postoperative hypoxemia and 1 (1.08%) was reintubated. The ventilator use time was 3-227 (22.35±35.39) hours, the ICU stay was 16-777 (78.85±108.62) hours, and the postoperative hospital stay was 2-36 (8.86±6.05) days. One (1.08%) patient died in hospital. ConclusionMIDCAB for anterior descending artery disease has good perioperative results, especially for solitary anterior descending artery disease, which can reduce the use of blood products, and shorten the time of ventilator use after operation, ICU stay and hospital stay.
After nearly two decades of application and development, the clinical efficacy of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been continuously improved and demonstrated. Due to the expansion of indications of TAVR, the frequency of encountering patients with mixed valvular diseases increases greatly, particularly the moderate to severe mitral regurgitation combined with aortic stenosis. Multiple registry studies suggest that the incidence of significant mitral regurgitation is approximately 13% to 74% in patients who undergo TAVR. Some studies have reported that moderate to severe MR is associated with higher mortality, while simultaneous aortic and mitral valve surgery is associated with significantly higher surgical risk. Therefore, the optimal treatment strategy for this special patient group remains uncertain. With the further development of transcatheter therapy, staged surgery may be a feasible solution. However, there is currently a lack of evidence-based support such as randomized clinical trials. This review aims to report and evaluate relevant existing research data to help clinicians make optimal treatment decisions for this specific patient populations.
Objective To summarize the early results and clinical experience of using the J-Valve for transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation in patients with degenerated bioprosthesis at different anatomic positions. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted to evaluate the short-term outcomes of 39 consecutive patients who underwent transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation using the J-Valve System in the Department of Cardiac Surgery of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital from April 2020 to August 2021 due to bioprosthetic degeneration at different anatomic positions. Among them, 35 patients underwent transcatheter mitral valve-in-valve (TMViV) implantation, 1 transcatheter aortic valve-in-valve (TAViV) implantation, 1 transcatheter tricuspid valve-in-valve (TTViV) implantation, 1 TMViV implantation with simultaneous TAViV implantation, and another one TMViV implantation with simultaneous transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and perivalvular leakage (PVL) closure. Results Among the 35 patients who underwent isolated TMViV implantation, 17 were male and 18 were female with a mean age of 72.6±10.8 years. Mean duration between two operations was 10.5±2.7 years. The mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons and EuroSCORE Ⅱ scores were 12.95%±9.61% and 13.91%±8.94%, respectively. The device success rate was 97.1% and no death occured during the operation. One patient was transferred to thoracotomy due to device displacement, 1 was re-opened for uncontrolled bleeding, and 1 presented left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. One patient underwent craniotomy due to intracranial hemorrhage within 30 days after surgery, and no other complications occurred including death, stroke, permanent pacemaker implantation, cardiac tamponade, or re-hospitalization. The mean follow-up time was 6.0±4.4 months, the mean mitral valve gradient was significantly improved (10.4±2.0 mm Hg vs. 5.5±1.2 mm Hg, P<0.05), and the New York Heart Association class≤Ⅱ in all the patients at the last follow-up. Among the other 4 patients who did not undergo isolated TMViV implantation, the transapical TAViV implantation and the trans-right atrium TTViV implantation were successful without intra- or post-operative complications. The patient who underwent TMViV and TAViV implantation simultaneously via transapical approach died of severe pulmonary hemorrhage and multiple organ failure 16 days after surgery. The other patient who underwent transapical TMViV combined with TAVR and PVL closure died of septic shock 10 days after the surgery. Conclusion Transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation using the J-Valve system is shown to be a safe and effective procedure to treat mitral, aortic and tricuspid bioprosthetic valve dysfunction in high-risk patients, providing a new alternative to surgical surgery for degenerated bioprosthesis at different anatomic positions. However, simultaneous different valves intervention should be very cautious.
Objective To evaluate the outcomes and summarize the clinical experience of totally endoscopic mitral valve repair with artificial chordae implantation. Methods From May 2013 to June 2016, 71 patients with mitral valve insufficiency were admitted to our hospital who underwent totally endoscopic mitral valve repair with artificial chordae implantation. There were 47 males and 24 females with the age of 46.0±14.4 years ranging from 13-78 years. The pathogenesis included degenerative valvular diseases in 63 patients, congenital valvular diseases in 4, infectious endocarditis in 2, rheumatic disease in 1 and cardiomyopathy in 1. Prolapse of anterior, posterior, or both leaflets was present in 26 (36.6%), 19 (26.8%), and 25 (35.2%) patients, respectively; one patient (1.4%) presented valve annulus enlargement and thirteen were associated with commissure lesion. The mitral regurgitation area ranged from 4.2 to 26.3 cm2 (mean, 12.2±5.6 cm2). All the procedures were performed by total endoscopy under cardiac arrest. 5-0 Gore-tex sutures were used as the material of artificial chordae which was implanted one by one. Results There was no in-hospital death. One patient was transferred to mitral valve replacement, and one median sternotomy due to bleeding. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was 156.0±31.6 min and aortic cross-clamp time 110.0±20.1 min. We finally had 39 isolated mitral valve repair, 28 mitral valve repair combined tricuspid valve repair, 3 mitral valve repair combined atrial septal defect closure, and 1 mitral valve repair combined correction of partial anomalous pulmonary vein connection. Each patient was implanted artificial chordae of 2.5±1.7 (ranging from 1 to 7), and 65 patients received mitral annulus (full ring). The intraoperative transoesophageal echocardiography found no mitral regurgitation in 44 patients, the area of mitral regurgitation was 0-2 cm2 in 24, and 3 patients with mitral regurgitation>2 cm2 experienced serious systolic anterior motion. Of the 3 patients with systolic anterior motion (SAM), one transferred to mitral valve replacement, one underwent mitral re-repair, and one took conservative treatment. The mean follow-up was 12.7±10.5 months (range: 1 to 36 months), while 2 patients were lost to follow up with the follow-up rate of 97.2%. Recurrent severe regurgitation occured in 3 patients, moderate in 5, mild or trivial in 27 and no regurgitation in 36. During the follow-up, 1 patient died of myocardiopathy-induced heart failure post discharge, 1 suffered from cerebral infarction, and no patient underwent reoperation. Conclusion The totally endoscopic surgical treatment of mitral valvuloplasty with artificial chordae is reliable for patients with mitral valve prolapse, which provides favorable clinical efficacy and outcomes. The difficulty lies in how to determine the appropriate length of the chordae and keep the stability of length.
Objective To evaluate the efficacy of a combination of beating-heart minimally invasive approach and leaflets augmentation technique treating severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) after cardiac surgery. Methods From January 2015 to August 2017, patients undergoing reoperative tricuspid valve repair (TVP) with minimally invasive approach and leaflets augmentation were enrolled. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was established via femoral vessels and the procedures were performed on beating heart with normothermic CPB. A bovine pericardial patch was sutured to leaflets to augment the native anterior and posterior leaflets. Other repair techniques, such as ring implantation and leaflet mobilization, were also applied as needed. Results A total of 28 patients (mean age 55.6±10.1 years, 5 males, 23 females) were enrolled. One patient was converted to median sternotomy due to pleural cavity adhesion. Twenty-seven patients underwent totally endoscopic TVP with leaflets augmentation. No patients was transferred to tricuspid valve replacement. Two patients died in hospital. All patients were followed up for 7.4±5.0 months and there was no late death and reoperation. Regurgitation area was converted from 20.7±10.1 cm2 to 3.3±3.3 cm2 after TVP according to the latest echocardiography (P<0.001). Conclusion Minimally TVP with leaflets augmentation is effective in treating severe isolated TR after primary cardiac surgery. It can significantly increase success rate of tricuspid valvuloplasty and decrease the surgical trauma.