Clinical and Surgical Characteristics of Patients Undergoing Valve Replacement

Cardiovascular diseases have been the leading the causes of hospital admissions, being one of the main public health problems in Brazil, and one of the forms of treatment is cardiac surgery, being more prevalent in older people who have several other comorbidities associated. This study aimed to describe the clinical and surgical profile of patients undergoing valve replacement. Thus, an ambispective study was carried out with patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Instituto Nobre de Cardiologia. An analysis was carried out in the patients' medical records in search of data related to their clinical and surgical profile. During the research period, 55 patients underwent valve replacement, 10 of which were excluded. Thus, 45 patients were evaluated, with 28 (62%) male participants with a mean age of 43 ± 6 years, hypertension and sedentary lifestyle were the most common comorbidities (49% and 56% respectively) and 60% with the Body Mass Index within the normal range. Regarding the surgical characteristics, the extracorporeal circulation time was 211 ± 22 minutes and the Mechanical Ventilation time was 6 ± 2 hours. Based on the findings, it can be characterized that patients undergoing cardiac valve replacement surgery are over 40 years old, male, sedentary, hypertensive. Keywords: Thoracic Surgery. Artificial Breathing. Extracorporeal Circulation. Resumo As doenças cardiovasculares têm liderado as causas de internação hospitalar, sendo um dos principais problemas de saúde publica no Brasil, sendo que umas das formas de tratamento é a cirurgia cardíaca, sendo mais prevalente em pessoas com idade mais avançada, e que possuem várias outras comorbidades associadas. O presente estudo teve como objetivo descrever o perfil clínico e cirúrgico de pacientes submetidos à troca valvar. Para isso foi realizado um estudo ambispectivo com os pacientes internados na Unidade de Terapia Intensiva do Instituto Nobre de Cardiologia. Foi feita uma análise no prontuário dos pacientes na busca de dados relacionados ao seu perfil clinico e cirúrgico. Durante o período da pesquisa foram submetidos a troca valvar 55 pacientes sendo que 10 foram excluídos. Desse modo foram avaliados 45 pacientes, com 28 (62%) participantes do sexo masculino com idade média de 43 ± 6 anos, hipertensão e sedentarismo as comorbidades mais encontradas (49% e 56% respectivamente) e 60% com o Índice de Massa Corpórea dentro da normalidade. Em relação às características cirúrgicas o tempo da circulação extracorpórea 211 ± 22 minutos e o tempo de Ventilação Mecânica 6 ± 2 horas. Com base nos achados pode-se caracterizar que os pacientes submetidos à cirurgia cardíaca de troca de válvulas têm mais de 40 anos, do gênero masculino, sedentários, hipertensos. Palavras-chaves: Cirurgia Torácica. Respiração Artificial. Circulação Extracorpórea.

Sex Differences in the Utilization and Outcomes of Cardiac Valve Replacement Surgery for Infective Endocarditis: Insights From the National Inpatient Sample

Background The data on the differential impact of sex on the utilization and outcomes of valve replacement surgery for infective endocarditis are limited to single‐center and small sample size patient population. Methods and Results We utilized the National Inpatient Sample database to identify patients with a discharge diagnosis of infective endocarditis from 2004 to 2015 to assess differences in the characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients hospitalized with infective endocarditis stratified by sex. We also evaluated trends in utilization of cardiac valve replacement and individual valve replacement surgeries in women versus men over a 12‐year period, and compared in‐hospital mortality after surgical treatment in women versus men. A total of 81 942 patients were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of infective endocarditis from January 2004 to September 2015, of whom 44.31% were women. Women were less likely to undergo overall cardiac valve replacement (6.92% versus 12.12%), aortic valve replacement (3.32% versus 8.46%), mitral valve replacement (4.60% versus 5.57%), and combined aortic and mitral valve replacement (0.85% versus 1.81%) but had similar in‐hospital mortality rates. From 2004 to 2015, the overall rates of cardiac valve replacement increased from 11.76% to 13.96% in men and 6.34% to 9.26% in women and in‐hospital mortality declined in both men and women. Among the patients undergoing valve replacement surgery, in‐hospital mortality was higher in women (9.94% versus 6.99%, P <0.001). Conclusions Despite increased utilization of valve surgery for infective endocarditis in both men and women and improving trends in mortality, we showed that there exists a treatment bias with underutilization of valve surgeries for infective endocarditis in women and demonstrated that in‐hospital mortality was higher in women undergoing valve surgery in comparison to men.

Case report of the first cured patient with Mycobacterium Chimaera infection following cardiac valve replacement in the mainland of China

Background Mycobacterium chimaera infections subsequent to cardiac surgery are related to contaminated heater-cooler devices, with high mortality. Nevertheless, few studies have been reported in Asia. Case presentation We described the case of a 55-year-old man with Mycobacterium chimaera infection following cardiac surgery in the mainland of China. He was diagnosed with endocarditis caused by Mycobacterium chimaera subsequent to open heart surgery. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) and 16S rRNA gene PCR analysis were used to identify potential pathogens. The patient underwent redo valve replacement surgery and received combination therapy with azithromycin, ethambutol, linezolid, and amikacin. No signs of relapse were observed during the 11-month follow-up visit. Conclusions This is the first documented case of Mycobacterium chimaera infection following cardiac surgery in the mainland of China and the first documented transnational imported case worldwide. Moreover, mNGS is a novel diagnostic technology that can guide antimicrobial therapy prior to obtaining fluid/tissue culture results for Mycobacterium chimaera, providing a new approach for the detection of potential Mycobacterium chimaera infection.

Changes in Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients Admitted to Inpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation

Aims: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has proven to be effective and beneficial in middle-aged and older patients. However, solid data in large cohorts of elderly individuals are yet to be explored. This retrospective study investigated the general characteristics, outcomes, and the level of response of patients referred to CR over 13 consecutive years. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of patients admitted to Villa Pineta Rehabilitation Hospital for exercise-based CR from 2006 to 2018. The patients’ baseline characteristics and changes following CR in an upper-limb weightlifting test (ULW), 30-s sit-to-stand test (30STS), and the 6-min walking test (6MWT) with associated Borg-related dyspnea (D) and fatigue (F) were collected. We also calculated the number of individuals that reached the minimal clinically relevant change (MCRC) following CR for each outcome. Results: One thousand five hundred and fifty-one patients (70.2 ± 9.7 years, 66% men) with complete datasets were included in the analysis. Coronary artery bypass graft and cardiac valve replacement surgery were the most frequent surgical procedures leading to CR referral (41.1% and 35.8%, respectively). The patients’ age (p = 0.03), number of total comorbidities (p < 0.0001), and post-surgical complications (p = 0.02) significantly increased over time. In contrast, the average absolute changes in ULW, 30STS, and 6MWT with associated D and F, and the proportion of patients that reached their respective MCRC, remained constant over the same period. Conclusion: The patients admitted to exercise-based CR were older and had more comorbidities and complications over time. The outcomes, however, were not influenced in terms of the absolute change or clinically meaningful response.

Preventive Effect of Albumin Nano TPA Gene Plasmid Ultrasound Microbubble Carrier System on Thrombosis after Cardiac Valve Replacement

After cardiac valve replacement, most patients will have different degrees of thrombosis, different parts of the thrombus, and even more frequent occurrence of postoperative thrombosis; therefore, the prevention of postoperative thrombosis is particularly important. The purpose of this study was to investigate the preventive effect of albumin nano tPA gene plasmid ultrasound microbubble carrier system on thrombosis, especially in cardiac valve. The experimental control method was used. Firstly, 11 dogs meeting the experimental requirements were selected. Secondly, the data of albumin nanoparticles and microbubbles were analyzed. The average size of albumin particles was 132.0 nm, the average size of microbubbles was 3.1 ± 1.6 μm, and the zeta potential was 13.70 ± 1.95 MV. The concentration of microbubbles was 4.2 ± 1.3 × 10/ml. Finally, 11 dogs were divided into two groups. The experimental group was treated with albumin nanoparticles ultrasound microbubble, and the others were the control group. It was found that the levels of tPA and D-dimer in the experimental group were significantly increased and maintained at a high level at 1 week after operation, and the prothrombin time was detected and the international normalized ratio was calculated at the same time. No significant changes were found in the experimental group.