Concomitant Mitral Regurgitation in Patients Undergoing Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement for Aortic Stenosis: A Systematic Review

Background: Concomitant mitral regurgitation (MR) is frequently seen in patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) for severe aortic stenosis (AS). When the severity of MR is moderate or less, the decision to undertake simultaneous mitral valve intervention can be challenging.Methods: A systematic search of Medline, PubMed (NCBI), Embase and Cochrane Library was conducted to qualitatively assess the current evidence for concomitant mitral valve intervention for MR in patients with AS undergoing AVR. The primary outcome for this systematic review was the postoperative change in the severity of MR and other outcomes of interest included factors that predict improvement or persistence of MR and long-term impacts of residual MR.Results: A total of 17 studies were included. The percentage of patients demonstrating improvement in MR severity following AVR ranged from 17.2% to 72%; the studies that exclusively included patients with moderate functional MR and reported longer term echocardiographic follow-up of greater than 12 months demonstrated an improvement in MR severity of 45% to 72%.Conclusion: This systematic review demonstrates that a proportion of patients can exhibit an improvement in MR following isolated surgical AVR, but whether this confers any long-term morbidity and mortality benefit remains unclear.     

Safety and Applicability of Continuous Retrograde Cardioplegia in Minimally Invasive Aortic Valve Replacement: New Approaches

Purpose: To discuss minimally invasive cardiac surgery aortic valve replacement (MICS-AVR) approach via anterior thoracotomy using continuous retrograde cardioplegia. Continuous retrograde cardioplegia facilitates excellent continuous homogeneous cooling of the heart during cardiac arrest.Methods: We performed AVR using the proposed method in nine patients between June 2018 and September 2019. The median age of the patients was 73 (range: 43–84) years. The pleural space was entered via anterior thoracotomy. After opening of the right atrium, a retrograde cardioplegic cannula was inserted into the coronary sinus with a purse-string suture. Continuous cold blood retrograde cardioplegia was initiated at 700 mL/h.Results: Extubation in the operating room was performed in five (56%) patients. No new decreased function of the left and right ventricles was observed in intraoperative transesophageal echography or transthoracic echocardiogram.Conclusion: MICA-AVR through continuous retrograde cardioplegia is a safe technique.     

主动脉瓣重度狭窄伴左心室收缩功能受损患者的外科疗效分析

目的分析主动脉瓣置换术在治疗主动脉瓣重度狭窄伴左心室收缩功能受损患者中的疗效。方法回顾性分析2000年1月至2011年12月在第二军医大学长海医院接受手术治疗的主动脉瓣重度狭窄伴左心室收缩功能受损[左心室射血分数（LVEF）〈50％]患者的临床资料,排除二尖瓣狭窄患者。共纳入29例患者,男22例、女7例,年龄14～76（56.3±12．9）岁。将患者手术前后临床及心脏超声心动图相关指标进行比较,评价手术效果,并根据患者LVEF恢复情况,分析可能影响患者术后心脏功能恢复的危险因素。结果术后早期死亡1例。其余28例患者术后主动脉瓣跨瓣压差由（97．6±25．1）mmHg降至（25．0±9．7）mmHg,LVEF由41％±6％增加至56％±11％,左心室舒张／收缩期末直径／容积均较术前明显改善（P均〈0．001）。结论主动脉瓣膜置换术是主动脉瓣重度狭窄伴左心室收缩功能受损患者的有效治疗方法,术后左心室超声指标显著改善。术前左心室扩大程度较低可能更利于术后LVEF的恢复。     

Impact of Chronic Kidney Disease on the Prognosis of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in Patients with Aortic Stenosis: A Meta-Analysis of 133624 Patients

Purpose: The impact of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on the prognosis of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) remains unclear. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to assess the impact of CKD and different stages of CKD on prognosis in patients undergoing TAVR.Methods: As of June 2020, we performed a comprehensive literature search on relevant studies using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. Subsequently, we pooled the risk ratio (RR) of individual studies via random effects to analyze heterogeneity, quality assessment, and publication bias.Results: A total of 20 studies, involving 133624 patients, were eligible for analysis. Patients with CKD had higher all-cause mortality at 30 days (RR: 1.39, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.31–1.47, P <0.001), 1 year (RR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.24–1.49, P <0.001), and 2 years (RR: 1.2, 95% CI: 1.05–1.38, P = 0.009) of follow-up. Moreover, they also had higher acute kidney injury (AKI) (RR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.16–1.63, P <0.001) and bleeding (RR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.18–1.50, P <0.001) at 30 days. CKD3 alone also increased all-cause mortality at follow-ups. Risk of all-cause mortality increased with severity of CKD for stages 3, 4, and 5 at follow-up.Conclusion: Patients with CKD are at an increased risk of all-cause mortality, AKI, and bleeding events after TAVR. Moreover, the mortality risk rises with increasing severity of CKD.     

TRANSFORM (Multicenter Experience With Rapid Deployment Edwards INTUITY Valve System for Aortic Valve Replacement) US clinical trial: Performance of a rapid deployment aortic valve

Background

The TRANSFORM (Multicenter Experience With Rapid Deployment Edwards INTUITY Valve System for Aortic Valve Replacement) trial (NCT01700439) evaluated the performance of the INTUITY rapid deployment aortic valve replacement (RDAVR) system in patients with severe aortic stenosis.