OBJECTIVES: To analyze the efficacy and safety of concomitant left atrial appendage clipping during heart valve surgery for valvular heart disease patients with atrial fibrillation. METHODS: Fifty-eight patients who underwent concomitant left atrial appendage clipping during cardiac valve surgery in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from January 2017 to June 2023 were included in the analysis, including 1 case who underwent aortic valve replacement, 49 cases who underwent mitral valve replace-ment (or valvuloplasty)+tricuspid valvuloplasty, and 8 cases who underwent double valve replacement+tricuspid valvuloplasty (3 cases combined with coronary artery bypass grafting). The patients were followed up for 3-36 months [(16.69±6.61) months] after operation, and the changes of cardiac function and the occurrence of serious adverse complications were evaluated. RESULTS: The cardiopulmonary bypass time ranged from 75 to 145 min [(102.50±21.03) min], and the aortic cross-clamp time ranged from 35 to 80 min [(58.02±14.63) min]. The length of postoperative intensive care unit stay was 1 to 5 days [(2.47±0.82) d], and the length of postoperative hospital stay was 7 to 22 days [(10.84±2.69) d]. Cardiac ultrasound indicated complete closure of the left atrial appendage in all cases. During the follow-up, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classifications were improved in 54 patients. No left atrial appendage-related bleeding events or other perioperative complications were observed; and no cerebral infarction, limb embolism events, or mortality cases occurred during the follow-up. CONCLUSIONS For valvular heart disease patients with atrial fibrillation, concomitant left atrial appendage clipping during cardiac valve surgery demonstrates efficacy and safety, with no severe adverse events during a medium-term follow-up.
Humans ; Atrial Appendage/surgery* ; Atrial Fibrillation/complications* ; Male ; Female ; Heart Valve Diseases/complications* ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation/methods* ; Treatment Outcome ; Cardiac Surgical Procedures/methods* ; Mitral Valve/surgery*

OBJECTIVETo investigate the result of surgical treatment of active infective endocarditis in patients with recent cerebrovascular events, and to evaluate the optimal indication and timing of surgical intervention.

METHODSThe clinical data of 26 patients with cerebrovascular complications before surgery Between December 2007 and December 2013 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 17 male and 9 female patients, aged (42±14) years. Types of disease included single aortic valvular disease (n=8), single mitral valvular disease (n=12), multiple valvular disease (n=5), and aortic valvular disease with ventricular septal defect (n=1). Type of cerebrovascular complication included cerebral infarction (n=25) and cerebral hemorrhage (n=1). Thirty-one valves were involved in 26 patients, mechanical prosthetic valve replacement (n=25), bioprosthetic valve replacement (n=4), and mitral valve repair (n=2).

RESULTSThe interval between onset of cerebrovascular event and surgical intervention was less than 14 days (n=3), 14 to 21 days (n=13), over 21 days (n=10), and the mean was (20±4) days. There were 33 vegetations found intraoperatively. The mean size of vegetations was (10±4) mm and 19 were found in mitral valve. Two patients died in hospital. One case relapsed after 1 year and underwent reoperation for prosthetic valve endocarditis. The remaining patients recovered with cardiac function of New York Heart Association class I to II after the period of 3 months to 5 years follow-up.

CONCLUSIONSAppropriate surgery may effectively improve the outcome of IE patients with cerebrovascular complications. The surgical indications and risks of further neurologic deterioration after cardiac surgery should be assessed comprehensively before surgical intervention.

Adult ; Aortic Valve ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; etiology ; Endocarditis ; Endocarditis, Bacterial ; complications ; surgery ; Female ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; Heart Valve Diseases ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mitral Valve ; Postoperative Complications ; Reoperation ; Retrospective Studies ; Time Factors

Animals ; Aortic Valve ; surgery ; Aortic Valve Stenosis ; congenital ; therapy ; Balloon Valvuloplasty ; methods ; Cardiac Surgical Procedures ; adverse effects ; methods ; Catheterization ; adverse effects ; methods ; Female ; Fetal Diseases ; therapy ; Fetal Heart ; surgery ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; therapy ; Humans ; Postoperative Complications ; epidemiology ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second ; Ultrasonography, Interventional ; methods

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of left atrial appendage (LAA) closure for cerebral ischemic stroke prevention following mitral valve replacement.

METHODSRetrospective data on 860 consecutive adult patients undergoing mitral valve replacement between January 2008 and January 2013 were analyzed. There were 414 male and 446 female patients, with a mean age of (53 ± 12) years. The patients were divided into two groups according to whether the left atrial appendage was closed during operation: LAA closure group (n = 521) and non-LAA closure group (n = 339).Early mortality, postoperative cerebral ischemic stroke and the risk factors for cerebral ischemic stroke were assessed. Multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression analysis.

RESULTSCompared with non-LAA closure group, LAA closure group had higher proportion of female gender, higher percentage of patients with cardiac insufficiency, pulmonary hypertension and left atrial thrombus, higher incidence of mechanical valve implantation and concurrent tricuspid surgery, and larger preoperative diameter of left atrium, but lower proportion of hypertension and patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery, and shorter aorta cross clamping time (χ² = 6.807 to 122.576, t = -2.818 and 3.756, all P < 0.05). There were no differences in exploratory thoracotomy for bleeding and in-hospital mortality between the two groups. Postoperative cerebral ischemic stroke occurred in 12 patients (1.4%). The incidence of cerebral ischemic stroke in LAA closure group was significantly lower than in non-LAA closure group (0.6% vs.2.7%, χ² = 6.452, P = 0.011).Logistic regression analysis showed that LAA closure was a significant protective factor for postoperative cerebral ischemic stroke (OR = 0.189, 95% CI: 0.039 to 0.902, P = 0.037) while history of cerebrovascular disease (OR = 4.326, 95% CI:1.074 to 17.418, P = 0.039) and preoperative diameter of left atrium (OR = 1.509, 95% CI: 1.022 to 1.098, P = 0.002) being the independent risk factors for postoperative cerebral ischemic stroke. The subgroup analysis showed that, for atrial fibrillation patients, LAA closure was a strong protective factor (OR = 0.064, 95% CI: 0.006 to 0.705, P = 0.025), but LAA closure was not a significant predictive factor (OR = 1.902, 95% CI: 0.171 to 21.191, P = 0.601) in non-atrial fibrillation patients.

CONCLUSIONConcurrent LAA closure during mitral valve replacement is safe and effective to reduce the early postoperative risk of cerebral ischemic stroke in atrial fibrillation patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Atrial Appendage ; surgery ; Atrial Fibrillation ; Brain Ischemia ; complications ; prevention & control ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Female ; Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mitral Valve ; Mitral Valve Insufficiency ; surgery ; Nervous System Diseases ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stroke ; prevention & control ; Thrombosis

OBJECTIVETo summarize the clinical features, pathology and surgical treatment experiences in the patients with aortic paravalvular abscess by infective endocarditis.

METHODSThe study consisted of a retrospective analysis of 29 cases with aortic paravalvular abscess by infective endocarditis underwent surgical treatment between January 2001 and June 2013. Among the 29 patients, 22 were male and 7 were female, and the mean age was (37 ± 16) years (range from 11 to 63 years). The primary cardiac disease was congenital aortic valve malformation in 16 patients. There were 15 patients with a history of severe heart failure. Of 29 cases, 8 abscess cavities, 13 pseudoaneurysms and 6 fistulas were found, and complete aortoventricular discontinuity was present in 5 patients with serious infections. Of them, the abscess was above the annulus in 14 patients and below the annulus in 10 patients, and simultaneously involved the annulus above and below in 5 patients. 19 patients were culture positive either positive preoperative blood cultures or positive cultures of surgical specimens, including 9 patients with Staphylococcus infection. The paravalvular defect was repaired by patch in 19 cases, and by local closure in 10 cases. The valvular annulus was reconstructed simultaneously in 16 patients. Aortic valve replacement was performed in 26 patients, and Bentall procedure in 2 patients, including 23 with prosthetic mechanical valve and 5 with biological valve.

RESULTSOf the total 29 patients, 28 patients were recovered, and 1 patient was died of sepsis. During 3 months to 13 years postoperative follow-up (average 4.5 years), one was died of non-cardiac cause, and no patient had recurrent endocarditis and paravalvular leakage.

CONCLUSIONSAortic paravalvular abscess by infective endocarditis is not uncommon, prone to heart failure. According to the different pathological manifestations, the appropriate surgical approach and strategy can achieve satisfactory outcomes.

Abscess ; surgery ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aortic Valve ; surgery ; Child ; Endocarditis, Bacterial ; complications ; surgery ; Female ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; complications ; surgery ; Heart Valve Diseases ; complications ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: Acute pancreatitis is one of the potentially lethal complications that occurs after cardiac surgery. We tried to identify risk factors for and the prognosis of acute pancreatitis after cardiac valve surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed a database of consecutive patients who underwent cardiac valve surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass between January 2005 and April 2010 at our institution. Patients were classified as having acute pancreatitis based on serum lipase concentration and clinical symptoms (lipase > or =180 U/L or > or =60 U/L with relevant symptoms). RESULTS: Of the 986 patients who underwent cardiac valve surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, 58 (5.9%) patients developed post-operative pancreatitis. Post-operative hospital stay was significantly longer (29.7+/-45.6 days vs. 12.4+/-10.7 days, p=0.005) and in-hospital mortality rate was higher (15.5% vs. 2.0%, p<0.001) in patients with post-operative pancreatitis than those without. Hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and peri-operative use of norepinephrine were identified as independent risk factors for developing pancreatitis after cardiac valve surgery. CONCLUSION: We found that acute pancreatitis after cardiac valve surgery requires longer hospitalization and increases the in-hospital mortality rate. Clinicians should be aware that patients could develop pancreatitis after cardiac valve surgery, especially in patients with hypertension and chronic kidney disease treated with norepinephrine.
Acute Disease ; Adult ; Aged ; Cardiac Surgical Procedures/adverse effects ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Female ; Heart Valve Diseases/*complications/*surgery ; Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation/*adverse effects ; Humans ; Lipase/blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Norepinephrine/therapeutic use ; Pancreatitis/*diagnosis/*etiology ; Postoperative Period ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVETo summarize the clinical characteristics, surgical management and postoperative complications in patients with congenital bicuspid aortic valve (CBAV) over 50 years of age.

METHODSFrom January 2009 to September 2011, 73 CBAV patients aged 51-76 years (mean 61.8∓0.73 years) were treated in our center. Except for 1 patient who underwent Bentall surgery and another having Wheat surgery, all the patients received aortic valve replacement (AVR), including 7 with double (mitral and aortic) valve replacement (DVR), 6 with mitral valvular plasty, 11 with tricuspid valvular plasty, 8 with coronary artery bypass graft implantation, 1 with aortic-left ventricular tunnel repair, 1 with atrial maze ablation, and 1 with left atrial thrombosis removal.

RESULTSTwo patients died after the surgery, with a perioperative mortality rate of 2.7%. The cardiopulmonary bypass time was 78-217 min (mean 131.9 ∓6.0 min) with an aortic blocking time of 56-158 min (mean 88.2 ∓4.8 min) and total postoperative ICU time of 23.0-647.4 h (mean 97.9∓10.5 h). The postoperative complications included low heart output syndrome in 5 cases, bleeding in 4 cases, wound debridement in 4 cases, and hemodialysis due to acute renal failure in 1 case. The left ventricular end diastolic diameter reduced significantly after the surgery (52.6∓1.7 vs 43.2∓1.0, P=0.001). No significant changes were detected in the left ventricular ejection fraction (62.3∓2.5 vs 65.5∓1.3, P=0.257).

CONCLUSIONThorough preoperative examination, preoperative risk factor assessment, timely perioperative interventions, careful evaluation of patients' tolerance of surgery, and prevention of surgical complications are essential to decrease the perioperative mortality in elderly patients with CBAV.

Aged ; Aortic Valve ; abnormalities ; surgery ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Female ; Heart Valve Diseases ; mortality ; surgery ; Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mitral Valve ; surgery ; Postoperative Complications ; prevention & control ; Retrospective Studies

Systemic infection with Aspergillus is an opportunistic disease that affects mainly immunocompromised hosts, and is associated with a high mortality rate. It typically occurs in patients with several predisposing factors, but Aspergillus endocarditis of native valves is rare and experience in diagnosis and treatment is limited. We report a case of native valve endocarditis caused by Aspergillus. A 35-yr-old male patient who underwent pericardiocentesis four months previously for pericardial effusion of unknown etiology presented with right leg pain and absence of the right femoral artery pulse. Cardiac echocardiography revealed severe mitral insufficiency with large mobile vegetations, and computed tomographic angiography showed embolic occlusion of both common iliac arteries. We performed mitral valve replacement and thromoembolectomy, and Aspergillus was identified as the vegetation. We started intravenous amphotericin B and oral itraconazole, but systemic complications developed including superior mesenteric artery aneurysm and gastrointestinal bleeding. After aggressive management, the patient was discharged 78 days post surgery on oral itraconazole. He was well at 12 months post discharge but died in a traffic accident 13 months after discharge.
Administration, Oral ; Adult ; Amphotericin B/administration & dosage ; Antifungal Agents/administration & dosage ; Aspergillosis/complications/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; Aspergillus/isolation & purification ; Endocarditis/*diagnosis/surgery/ultrasonography ; Heart Valve Diseases/*diagnosis/microbiology/surgery ; Humans ; Itraconazole/administration & dosage ; Male ; Postoperative Complications/microbiology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Triple valve surgery is usually complex and carries a reported operative mortality of 13% and 10-yr survival of 61%. We examined surgical results based on our hospital's experience. A total of 160 consecutive patients underwent triple valve surgery from 1990 to 2006. The most common aortic and mitral valve disease was rheumatic disease (82%). The most common tricuspid valve disease was functional regurgitation (80%). Seventy-four percent of the patients were in New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III and IV. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed to identify predictors of early and late survival. Operative mortality was 6.9% (n=11). Univariate factors associated with mortality included old age, preoperative renal failure, postoperative renal failure, pulmonary complications, and stroke. Of them, postoperative renal failure and stroke were associated with mortality on multivariable analysis. Otherwise, neither tricuspid valve replacement nor reoperation were statistically associated with late mortality. Survival at 5 and 10 yr was 87% and 84%, respectively. Ninety-two percent of the patients were in NYHA class I and II at their most recent follow-up. Ten-year freedom from prosthetic valve endocarditis was 97%; from anticoagulation-related hemorrhage, 82%; from thromboembolism, 89%; and from reoperation, 84%. Postoperative renal failure and stroke were significantly related with operative mortality. Triple valve surgery, regardless of reoperation and tricuspid valve replacement, results in acceptable long-term survival.
Adult ; Aged ; Anticoagulants/adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Aortic Valve/*surgery ; Female ; Heart Valve Diseases/complications/mortality/*surgery ; Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation/*methods ; Hemorrhage/chemically induced/epidemiology ; Humans ; Intraoperative Complications/mortality ; Kidney Failure/etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mitral Valve/*surgery ; Postoperative Complications/mortality ; Reoperation ; Risk Factors ; Severity of Illness Index ; Stroke/etiology ; Survival Analysis ; Thromboembolism/epidemiology ; Tricuspid Valve/*surgery

OBJECTIVETo study the changes in pathogenic causes and the prognosis of aortic valve replacement (AVR).

METHODSThe clinical data of 1026 patients undergoing AVR from December 1980 to December 2006 were analyzed retrospectively. The mortality, morbidity, changes in pathogenic causes and risk factors were analyzed.

RESULTSThe postoperative mortality and complication morbidity were 4.3% and 10.6% respectively within 30 days followed operation. Main causes of operative death were heart failure, multi organ failure and endocarditis. The major risk factors for operative death were left ventricle ejection fraction less than 0.4, endocarditis, valve regurgitation and emergency operation before AVR. Late mortality was 0.54% patient-year (3.4%), most of whom died of heart failure, endocarditis and arrhythmias. Patients underwent reoperation 0.22% patient-year (1.4%), with the causes of endocarditis and perivalvular fistula.

CONCLUSIONSMorbidity of rheumatic damage in aortic valve has decreased, while valve degeneration has increased gradually in the recent years. Avoiding prosthesis-patient mismatch, good postoperatively guide and prevention of endocarditis can improve the prognosis of AVR.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aortic Valve ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Valve Diseases ; surgery ; Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation ; methods ; mortality ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; epidemiology ; mortality ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Treatment Outcome