Objective    To compare the perioperative outcomes of subxiphoid robot-assisted extended thymectomy (SRAET) and video-assisted thoracoscopic extended thymectomy (VATET) for myasthenia gravis complicated with thymoma. Methods    Retrospective analysis of 61 patients with myasthenia gravis combined with thymoma who were admitted to the Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University from January 2017 to June 2019 was performed. All patients underwent extended thymectomy, and the patients were divided into a SRAET group and a VATET group. There were 26 patients in the SRAET group, including 11 males and 15 females, with an average age of 42.20±13.20 years. There were 35 patients in the VATET group, including 14 males and 21 females, with an average age of 45.00±13.00 years. The perioperative outcomes of the two groups including gender, age, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, conversion rate, postoperative drainage, tube removal time, drainage volume, visual analogue scale, hospital stay and postoperative complications were compared. Results    There was no conversion to thoracotomy, death or myasthenia crisis in both groups. The operation time (111.42±28.60 min vs. 103.71±26.20 min, P=0.845), intraoperative blood loss (32.31±23.84 mL vs. 63.57±132.22 mL, P=0.239), visual analogue scale at postoperative 24 h (2.46±0.76 vs. 2.40±0.74, P=0.751) and postoperative 48 h (2.12±0.77 vs. 2.26±0.56, P=0.407), complication rate (3.8%vs. 2.9%, P=0.675), drainage volume (206.85±130.09 mL vs. 276.86±173.46 mL, P=0.089) and hospital stay (5.81±2.52 d vs. 5.29±2.17 d, P=0.642) were not significantly different between the two groups. The visual analogue scale of the SRAET group at postoperative 72 h (1.12±0.65 vs. 1.86±0.91, P=0.001) was significantly lower than that of the VATET group. Conclusion    SRAET is a safe and feasible method with less postoperative short-term pain, which is an alternative surgical treatment for myasthenia gravis complicated with thymoma.

Objective    To explore the early results of Ozaki operation in children with aortic regurgitation. Methods    We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 15 patients with aortic regurgitation who received the Ozaki operation in our hospital from April 2017 to July 2019. There were 11 males and 4 females with an average operation age of 10.7±3.7 years. Besides preoperative evaluation, aortic regurgitation and cardiac function were evaluated on 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6-12 months after surgery. Results    In 14 (93.3%) patients , the aortic valve leaflets functioned well on 1 day, 1 month, 3 months, and 6-12 months, and the regurgitation grade was Ⅰ-Ⅱ, which was improved than before (P=0.001). The cardiac function of children recovered quickly after operation. There was no statistical difference in ejection fraction on 1 day, 1 month, 3 months, and 6-12 months after operation (P>0.05). No children died, and no other clinical event was found. Conclusion    The Ozaki technique of reconstructing a tricuspid aortic valve leaflet for the treatment of severe aortic regurgitation in children is effective in short term, and the persistence of its valve function remains to be determined in the long-term follow-up.

Objective    To summarize the clinical characteristics and outcome of tricuspid valve replacement (TVR) in children aged no more than 14 years, and to discuss the selection of prosthesis. Methods    From September 2002 to August 2019, 14 patients aged no more than 14 years who received TVR were included in our study. There were 9 males and 5 females, with a mean age of 9.8±4.3 years. Results    Mechanical prosthesis was implanted in 8 patients, and bioprosthesis in 6 patients. The mean cardiopulmonary time and aortic-clamp time was 170.3±109.8 min and 95.1±63.1 min, respectively. The mortality within 30 days after surgery was 21.4% (3/14), and all 3 patients died of severe low cardiac output syndrome. Eleven patients were followed up for 34-199 (100.1±57.4) months. During the follow-up, mechanical prosthesis dysfunction occurred in 3 patients, 2 of whom received secondary TVR. One patient died during the follow-up. Conclusion    The bioprosthesis is the first choice for TVR in children. Some long-term complications may occur after TVR, and close follow-up and timely intervention are needed.

Objective    To investigate the timing and clinical efficacy of diaphragmatic plication in the treatment of diaphragmatic paralysis after congenital heart disease (CHD) operation. Methods    From January 2013 to February 2019, 30 children with CHD who were treated in Fuwai Hospital were collected, including 17 males and 13 females with a median age of 19.5 (3, 72) months. There were 6 patients with bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis (bilateral group) and 24 patients with unilateral diaphragmatic paralysis (unilateral group). The clinical data of the two groups were compared. Results    Among the 6 bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis patients, 2 underwent bilateral diaphragmatic plication, and the other 4 patients continued their off-line exercise after unilateral diaphragmatic plication. Patients in the unilateral group had shorter ventilator use time (266.77±338.34 h vs. 995.33±622.29 h, P=0.001) and total ICU stay time (33.21±23.97 d vs. 67.33±28.54 d, P=0.008) than those in the bilateral group. One patient died in the bilateral group, and there was no statistical difference between the two groups (P=0.363). There was no statistical difference in the ICU stay time after diaphragm plication between the two groups (11.68±10.28 d vs. 29.83±27.73 d, P>0.05). Conclusion    Diaphragmatic plication is an effective treatment for diaphragmatic paralysis after CHD operation once the conservative treatment failed. The prognosis of bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis is worse than that of unilateral diaphragmatic paralysis. Strict control of indications for surgery is beneficial to the early recovery of patients.

Objective    To explore the role of increased preoperative ventricular-arterial stiffening in hypertensive infants with coarctation of the aorta (CoA). Methods    A retrospective study was conducted in 314 infants with CoA (CoA group, 193 males and 121 females, aged 5.4±2.2 months), and 314 infants receiving tumor chemotherapy with normal cardiovascular function and without pneumonia (control group, 189 males and 125 females, aged 4.4±3.8 months), who were admitted to our hospital from 2015 to 2017. The clinical data of the two groups were compared. Results    There were statistical differences in effective aortic elastance index (Eai), effective left ventricular end-systolic elasticity index (Eesi), ventricle-artery coupling index (VACi), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels, and ratios of left ventricular hypertrophy, dilation and systolic dysfunction between the two groups (P<0.05). Compared with non-hypertensive CoA infants, CoA infants with hypertension had higher Eai, Eesi, NT-ProBNP level and proportion of left ventricular hypertrophy (P<0.05). Compared with concomitant ventricular septal defect, infants with isolated CoA had higher Eai, Eesi, NT-proBNP level, incidence of hypertension and higher proportion of left ventricular hypertrophy, dilation and systolic dysfunction (P<0.05). Eai and Eesi were positively correlated with NT-proBNP level, left ventricular hypertrophy and fractional shortening of left ventricle (P<0.05), while Eai and Eesi were negatively correlated with left ventricular end diastolic volume index, left ventricular end systolic volume index and concomitant ventricular septal  defect (P<0.05). Hypertension was related to preoperative left ventricular hypertrophy, Eai, Eesi and NT-ProBNP. Eai was an independent risk factor for hypertension. Conclusion    Preoperative ventricular-arterial stiffening is increased in infants with aortic coarctation, which is related to the occurrence of hypertension. Isolated CoA shows more significant increase in ventricular-arterial stiffening, higher ventricular overload and incidence of hypertension.

Objective    To explore the predictive value of myocardial vitality in the improvement of cardiac function after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with ischemic heart failure. Methods    From December 8, 2015 to November 12, 2018, 46 patients with ischemic heart failure who underwent CABG operation alone were collected retrospectively. There were 41 males and 5 females with an average age of 60.4±8.0 years. The myocardial vitality and number of different types of myocardium were measured. The clinical data of patients in the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) improvement group (≥5%) and non-improvement group (<5%) were compared and analyzed. The  correlation between each index and LVEF improvement was analyzed by logistic multivariate regression analysis, and the boundary value of hibernating myocardium between LVEF improvement and non-improvement was obtained by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results    There were significant differences in the number of hibernating myocardium (15.0%±12.3% vs. 4.3%±4.5%, P=0.000), the number of normal myocardium (74.7%±13.7% vs. 82.4%±8.6%, P=0.027), and cardiac function classification (NYHA) development (−0.7±0.7 vs. −0.3±0.5, P=0.047) between the two groups, but there was no significant difference in other indexes between the two groups (P>0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that the number of hibernating myocardium was an independent factor affecting the improvement of LVEF after CABG in patients with ischemic heart failure (OR=1.366, 95%CI 1.033-1.807, P=0.029). The ROC curve showed that the threshold value, sensitivity and specificity of hibernating myocardium were 15.0%, 43.8% and 100.0%, respectively. Conclusion    The percentage of hibernating myocardium to left ventricular wall area ≥15.0% can accurately predict the improvement of LVEF in patients with ischemic heart failure after CABG. Preoperative myocardial vitality assessment has important diagnostic value in predicting the improvement of cardiac function in patients with ischemic heart failure after simple CABG.

Objective    To analyze whether hypernatremia within 48 hours after cardiac surgery will increase the incidence of delirium which developed 48 hours later after surgery (late-onset delirium). Methods    We conducted a retrospective analysis of 3 365 patients, including 1 918 males and 1 447 females, aged 18-94 ( 60.53±11.50) years, who were admitted to the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery of Nanjing First Hospital and underwent cardiac surgery from May 2016 to May 2019. Results    A total of 155 patients developed late-onset delirium, accounting for 4.61%. The incidence of late-onset delirium in patients with hypernatremia was 9.77%, the incidence of late onset delirium in patients without hypernatremia was 3.45%, and the difference was statistically different (P<0.001). The odds ratio (OR) of hypernatremia was 3.028 (95% confidence interval: 2.155-4.224, P<0.001). The OR adjusted for other risk factors including elderly patients, previous history of cerebrovascular disease, operation time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, lactate, hemoglobin≥100 g/L, prolonged mechanical ventilation, left ventricular systolic function, use of epinephrine, use of norepinephrine was 1.524 (95% confidence interval: 1.031-2.231, P=0.032). Conclusion    Hypernatremia within 48 hours after cardiac surgery may increase the risk of delirium in later stages.

Objective    Through comparing the therapeutic efficacy of robot-assisted surgery (RS) and conventional surgery (CS) for mitral valve disease by meta-analysis to guide the choice of clinical operation. Methods    Databases including The Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMbase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biology Medicine disc (CBMdisc) and Wanfang Database were searched by computer from inception to June 2020. The literature of efficacy comparison between RS and CS was collected. Two reviewers independently screened the literature according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted the data, and evaluated the quality of the literature. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software. Results    We identified 11 studies of RS versus CS with 4 330 patients. Among them, 2 212 patients underwent RS and 2 118 underwent CS. Meta-analysis demonstrated that compared with the CS, RS had longer cross-clamp time (MD=25.00, 95%CI 15.04 to 34.95, P<0.000 01), cardiopulmonary bypass time (MD=44.11, 95%CI 29.26 to 58.96, P<0.000 01) and operation time (MD=46.40, 95%CI 31.55 to 61.26, P<0.000 01). However, ICU stay (MD=–22.13, 95%CI –31.88 to –12.38, P<0.000 01) and hospital stay (MD=–1.81, 95%CI –2.69 to –0.92, P<0.000 01) were significantly shorter in the RS group; and the incidences of blood transfusion (OR=0.38, 95%CI 0.16 to 0.89, P=0.03) and complications (OR=0.73, 95%CI 0.57 to 0.94, P=0.01) were significantly lower in the RS group. Conclusion    Although RS has a longer operation time than CS, it has less damage, less bleeding, faster recovery and better curative efficacy.

Objective    To systematically evaluate the risk factors for perioperative blood transfusion in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods    PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang and VIP Database were electronically searched to collect case-control and cohort studies about the risk factors for perioperative blood transfusion in patients undergoing CABG from inception to February 2020. Two reviewers screened and evaluated the literatures according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software. Results    A total of 26 articles were collected, involving 84 661 patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that age (OR=1.06, 95%CI 1.03 to 1.08, P<0.001), age≥70 years (OR=2.14, 95%CI 1.77 to 2.59, P<0.001), female (OR=1.85, 95%CI 1.55 to 2.22, P<0.001), body mass index (OR=0.94, 95%CI 0.90 to 0.98, P=0.003), weight (OR=0.95, 95%CI 0.93 to 0.96, P<0.001), body surface area (OR=0.19, 95%CI 0.10 to 0.39, P<0.001), smoking (OR=0.80, 95%CI 0.69 to 0.93, P=0.003), diabetes (OR=1.15, 95%CI 1.09 to 1.20, P<0.000 01), chronic heart failure (OR=1.59, 95%CI 1.26 to 1.99, P<0.001), number of diseased coronary arteries (OR=1.17, 95%CI 1.01 to 1.35, P=0.030), reoperation (OR=2.12, 95%CI 1.79 to 2.51, P<0.001), preoperative hemoglobin level (OR=0.60, 95%CI 0.43 to 0.84, P=0.003), preoperative ejection fraction <35% (OR=2.57, 95%CI 1.24 to 5.34, P=0.010), emergency surgery (OR=4.09, 95%CI 2.52 to 6.63, P<0.001), urgent operation (OR=2.28, 95%CI 1.25 to 4.17, P=0.007), intra-aortic balloon pump (OR=3.86, 95%CI 3.35 to 4.44, P<0.001), cardiopulmonary bypass (OR=4.24, 95%CI 2.95 to 6.10, P<0.001), cardiopulmonary bypass time (OR=1.01, 95%CI 1.01 to 1.01, P<0.000 01) and minimum hemoglobin during cardiopulmonary bypass (OR=0.42, 95%CI 0.23 to 0.77, P=0.005) were the risk factors for perioperative blood transfusion in patients undergoing CABG. Conclusion    Current evidence shows that age, age≥70 years, female, body mass index, weight, body surface area, smoking, diabetes, chronic heart failure, number of diseased coronary arteries, reoperation, preoperative hemoglobin level, preoperative ejection fraction<35%, emergency surgery, urgent operation, intra-aortic balloon pump, cardiopulmonary bypass, cardiopulmonary bypass time and minimum hemoglobin during cardiopulmonary bypass are risk factors for perioperative blood transfusion in patients who undergo CABG. Medical staff should formulate and improve the relevant perioperative blood management measures according to the above risk factors, in order to reduce the perioperative blood utilization rate and improve the clinical prognosis of patients.

Objective    To compare the impact of early enteral nutrition (EN) and parenteral nutrition (PN) on the postoperative efficacy of esophageal cancer through meta-analysis of relevant randomized controlled trial (RCT). Methods    PubMed, Medline, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, VIP, China Biology Medicine disc (CBMdisc) were searched by computer from inception to April 2018 to identify potential RCT which assessed clinical efficacy between EN and PN for postoperative patients with esophageal cancer. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, two researchers independently screened and evaluated literature. Meta-analysis was performed by RevMan 5.3 software. Results    A total of 30 RCT studies were selected, including 3 969 patients. Meta-analysis results showed that: there was a significant difference between EN and PN in postoperative anastomotic fistulas (I2=0%, OR=0.67, 95%CI 0.45-0.99, P=0.04), postoperative pulmonary infections (I2=0%, OR=0.42, 95%CI 0.32-0.55, P<0.000 1), postoperative albumin levels (I2=38%, MD=0.78, 95%CI 0.51-1.06, P<0.000 01), time of first anal exhaust after operation (I2=0%, MD=–23.16, 95%CI –25.16-21.16, P<0.000 01) and postoperative incision infection (I2=0%, RR=0.36, 95%CI 0.21-0.64, P=0.000 5). Conclusion    Compared with PN, early EN can significantly reduce the incidence of major postoperative complications and shorten the time of first anal exhaust after surgery. In addition, EN is superior to PN in improving nutritional status, increasing weight and reducing costs and side effects.